Dairy-Free Waffles

The great debate: Pancakes or waffles?

My husband is a huge fan of waffles and is apathetic towards pancakes. I love both! It’s so easy to customize waffles by adding oats, chocolate, or fresh fruit. I particularly enjoy adding ground flax seed for a little extra protein.

The great thing about waffles is that the waffle pattern is perfectly made to catch melted butter and maple syrup. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water!

Of course, every family has their waffle recipe. I particularly like this one because it is quick to mix together and has a great flavor and texture!

Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of milk of your choice (almond milk makes it a bit harder to brown the waffle- I like using coconut milk or a couple teaspoons of powdered coconut milk and water)
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 6 teaspoons oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-2 tablespoons sugar (Optional- I like to add some sugar to help the waffles crisp up)
• 1/4 cup ground flax seed (Optional)
• 1/4 cup of add-ins: chocolate chips, blueberries, pecans, etc.

Directions:

1. Mix milk, eggs, vanilla, and oil together.
2. Add flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, and ground flax seed.
3. Mix until just combined. If you mix too much it will turn tough. It’s ok if there are lumps.
4. Cook in a hot waffle iron, top with butter and syrup, and enjoy!

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Lactose-Free German Pancakes

Breakfast foods are so versatile- they make Saturday mornings memorable, bring friends together for a late brunch, or make dinner quick and easy. Even though we don’t have kids, we still have plenty of days when I come home exhausted and don’t want to make a true dinner- so we have breakfast for dinner at least once a week.

One of our favorite things to eat for breakfast (or dinner) is German Pancakes. They have six eggs in them, which is three times the amount I put into normal pancakes, so I like to think that we get some protein in under all that syrup.

I prefer to bake the German pancakes in my cast-iron skillet, but it’s perfectly fine to bake it in a 9×13 glass pan too.

Recipe

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 1 cup of lactose-free milk
• 4 Tablespoons of lactose-free melted butter, plus 2-4 tablespoons more for melting in the pan
• 1-2 Tablespoon of sugar
• 1/2 Teaspoon of salt
• 1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 cup of flour
• One thinly sliced apple (Optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and place the 9-inch cast-iron pan or the 9×13 pan into the oven.
2. Place all of the ingredients except for the flour into a blender.
3. Then add the flour.
4. Blend together until smooth, scrape down the sides of the blender, and blend again for a few more seconds.
5. Add the 2-4 tablespoons of butter into the preheated pan and let it melt. It should only take a few seconds.
6. Pour the blended mixture into the pan and bake for 15-18 minutes. The edges of the German pancakes should be golden brown and puffed past the sides of the pan.
7. Top with maple syrup and sautéed apples (optional).

Side Notes:

• You can mix everything in a bowl with a whisk, of course, but the texture isn’t as smooth without the blender.
• I prefer baking German pancakes in a high-sided cast iron skillet because it turns out thicker and has a custard-like consistency, but they are delicious no matter what you bake it in!
• I like to put apple slices on the bottom of the pan and bake the German pancakes on top, but my husband doesn’t like the texture. So I sautéed the apples until soft in some Ghee, honey, and a little cinnamon to top my German pancakes. Delicious!
• If you are wondering where I get my lactose-free butter and milk, I have recipes on how to make your own on the blog.

Teriyaki Sauce

Japanese food wasn’t familiar to me until I married my husband. His mom lived in Japan for a year and a half and his uncle is from Japan. My in-laws don’t have Japanese food often, but when they do, it is a delicious treat! This recipe is from his uncle, and we prefer it to any store- bought teriyaki sauce.

Asian cuisine is a great way to avoid putting dairy into your diet. There are far more people in Asia who are lactose-intolerant than there are in the United States, so it makes sense that they don’t use as much milk as we do. We have Asian meals two or three times a week. It’s a delicious way to pack in veggies and rice and avoid a grumpy stomach.

Teriyaki sauce is a very simple way to dress up a bowl of rice or some steamed vegetables. My husband and I especially enjoy gyoza with teriyaki sauce. After making a batch of the sauce, we like to keep our teriyaki sauce in a little Snapware container on the top shelf of our fridge so we always have teriyaki sauce to dress up a meal.

Side Notes:

• The quality of the teriyaki sauce depends on the quality of the soy sauce you buy.
• This sauce is very strong and a little goes a long way- you probably only need half of a teaspoon for a bowl of rice.
• I have tried making it with brown sugar and white sugar. Either way, it still turns out delicious!
• This doesn’t taste like restaurant-style or store-bought teriyaki sauce. It is simple and delicious! Part of the reason I like it so much is because it is a simple recipe of only four ingredients.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp minced garlic or garlic powder
• 1 tsp grated ginger or ginger powder

1. Place all of the ingredients into a sauce pan and boil for three to five minutes or until the sugar is dissolved. You can boil the sauce for a few more minutes if you would like a thicker sauce. Be careful to not boil it too much- it could boil down into a weird teriyaki candy or boil over onto your stove. Definitely not the easiest thing to clean off your stove. Not that I know from experience…
2. Let the sauce cool (or not) and enjoy! This is a super simple way to incorporate some authentic Japanese flavor into meals!
3. Place the leftovers into an air-tight container and keep in the fridge. It will stay fresh for three to six months.