Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Waffle

Usually I make waffles and freeze them for a quick breakfast whenever I need it. These chocolate with chocolate chips waffles are delicious, a little extra treat to start my morning. They do not last very long at all, it's kinda hard to do portion control when it's this tempting.

As a bonus I can top the waffles with so many different things. Like peanut butter, a coffee glaze, whipped cream and of course more chocolate. I suppose you could easily make this into a fancy dessert, I'm thinking caramel and ice cream!

The waffles are not the "lightest", without eggs or helpers like flax meal they may be a little more "bready", still a nice crisp on the outside especially if you follow my suggestion to place them in a keep warm oven setting until they're served. Straight from the fridge however, they toast up nicely.

Give the recipe a try, message me if you have questions and please enjoy it!

Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Waffles

Ingredients

1 cup brown rice flour*

1/3 cup potato starch (not potato flour)*

1/8 cup tapioca starch*

½ tsp xanthan gum*

¼ tsp salt (loosely packed)*

¼ cup sugar (more to preference)

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

¼ cup natural cocoa powder**

handful of chocolate chips

2 tbsp aquafaba*** (you can sub with non dairy milk)

¼ cup of oil

¼ tsp vanilla extract

½ tbsp vinegar

1 cup water (or more as needed; non dairy milk can work)

*Can substitute with an equal amount of a GF flour blend. If the blend has xanthan gum and/or salt there is no need to add more Every blend will give a slightly different result. The recipe can be modified accordingly e.g. with more water or baking powder

**I use natural and dutch processed cocoa powder, 2 tbsps each

***Aquafaba is the liquid brine collected from boiling chickpeas (channa), You can also drain the brine from a can of chickpeas in which case you may need less or no salt in the recipe. Check the ingredients on the back of the can to verify.

Directions

Add all of the dry ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, to a bowl and mix well to combine

Add the wet ingredients, start with 3/4 cup of the water. If you are using a mixer, beat for about 30 seconds on a low speed then on high for another 30 seconds. The mixture should be no thicker than pancake batter, it may in fact be better if the mix was a little runny. Add more water if needed

Fold in the chocolate chips

Preheat a waffle iron according to the manufacturer's instructions. You may have to lightly oil your waffle maker before using, however I did not.

When your waffle maker is ready, pour the batter into the waffle maker and cook according to the manufacturer's instructions. I used a mini waffle maker and each waffle took about ¼ cup

If you are using the waffles right away, place them on a wire rack and leave them inside of your oven or warming draw pre-heated to a keep warm setting. They should stay crisp until you are ready to serve. Alternately you could toast what you need until you get the desired crispness. Waffles store very well in the freezer, reheat to serve, no need to thaw.

Healthier Trini Style Gluten Free Doubles

Doubles is the most popular street food in Trinidad and Tobago. It's a light and puffy turmeric dough (bara), fried and served with mildly curried channa (chickpeas) and various chutneys. Messing with doubles is considered a punishable offense by the many self proclaimed zealots. Every visitor is enthusiastically encouraged to taste doubles, dissent is not recommended

This is my recipe for doubles. The bara is soft and has the “chewiness” of regular bara but it is healthier since it features oat flour and urdi dhal.

To all you connoisseurs out there my recipe is not intended to replace the real thing. However it's an answer for the many of us who tragically have lived in doubles exile and want to be included. So, are we all good now?

Gluten Free Trini Doubles

Picture credit : Becky Hadeed https://www.instagram.com/thestoriedrecipe.podcast/

To make the channa (chick peas)

Ingredients

1 can pre-cooked channa

2 tbsp oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped finely

1/2 onion, chopped finely

1 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp ground geera (cumin)

1 tsp garam masala

1-2 leaves of chadon beni (culantro not cilantro)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat oil in a saucepan

Add the onion and the garlic, saute on low heat for about a minute. Add the channa with enough water to cover

Put the lid on the saucepan and on low heat, cook the channa until it is soft enough to be crushed

With a fork, mash the channa, you do not need all the channa to be broken down

Ensure that there is enough water so the channa “gravy” is somewhat thick. Add the curry, geera, chadon beni, and garam masala. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer for a few minutes until you get the desired consistency. Set aside and make the bara

To make the gluten free and vegan bara

Ingredients

1 cup oat flour ½ tbsp ground urdi dhal 1/3 tsp xanthan gum ¼ tsp turmeric 1 tsp yeast 2 tsp baking powder ¼ tsp salt ¼ tsp brown sugar

½ – ¾ cup water (add more by tablespoon)

Oil for frying

Tapioca starch for shaping the dough*

*another finely ground flour or starch will work

Directions

(See the note below for an alternate method)

Combine all of the dry ingredients, mix well. Add water to form a sticky dough (this might be more than stated in the recipe). Break the dough (bara) into smaller pieces about 2 tablespoons each. The bara will be sticky and difficult to work with initially. Keep your hands dusted with tapioca starch or form the rounds on a surface that has been dusted with the tapioca. Do not add more flour to the dough, it must be sticky. I also do not recommend working with oiled hands, the dough will absorb some of that oil affecting the quality of the cooked bara. Set the bara rounds aside on a lightly oiled surface to rest for a while, 30 minutes or so. Cover with oiled or non stick surface. For a better flavor and a softer bara, you can let the rounds slow rise in the refrigerator overnight.

