Break out the waffle iron and whip up these tasty einkorn waffles, perfect for a family breakfast or brunch!
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Lately I’ve been feeling the need to clean and declutter excess junk from the house. Something about the start of the new year a few weeks ago elicited an urge towards a more minimalistic, calm living setting. {Is anyone else with me on that?}.
But the one place I pretty much never have to purge? My kitchen. I may have a lot of appliances and gadgets, but they most definitely don’t sit collecting dust. On the contrary, I use just about every gadget in my kitchen often, from the food processor to the stand mixer to the waffle iron.
Ahhh, the waffle iron. The source of my joy on many weekend mornings. There’s just nothing like a freshly cooked Belgian waffle.
If you’ve also got a waffle iron hanging around your kitchen too, you’ll want to bust it out for this delish dish: einkorn waffles.
What is einkorn?
Einkorn is a strain of wheat that’s an “ancient grain” – in other words, it’s the form of wheat that was around hundreds of years ago. Interestingly, it was actually close to being nonexistent just a few years ago. It has lower yields compared to modern wheat and is more difficult to harvest/mill, so many people started to lose interest. But it’s since been revived by a few companies and researchers.
Why einkorn waffles?
I grabbed a package of whole grain einkorn flour on Amazon a few weeks back, and was amazed at how light and fluffy the whole grain waffles turned out using it. And topped with some warm, juicy berries? It’s just a perfect way to start your day.
The best part is that this recipe is quite light, and the entire Belgian einkorn waffle will run you just about 300 calories. Add in a cup of berries on top and you’re still clocking in under 400 calories total. Plus, if you do top it with fruit, you’ll have absolutely no added sugar in your whole breakfast! All the sugar comes naturally from the berries.
Of course, you can also go traditional and top it with some fresh maple syrup. That’s perfectly sweet and delectable.
Is einkorn flour more nutritious?
Einkorn flour may have a step up nutritionally compared to commercial wheat. It has more protein and less starch compared to the wheat we traditionally eat. It also has a higher phytochemical content (source). There may also be some additional benefits as far as cardiovascular disease risk and anti-inflammatory benefits – but with limited research in humans, this is unclear (source).
And while there’s no hard scientific evidence, some people with gluten sensitivities believe they can tolerate einkorn flour better than commercial wheat flour. (This does not apply to those who have celiac and need to eliminate gluten completely.) There are a few theories behind this:
–> The genetic differences between einkorn and traditional wheat may affect how well it is digested. Einkorn has just 14 chromosomes, while traditional wheat has 42, and there are many potential rabbit trails of change that this could lead to as far as digestion/nutrition.
–> Differences in gluten breakdown may affect digestion. All wheat has gluten, which is a family of proteins. The two main proteins in gluten are glutenin and gliadin. While the total amount of gluten in einkorn is comparable or higher than commercial wheat, the breakdown between those two proteins is a bit different. Einkorn has a great proportion of gliadins over glutenins. Specifically high-molecular-weight glutenins were very rare in einkorn according to a research analysis. Perhaps those with gluten sensitivity have an issue with these high molecular weight proteins.
–> Possible difference in starch composition could affect digestion. It may not be related to gluten at all, but rather differences in the overall and specific starch breakdown in einkorn versus commercial wheat.
Again, there is very little research right now on this, so I’m still skeptical to draw any conclusions – but I wanted to share all the ideas I did come across as it’s fascinating to consider!
To be clear, I don’t personally have any issues with using commercial wheat as far as health goes. I don’t think it’s the devil that some authors like to portray it as, and I think it certainly fits into a healthy diet. (I use it in these tasty acorn squash waffles!).
And though there’s a common misconception about our commercial wheat being full of GMO’s, that’s not true. There is no genetically modified wheat on the market these days.
The wheat we have now has been hybridized over the years, meaning that traditional plant breeding methods have been used to elicit the best crop outcomes. Some of these changes created more structurally sound plants, stronger gluten, and higher yields. But it’s certainly plausible that some of the tradeoffs for more yield have resulted in a product that’s a bit different than its ancient counterpart.
