Waffles ARE Life!

Waffles have been one of my most favorite things since I was big enough to eat them.  When I was little, my mom had my grandmother's waffle iron from the 1920's.  It had been rewired to use modern outlets.   It was lovely with deep holes.  All the waffle irons of the late 70's and early 80's were shallow and pretty pointless.  I am so happy that there is such a selection of waffle irons today.  I have a new, ceramic iron that makes fabulously deep waffles.  My mom said that waffles were her favorite food when she was growing up in the 1930's.  She would meticulously fill each "hole" in her waffle with butter and hot syrup.  Then, and only then, was it time to dig in.  Waffles are meant to be mellow and eggy on the inside and crispy and buttery on the outside.  This recipe delivers.  It is the recipe my mom used when I was growing up.  I use the adaption at the end of the recipe because a pound of butter is a lot to use when making waffles for the whole family.
This recipe makes it to my Month of Celiac Awareness because it was one of the first gluten free finds we made.  When making regular waffles, gluten in your enemy.  You have to be careful not to over mix the batter so you don't activate the gluten and start fighting that battle.  Gluten makes it harder for your waffles to be fluffy.  Gluten free flour is your friend.  It allows the batter to be more cake-like.  It maintains its shape better and crisps up beautifully.

Sunday Supper Gluten Free Waffles

2 cups gluten free flour mix
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups milk
4 eggs separated
6 tbsp melted butter

• Start by heating your waffle iron.
• In a large bowl, mix together your flour, baking powder, and salt. 
• Combine the milk and egg yolks.  Beat the whites until stiff.  
• Add the milk-egg yolk mixture to the dry ingredients.  Stir together.  
• Stir in the slightly cooled butter.  Fold in the egg whites.  
• Pour batter into the waffle iron.  The batter should fill to 1" from the edge of the iron to allow for expansion.  
• Bake until steaming stops OR until that lovely green light lights up and tells you the waffle is done.  
• Lift out the waffle onto your plate and enjoy with your favorite topping.  
• Makes about 8 waffles.

When we converted this recipe to gluten free, we discovered that the flour mix you use is very important.  The mix we use is Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten free flour mix.  It has the best texture and flavor that we have found and it is locally available so it wins.  I am sure there are other mixes out there you can use.  You couple probably make your own.  I did not want to spend my time currently discovering that when I found that our friends at Bob's Red Mill already did all the experimenting for us.  

We also have learned that you have to check your other ingredients for hidden gluten.  Baking powder can contain wheat starch.  Not cool! They don't have to list it as wheat either.  So always always check.  We use Rumford baking powder.  It is gluten free and aluminum free which is awesome.