Almond Flour Waffles

When I was a little girl, about 8ish or so, I'd spend hours digging in our backyard.

I'd pretend I was a famous archaeologist digging at an ancient burial site. I'd uncover these artifacts from the ground (in my case, it was usually Quartz rocks) and pretend they were rare items from an undiscovered civilization.

On the rare occasion I'd maybe stumble upon pieces of chipped porcelain plates (at least they reminded me of my grandmother's blue edged porcelain plates) and feel I'd made the discovery of a lifetime. These plate pieces really were key to telling this civilization's story--how they worked & ate & cooked & raised their families.

I would always collect these pieces & try to put them together like a huge puzzle. I'd sit there staring at the pieces in amazement and feel so proud.

Secretly, I'm still hoping these pieces really are the key to some group we've not yet fully uncovered. And with these discoveries, I'd end up being a gazillionaire.

Except for the fact I lost those pieces a long time ago in one of my many moves. Epic fail Brooke...epic fail ;)

This is kind of how I feel about these 2 flours which make up my waffle today--Almond & Coconut flour.

I've spoken about the flour of the coconut before here, so I won't go on & extol the benefits anymore. But, I will dive into the benefits of the flour of the almond. We've not yet chatted about this yummy food.

First, almond flour is simply ground up almonds (I know...I know...duh Brooke! But it's worth saying for definition purposes). It can be found in two different forms: meal or flour.

Almond meal is usually made from ground up whole almonds with the skins ON. This makes the flour more coarse.

Almond flour is made from blanched almonds (no skins here!), so the texture is much finer.

Almonds are full of both vitamins and minerals. In fact, this tree nut is full of Vitamin E, folate, and niacin, 2 key B vitamins. Vitamin E is good for immune function and is a mighty sweeper of free radicals from the body. These 2 B vitamins are good for cellular metabolism and nerve function. They are also high in calcium, zinc, and iron...so good for bone health!!

They are high in hunger killing protein. Now, let's get into fat. Almonds have a good amount of the good fat (monounsaturated). This type of fat is good for heart health, and lowering cholesterol and blood pressure.

It is a grain free flour, which makes it an optimal choice for paleo and gluten free baking. The protein and fat content make it a great choice for keeping you full for hours! One thing to note--this flour needs to live in the fridge or freezer after you open it. It will help prolong the freshness of the nut oils and keep them from going rancid. One other way to keep the flour from going bad is by using it up quickly....which is what I plan on doing!!

So in this recipe, adapted from Paleomg, I wanted to keep things simple. I used this coconut flour, almond flour, vanilla extract, and coconut milk (my fave coconut milk ever!). As for spices, I wanted to highlight cinnamon and cloves for their warmth and depth of flavor.

Don't let this freak you out---as soon as you add the moisture to your batter, the flours just soak it right up. Now, I LOVE me a hearty waffle so it was great to me. I don't like runny waffle batter.

I need something to stick to my ribs, ya know?

If you prefer a runnier, more liquid batter, then you'll increase the coconut milk by a teaspoon at a time until it's a consistency you like. I ended up using more like 1/3 cup instead of the 1/4 cup the recipe called for.

I think this is the perfect idea for a working breakfast....don't you?

Tag #whiskingoutsidethebox to show me how you recreated these waffles! Enjoy!

Almond Flour Waffles

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adapted from Paleomg