When the dough is ready, prepare a pot with oil for deep frying, the oil must be hot before starting! Before rolling out the bara, dust your hands and the work surface with tapioca starch. Flatten a piece of bara with our fingers to 3-4” round. The bara is delicate but workable once your surface is properly dusted. Working on parchment paper or a silpat mat is a great help. In this case you will flatten the dough and when you are ready raise one edge of the pachment or silpat mat to flip the dough onto your hand. Carefully place the bara into the hot oil. The bara will get air bubbles immediately as it hits the oil, when this happens flip the bara to the other side. The bara takes less than a minute to cook, bubbling and floating are sure signs that the bara is cooked. Drain on a paper towel and move at once to a plate, bowl etc. lined with a tea towel (kitchen towel). Keep it wrapped and covered. In between each bara I use parchment paper to prevent the bara from sticking together. The stacking of the bara contributes to the floppiness we expect from doubles. The bara is best served warm.

To serve spoon some of the channa on top of 2 pieces of bara, add chutney, garnish with grated cucumbers and add pepper sauce to your liking

Notes:

I'm putting this at the very end because I know that most of us prefer quick and easy recipes. I have not tested every variation possible and I know this recipe will evolve and improve over time. In the meantime I have tried the yukone or tangzhong method of scalding flour with success. The ingredients are the same, there is just an additional step in the directions. This method is meant to improve the texture of the dough making it softer, perfect for our gluten free vegan doubles bara!

The Yukone or Tangzhong Method

Before putting the dough together, measure out 1/4 cup of the oat flour. To that add an equal amount of water. Whisk until smooth, if the mixture is thick like bread batter add more water, it should be pourable at this stage. In a small skillet heat this mixture until it forms a thick paste, this time to the consistency of bread batter. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Continue with the recipe as stated, adjust the flour to 3/4 cup and add the yukone with the wet ingredients, adjust the amount of water as needed.

Gluten Free Doubles Bara in process

Gluten Free Doubles

Gluten Free, Vegan Wonton Wrappers

When you're on a gluten free diet, especially if it's because you have health issues, it can seem like you're missing out on so much. Eating can become a task to find something safe. You also have limited options for dining out.

For a few of the more popular food items like pizza, there are pre-cooked frozen options. Whilst it's great to just pick something up without the hassle of cooking from scratch, these frozen items are not always the best choice, definitely not something you want to have on an everyday basis. The frozen food can be costly, the serving portion small and a few of the ingredients questionable.

Those facts are at the heart of why I write recipes. I do not want to miss out, I want to have a diverse and satisfying culinary experience. Sure, cooking or baking from scratch is not always convenient, it takes some planning. However, it is mostly very satisfying and in the long term you save money.

As a child shrimp wontons were very popular, I did not like shrimp but I loved wonton wrappers. I would often fry the wrapper (I call it wonton skins) without a filling and have it as a snack or appetizer along with a dip, yummy!

You can imagine how happy I was when this recipe worked! I could now make wontons with whatever filling I liked and of course I could use the wrappers with a "chip and dip".

I know that there are many ways to wrap wontons, feel free to use whatever method works best for you. Above all I hope the wontons satisfies your craving for this Chinese delicacy.

Gluten Free Vegan Wonton Wrappers

Gluten Free, Vegan Wonton Wrappers Recipe Ingredients ½ cup oat flour

¼ cup quinoa flour

¼ cup cornstarch

2 tbsp cornmeal (I used white cornmeal)

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

½ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp brown sugar

½ cup water (add more by tablespoon) Other ingredients

Oil for frying

Tapioca starch (or any finely ground GF flour)

Filling of choice (pre-cooked)

Directions Combine all of the dry ingredients. Add the water, if more is needed add a tablespoon at a time. Knead or mix to form a firm but not dry dough. Once combined use wet hands to press the flour mixture into a smooth-ish ball. Let the dough rest 15-30 mins.

Divide the dough into four, put aside three pieces and cover them with plastic wrap, misting lightly with water to keep moist.

Before rolling out the wrappers, heat your oven, toaster oven or warming drawer to the keep warm setting (about 200F). If you have an oven thermometer, use this to determine the temperature of your oven, If it gets above 225F turn it off, the residual heat of the oven should be sufficient.

Knead or roll the first piece of dough on a surface sprinkled with tapioca starch to form as smooth a ball as possible. Carefully roll out the ball into a long rectangular shape, keeping the surface lightly floured to prevent sticking. Rolling out between two sheets of plastic wrap helps. The thinner it’s rolled without breaking or tearing, the better the wonton. Lift or turn the rolled out rectangle to ensure that it is not sticking to the surface, dust with more tapioca starch if needed. Cut the rectangle into squares about 3 ½” square.

Working with one square, fill, wrap and set aside until all the pieces in the set are ready. Keep the filled wontons and any unused dough covered with a damp paper towel. I use a small paintbrush to apply the water to the edges of the wrapper before shaping. You can dust your fingers with the same flour or starch you are using to roll out the wantons. Using these steps prevent the wanton from tearing.

For more info on how to fill and fold wantons check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTxbKTZgHBQ

You can deep fry the first batch of wantons or wait until all are ready, the wantons or unused dough must not be allowed to become dry, keep them covered with a damp paper towel.

After frying drain the wantons on a paper towel, but move them just as quickly to a tray inside of your oven or warming draw pre-heated to a keep warm setting. In this way the wantons should retain most of it's crispness. Better if served hot and on the same day.

Note: The more you make the easier it gets, you’ll eventually figure out how much water you need and how much pressure to apply when kneading out the dough