All sciencey stuff aside – einkorn waffles taste darn delicious, and that’s reason enough to give ‘em a whirl. They’re great for a family breakfast or brunch, or a tasty post-workout treat for the runners and triathletes in the house. Grab some einkorn flour online (again, here’s the stuff I buy on Amazon) or see if there’s any available in your local grocery store, and put these on your meal plan asap! 🙂
Einkorn Waffles
Ingredients
For waffles:
- 1 1/2 cups 1% milk (or whatever milk/milk alternative you prefer)
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 2 eggs
- 3 tbsp butter, melted (or oil)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups whole grain einkorn flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
For topping:
- Frozen berry blend or maple syrup
Instructions
- Place milk in a large glass or jar, and add lemon juice. Let sit for 5 minutes.
- Whisk eggs in a large bowl. Stir in butter (or oil), vanilla, and milk/lemon juice mixture.
- Add flour, salt, and baking powder. Stir to combine.
- Preheat your waffle iron. Spray quickly with cooking spray if your waffle iron tends to stick. Add batter and cook according to your waffle iron’s timer, or approximately 2 to 3 minutes.
- Top with your choice of a berry blend or maple syrup. For the berry blend, simply heat frozen berries in a saucepan until they start to release their juices and are warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Share with me: Have you ever used einkorn flour? What did you make with it? Do you think you’d love these einkorn waffles?
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David @ Spiced
Oh, I love a good waffle! My waffle iron has been feeling a bit neglected, and I’m thinking these waffles would be a good way to fix that problem. I’ve never baked with Einkorn flour before, but I do love to bake…so of course I need to try it out! Looks amazing!!
Chrissy Carroll
Thanks so much David! Hope you get a chance to try out the einkorn flour and do some baking/cooking with it. 🙂
Retta
These look delicious! Very interesting stuff about the history and development of today’s commercial wheat.
Chrissy Carroll
Right?! It was a good history lesson for me.
Abbey Sharp
I’ve never heard of this ancient grain, so I need to bust out the waffle iron and try this asap!
Chrissy Carroll
Yes, definitely give it a whirl!
Deborah @ Confessions of mother runner
I have never used einkorn flour I am intrigued! I will have to check these out they look delicious
Chrissy Carroll
Thanks so much! They are definitely tasty 🙂
Sarah
I haven’t heard of this grain before but these waffles look yummy! I’ll have to check it out.
Chrissy Carroll
Thanks Sarah! You could easily make regular whole wheat waffles too, but these just come out so light & fluffy.
Annmarie
These do look truly delicious! Love the berries on top!
Chrissy Carroll
Best way of topping a waffle (in my opinion)!
Rebecca
these waffles look amazing! im definitely going to try this wheat
Chrissy Carroll
Yay! Glad you’re going to try ’em.
Rachel
I’ve never heard of einkorn but I’m all about waffles. Sounds like a great recipe and I can’t wait to try it!
Chrissy Carroll
I’m all about waffles too, my friend. 🙂
Emily
I’ve never heard of einkorn flour! But these sound soo good! mmm nothing like classic waffles for breakie
Chrissy Carroll
Such a classic breakfast treat!
Jessica Kuepfer
I have never actually heard about this flour but you totally had me at waffles!
Chrissy Carroll
Haha! Who doesn’t love waffles?!
jill conyers
I’ve never tried cooking or baking with einkorn flour. Thanks for including more info on that specific type of flour.
Chrissy Carroll
Sure thing Jill!
Angela Cardamone @marathonsandmotivation.com
These look so delicious! I have a waffle iron, but have not used it in a few years, so I am going to break it out!! I had not heard of Einkorn flour, so I wll have to look for it now!!
Chrissy Carroll
We go through phases with it, but for the most part we make some kind of sweet waffle (or hashbrown waffle, or cornbread waffle) once every week or two. They’re just so fun!
Mikki
I love my waffle iron! Comes in quite handy for family breakfast dinner every once and awhile. These waffles look delish. I have never made anything with Eikorn flour before.
Chrissy Carroll
Breakfast for dinner is the best kind of dinner! 😉
Anna
I bought 30 lbs of Einkorn flour in a bulk order and was looking for an easy waffle recipe. I doubled the recipe to freeze leftovers and my family loved these waffles BUT I had to add 1/4 cup of coconut sugar in order to make the waffles palatable for my children 😉 Will report on how the leftover waffles are doing after popping them back into toaster.
Great site! Will come back for inspiration and recipes again!
Chrissy Carroll
Haha, the kiddos can be tough, right?! I think my son definitely has a taste for sweeter things too so I totally understand modifying it to fit what works for them.
I love the leftover waffles; if you can’t get ’em to crisp enough in the toaster you can also pop them in the oven on 400 degrees for 5-8 min or so and they come out nice and crispy.
