We woke to snow this late February Sunday morning at Adytum. What a better way to celebrate the end of Winter and Spring just around the corner with the warm scent of yeasty Classic Belgian Gluten Free Waffles filling the house? Amber was here last weekend with her partner, Trista. She returned to enjoy the Orion Suite with her mother Linda this weekend. 

Arthur and Rachel came down from Seattle where he works at Google Maps to relax in The Star of the North this snowy weekend. Despite the often stormy weather, they got a great long hike in to the Fish Hatchery and also the look out at Noble Springs Tree Plantation with its magnificent territorial view.

Amber was sweet to bring a case of drinks that we will begin carrying at Adytum for those that don’t want red or white wine or champagne and are overwhelmed by the sweetness of Sparkling Cider. They are fantastic and carried by New Seasons Market in Seattle. I have yet to find them in Olympia, but will keep looking.

In the past I’ve blogged “Every guest that comes to Adytum leaves a bit of themselves here.” How true when Sparkling Cider, which has been around the block a few times, gives way to drinks with exotic names and even better tastes- and pretty healthy as well- low/no glycemic.

Enjoy the following recipe that our guests are still lingering over the Adytum table with for Sunday Brunch. I bought the waffle maker- two now actually – from the Kitchen Collection Store at the Centralia Outlet Mall for about $100. It’s made our guests very happy and these waffles leave us feeling fantastic instead of sleepy and bloated from using regular flour.  We paired them with oven-baked Smoky Sweet Potato Fries dredged with sea salt and the Peach-Mango salsa. Using Thai Sweet Chili Sauce is great too.

Classic Belgian Waffles have a crispy outside and are soft and moist on the inside. They are often served as part of a celebration – even to celebrate something as simple as a beautiful day of one of the last snows of the season. Try these waffles with pure maple syrup and organic butter or one of the many toppings that we serve at Adytum; house-made blueberry compote from the fields of blueberries in the valley below…house-made lemon curd atop the compote or a raw caramel sauce to die for- made with our own Adytum Vanilla from beans we picked up  in Hawaii.

This recipe that came with the Waring Pro Professional Waffle Maker is modified to gluten free by experimentation and it’s open to more improvements. So far, guests love them and they are thoroughly enjoyed! I will experiment further with creating a vegan, gluten free option and let you know how that turns out.

Makes 10 Waffles

1 ½ cups water, divided

2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (one packet)

3 cups sifted Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Flour

1 T cornstartch

1 T baking powder

¼ tsp sea salt

3 large organic eggs, separated + 1 egg white

1/3 cup sugar

1 ½ cups whole milk

8 T unsalted organic butter, melted and cooled

2 tsp olive or coconut oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

Heat ¾ of the water to lukewarm 105-110 degrees. Dissolve the yeast in the water with a pinch of the sugar froom the recipe; let stand 5-10 minutes, until the mixture begins to foam.

Put the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt into a large bowl; stir to blend and reserve. Add the egg yolks, one of the egg whites, and remaining sugar to the yeast mixture; stir to blend. Add the remaining water, milk, melted butter, oil, and vanilla; stir until the mixture is smooth. Stir the liquid mixture into the flour mixture and beat until the mixture is smooth.

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold the egg whites gently into the batter. Let the batter stand for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

Preheat your Waring Pro Professional Belgian Waffle Maker on setting #4 or preferred setting *green indicator light will be illuminated when preheated.

For best results, do not open waffle maker during the cooking process. Doing so will offset the timing mechanism.

Use the measuring scoop to measure the batter and pour into the preheated waffle iron. Use a heatproof spatula to spread the batter evenly over the grids. Close lid and rotate waffle maker 180 degrees to the right. Bake the waffles in the waffle iron until beeper indicates that the waffle is done. Rotate waffle maker 180 degrees to the left. Remove waffle and repeat until all batter is used. Waffles may be kept warm in a low (200 degree) oven. Place waffles arranged on a cookie sheet on a rack in a warm oven until ready to serve dredged with powdered sugar.

Pure maple syrup pairs nicely with organic butter and the raw caramel sauce and perhaps a dollop of Greek Yogurt… Blueberry compote pairs nicely with lemon curd. You could toast some chopped pecans to scatter over the top and of course, fresh berries always work well.