Vegan Waffles

(Courtesey of TripWow TripAdvisor)

Why are you still buying frozen waffles when you can make them yourself? It really is quick and easy. Short on time? Then make ‘em a weekend tradition. You can look forward to fresh homemade waffles weekly and then freeze the extras to pull out when you are in a rush. Just eight ingredients and a few stirs of the whisk and you’re ready to go!

What You'll Need:
3 teaspoon of Energizer Egg Replacers mixed with 4 tablespoons water, this is equal to 2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups soy milk

1/2 cup canola oil

1 tablespoon sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

What You'll Do:
Preheat waffle iron. Beat egg replacers in large bowl with a whisk until well mixed. Mix in flour, soy milk, oil, sugar, baking powder, salt and vanilla, just until smooth.

Spray preheated waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Pour mix onto hot waffle iron. Cook until golden brown. Serve hot.

You can purchase a waffle iron just about anywhere, Target, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Macy's, their everywhere. Prices range from about $20 - $150. Mine was an engagement gift purchased from William-Sonoma over 14 years ago and still works great. Thank you Gulie!

Vegan Banana Bread

I haven’t had banana bread in years. It’s just not one of those things I ever think about making. But, I had a few over ripe bananas and my freezer was already well stocked with frozen bananas…. so I figured -why not?

All of my old recipes called for milk and eggs, so I made a few modifications and came up with a new version that is just as tasty. This version still had to go through the same old trusted and true taste test procedures though, my kids! I called my ‘taste testers’ to the kitchen to report for duty. Two thumbs up!

What you’ll need:

1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed bananas (2-3 bananas)
1/2 cup vegetable Oil
Ener-G, 5 tablespoon water + 3 1/2 teaspoon powder)
1/3 – 1/2 cup vegan-buttermilk - combine 1/2 cup soymilk with 2 tsp of apple cider vinegar.
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

What you’ll do:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Mix flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Mix bananas, oil, and buttermilk in a medium mixing bowl.
Combine the banana mixture with the large bowl containing dry ingredients, and stir well. Add the Ener-G Egg Replacer, and stir well again. If using walnuts add them now.
Pour into a greased 9x5 inch bread pan.
Bake in 325 degree oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a knife in the middle comes out clean.

Variation: Add chocolate chips for a banana chocolate chip treat.

Baking Without Eggs???

One of the most difficult things for me to figure out when transitioning to vegan was baking without eggs. Luckily, I found that it isn't really that difficult - you just need to know what to replace it with. So here are some guidelines to help you out.

Flax Seeds

1 Tablespoon flax seeds plus 3 Tablespoons water replaces one egg. Finely grind 1 tablespoon whole flaxseeds in a blender or coffee grinder, or use 2 1/2 tablespoons pre-ground flaxseeds. Transfer to a bowl and beat in 3 tablespoons of water using a whisk or fork. Flax work best in pancakes, and whole grain baking.

Silken Tofu

1/4 cup blended silken tofu = 1 egg. Whiz in a blender until completely smooth and creamy. Tofu works best for brownies.

Ener-G Egg Replacer

1 1/2 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons water mixed well = 1 egg.

Bananas

1/2 banana blended until smooth or mashed well= 1 egg. Bananas work best for breads, muffins, cakes, pancakes.

As always, if you have any questions please feel free to email us at cookingwithjandj@gmail.com

Happy Baking!

Jessie and Jaime