Barbara
Made these this morning & they were a hit! Followed directions exactly only added a little cinnamon, cardamom & coconut blossom. Will definitely make again! Thank you!
Chrissy Carroll
Yay, this is so great to hear Barbara! Glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
Ell
I made your recipe and added 1/4 c. brown sugar cane granules, and this is the first waffle ever that my partner has really liked (he’s picky). Well done!
Chrissy Carroll
I’m so glad to hear you both enjoyed them! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment 🙂
Vittoria
Made these and the entire family loved them!! Very quick and easy too! I made a homemade strawberry sauce to go with them (frozen strawberries cooked down with 1 tsp each of honey and lemon juice). I also used whole milk, salted butter (omitted additional salt), and added 1 tbs brown sugar. For anyone looking for measurements in weight – 2 cups of all purpose einkorn flour is 240g (according to Jovial foods website) and the 3 tbs of butter is 42.6 grams (14.2g x 3)!
Chrissy Carroll
Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed them. The homemade strawberry sauce on top sounds just delightful!
Katherine
Took me forever to find a good waffle recipe that uses einkorn flour, but i finally found it! These are by far the yummiest waffles I have ever had. I absolutely love how the lemon juice makes it taste. Whenever I make these I always have everyone ask how I made them. 10/10!!
Chrissy Carroll
Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed the waffles. They’re a big hit around my house too 🙂
hana
Hi
could this be used for pancakes too?
can i leave out the lemon juice?
where can i find a good waffle iron that is non toxic in the uk?
tks
Chrissy Carroll
Hi! You could use a similar recipe for pancakes; usually waffle batter has a bit more fat than pancake batter so I’d probably drop the butter to around 1-2 tbsp instead of 3.
The lemon juice creates a faux buttermilk. I like the taste, but you can leave it out if you’d prefer since this recipe uses baking powder rather than baking soda (usually buttermilk is used when you use baking soda as it gives the leavening agent an acid to work with).
I’m over here in the US so I’m not sure about waffle irons in the UK, but I might check Amazon as a starting place.
tracee
I’m sure this recipe is great as written but I only added 2 tbsp. of oil and separated the eggs, adding the yolks only to wet ingredients, whipping the whites to stiff peaks and folded them in at the end since I only make Belgian waffles. They turned out great, but I have decided to stick w/ to savory recipes with Einkorn flour because it takes too much sweetener to make them sweet enough. I am trying to cut down on sugar. Thanks for sharing.
Chrissy Carroll
It sounds like they turned out wonderful with your modifications! I know it can be tough to cut down on sweeteners. Sometimes I use a little Lakanto Golden in place of some of the sugar in a recipe – it’s an erythritol and monkfruit blend. I don’t like using it completely b/c I can notice the difference in taste (and sometimes erythritol creates almost a cooling sensation) — but I do find using it as a substitute for 1/4 to 1/2 of the sugar in recipes can be useful and not overly noticeable. Might be another option for you! 🙂
Jess
This recipe was AMAZING. Soft, fluffy, thick, and delicious! Working with Einkorn can be a little tricky sometimes but this recipe was SUPER EASY, I was able to use only one bowl which I loved about this recipe. Anyways my whole family LOVED them. This recipe is a keeper in our home, thank you so much for sharing. I will be sharing this with my fellow Einkorn lover friends as well!
Chrissy Carroll
So glad you enjoyed them! Thank you for the lovely comment. 🙂
Priscilla
Hi there! Can I just swap out the milk and lemon for buttermilk? Would it taste sour? Thanks!
Chrissy Carroll
Buttermilk should work fine in this recipe – hope you enjoy it!
Rachel Martin
We made these this weekend and my husband thought they were the best tasting healthy waffles he’s had yet (and I’ve tried maybe 10+ recipes?)!
Can you pull together the batter the night before and just refrigerator it?
Chrissy Carroll
Hi Rachel! So glad you and your family enjoyed this. I’m not sure the batter would work exactly as-is to premake the night before, because baking powder starts to work immediately for leavening (and then activates again with heat). But I’d think if you made the batter without the baking powder, then stirred that in and let sit for a few minutes when you were heating up the waffle iron, that should work to keep the waffles light and fluffy. 🙂 If you try it, let me know how it works.
Brenda
We loved these! I blended the batter in my Vitamix for 30 seconds or so to get the batter nice and smooth…fluffed up incredibly well. Nice and crisp!
Chrissy Carroll
Yay, so glad you enjoy them!