Waffles With a Tropical Twist

I hadn’t done breakfast in a while. Well, no. Pardon me. I do breakfast EVERY DAY!

Let me rephrase that… I mean, I hadn’t done a NEW breakfast item in a while.

While on vacation, I had a little bit more time to actually cook breakfast, so I thought it would be cool to give waffles a try. Healthy waffles, why not? I had some pineappple already cut up in the fridge, along with half a mango and some fresh coconut, so I figured I would do some sort of a tropical sauce to go with them.

While the waffles didn’t poof up as much as I would’ve liked them to, nor did they become real crispy and golden like waffles usually do, I was still fairly happy with the results. Even my daughter, who isn’t usually too impressed with my “healthyfication” of such great classics, thought that they were really good and said she was looking forward to eating them again.

The pineapple and mango sauce took some sort of a weird color however, probably due to the addition of black chia seeds, and looked perhaps more like some sort of a whole grain mustard than a sweet decadent, tropical waffle drenching sauce, but thank goodness, it sure tasted like the latter!

I will have to work on that one some more, to achieve that beautiful golden and crispy crust that waffles are known and loved for. But in the meantime, if you are craving waffles and want to indulge in a healthy way, by all means, give this version a try. It shouldn’t disappoint!

Ingredients
(makes 8 waffles)

Waffles

• 1 cup Old Fashioned Oats
• 1 cup Egg Whites
• 1 cup buttermilk
• ½ tsp Baking Powder
• ½ tsp Cinnamon

Mango Pineapple Sauce

• ¾ cup fresh pineapple, diced
• ¾ cup fresh mango, diced
• 2 tbsp agave nectar
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• ½ cup water
• 2 tsp lemon juice

Instructions

1. For the Mango Pineapple sauce: In a small saucepan, cook mango, pineapple, water, lemon juice, chia seeds and agave nectar over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the fruits start to “melt” and sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. When sauce is ready, set aside to cool for about 5 minutes and puree in a food processor.
2. For the waffles: Preheat your waffle maker. Start by processing your oats to a fine powder in food processor. Add baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
3. In a mixing bowl, whisk egg whites to soft peak consistency.
4. In a separate mixing bowl, add buttermilk to the dry ingredients and whisk until well combined, then delicately fold in egg whites.
5. Cook the waffles according to the specifications of your waffle maker. You should use about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of batter per waffle.
6. pancakes, whatever works for you.
7. When waffles are ready, transfer them to serving plate and garnish with a few slices of mango and fresh coconut shavings.
8. Serve with Pineapple and Mango sauce.