Sweet Potato Waffles From 'Brooklyn Supper'
Every week, we’re spotlighting a different food blogger who’s shaking up the blogosphere with tempting recipes and knockout photography. Below, Elizabeth Stark & Brian Campbell of Brooklyn Supper give us a lesson on food waste—and how to combat it with lick-the-plate-good sweet potato waffles.
Photo: Elizabeth Stark
Sweet Potato Waffles (adapted from Bon Appétit)
Makes approximately 12 waffles
Food waste is a serious problem. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, American consumers waste a full 25 percent of the food they buy.
So what to do? Consumers can prevent food waste through meal planning and thoughtful shopping. Once home, keeping the refrigerator organized can be a big help. As far as produce goes, Brian and I have found that keeping produce in (reused) clear baggies helps us to keep visual tabs on what we’ve got. Consumers can also prepare smaller meals and freeze leftovers to keep food out of the trash. (Or make crazy good enchiladas with your leftovers.)
In our home, Brian and I strive to not waste food, though it happens from time to time. But you know who seems to delight in wasting food by the bucketful? My kids. One day they’ll eat two eggs and beg for a third. Another day, they barely touch one. It’s incredibly frustrating, especially since kids tend to group up on nutrients, eating a balanced diet week by week, but not necessarily day by day. These ever-changing tastes and nutritional needs can make it very tough to avoid waste in the kitchen. But we do what we can by talking with our kids about the resources that go in to getting their food to the table and discussing those around the world who are food insecure.
Still, last night I composted at least a cup of sweet potatoes and another of vibrant, perfectly blanched broccoli. On the other hand, these sweet potato waffles I made soon after saw not a single bite of waste. Waffles this good are a treasure—even my two-year-old can see that.
These are airy, yet toothsome—almost like a sweet potato quick bread in waffle form, but lighter and more buttery, with chewy bits of cornmeal throughout. In short, these waffles rule. Consider a promptly-made batch another step forward in your road to world domination, or just a really good way to use up extra sweet potato or winter squash puree.
2 cups sweet potato cubes (1 inch)
4 eggs
4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Maple syrup, for serving
Citrus Salad (optional):
1 blood orange, supremed
1 Cara Cara orange, supremed
1 clementine, segmented
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
Sea salt, to taste
Cut your sweet potatoes into one inch cubes and set in a sauce pan. Fill with cold water and a dash of salt, and bring to a boil. Boil until fork tender, strain, and set aside. When cool, mash, so that you have about 1 1/4 cups mashed sweet potato.
Meanwhile, melt the butter and separate the eggs.
Preheat your waffle iron, set the oven to 200 degrees F, and slide a baking sheet in it to warm.
In a large bowl, combine the flours, cornmeal, baking powder, spices, and sea salt.
In a medium bowl, combine the sweet potato mash, melted butter, egg yolks, milk, and sugar. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry.
Use a beater (or big-time muscles) to beat the egg whites to soft peaks, and fold into the batter, stirring just until everything is nicely combined.
If needed, grease the waffle iron, and then cook waffles according to your waffle iron’s instructions. (Mine make 4 inch waffles, and I found that 1/3 cup batter worked best for these.) Store cooked waffles on the baking sheet in the warm oven.
We served our waffles with Citrus Salad: Toss citrus pieces with olive oil, rice wine vinegar, and salt. With the addition of maple syrup, it was pretty perfect, so you may want to follow suit.
More swoon-worthy breakfasts:
Cute-as-can-be bacon and egg “cupcakes”
8 new twists on toast, from sweet to savory
Gluten-free coconut flour pancakes to smother with maple syrup
What’s your favorite breakfast dish? Tell us below!
