Orange Oat Waffles!

I'm officially one week into Junior year! Wahoo!! Overall, it has been really good. It's great getting to see some people I hadn't seen in a while. I'm a little worried though because all the teachers say junior year is the most difficult academically. The teachers encourage us to be in extracurricular activities and sports and all these different things but when are we supposed to do these things and complete all the homework/studying necessary to be a good student? There are so many things I want to be involved in, but it's just hard to find the time and still maintain good grades! That's my rant for the day.

On to some food. A few weeks ago I decided I wanted waffles. Yes, it was dinner time, but so what? I googled a few waffle recipes, even went so far as to print one out. However, recipe following and I just don't get along. For me, cooking is a creative outlet and how creative can you be when following a set of instructions? I'd heard many other bloggers talk about  oat flour but had never tried it myself; I decided this needed to change. Into my trustee little Magic Bullet went a bunch of oats and some flax seed. The base of my waffles was formed.

Upon opening my fridge, I realized I was all out of almond milk which I was planning to use as the liquid in my waffle batter. Orange juice caught my eye, so I decided what the heck, why not  use OJ as my liquid?

Cinnamon and a few other ingredients were added and it was show time.

I poured the batter into my waffle iron, closed the lid and anxiously awaited the completion of my waffle cooking. And then I realized....I had not greased/sprayed/buttered the waffle iron. Oh no! Needless to say, this was a bit of a disaster and took a while to clean.

Yet, even after I was finished washing the waffle iron, one thing was still on my mind: I wanted to eat some waffles. I had a little batter left, enough for a mini waffle, so I sprayed the pan and poured it in. The results were very good so I mixed up some more batter and cooked up some more waffles. I made several waffles, but was waiting to eat the last one I made so it would be nice and fresh. I had just enough batter left for one more waffle so I poured it in. A few minutes later I opened the waffle iron and realized I had forgotten to grease the pan, again! Luckily, this time wasn't nearly as bad as the pan had already been sprayed when I was cooking previous waffles. In fact, I was able to salvage most of the waffle. But still, you'd think I'd learn from my first mistake!

Mistakes aside, these waffle were delicious and I couldn't stop thinking about them. So a few days later, I decided to make them again. I remembered to spray the pan this time and even made enough that I was able to freeze some and now can just pop them in the toaster for an easy weekday breakfast...or dinner, whichever.

Spread with cashew butter and a little orange agave dipping sauce (I've never been a fan of syrup).

These waffles are so good! I wish I had an exact recipe to share, I may try to come up with one to post in the future. I can tell you that the following things went into the mix

• 
  
  oats (blended to a flour consistency)
• 
  
  flax (also blended)
• 
  
  orange juice
• 
  
  eggs
• 
  
  cinnamon
• 
  
  vanilla
• 
  
  baking soda

I encourage you try your favorite waffle recipe, but substituting oat flour and using orange juice and part of the liquid. It adds a really nice flavor and a little sweetness without being too sweet.

When I make them in the future, I plan to add some orange zest as I think it'll boost these waffles to an even higher level of flavorfulness.

When you don't have all the ingredients for a recipe you want to make do you improvise or wait until you can get the ingredients called for?

Whats the biggest mishap you've ever encountered while cooking/baking?

I hope you are having a magnificent Monday.

-Ann Claire