What do you get when you combine greek yogurt, beaten eggs whites, cinnamon, and applesauce into a waffle? A flavorful, light and fluffy, sugar-free breakfast treat.
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During my Whole30, I abstained from sugar. Today, almost a week after the 30 days ended, I’ve continued my sugar fast. Okay, I put one teaspoon in my coffee this morning. But, other than that, I’ve been living sugar-free.
I don’t want to. Don’t get me wrong. I love sweet stuff. And the Whole30 showed me that. It brought me to the point of eating Larabars which I previously did not like in order to get just a taste of sweet.
But, I found that not having sugar on a regular basis has made a huge difference in my energy levels. I’m not exhausted by noon. I’m even able to pull a late-nighter without being completely trashed the next day. Could it be something else? Maybe, but I’m putting my bet on sugar.
In light of that, I’m on a mission to reduce the added sugar I feed my family. Don’t worry, my kids are not being deprived of fun. I figure if I can make a sugar-free or less processed alternative that’s just as good…. well, why not?
Last week we talked about the beauties of the waffle maker. And I’ve been making a lot of waffles lately, like these Buttermilk Corn Waffles and these Oatmeal Waffles. I went to bed one night concocting this recipe in my head. Greek yogurt, homemade applesauce, eggs, cinnamon. I tried it out this week. In the midst of mixing it up, I decided not to add any sweetener. I’d let the applesauce and cinnamon — and maybe a dousing of real maple syrup at the end — add the sweet.
I remembered a technique from The Joy of Cooking where the eggs were separated and the whites whipped into peaks and folded into the waffle batter. I decided to give that a go. While it adds an extra step and another bowl to wash, I found it to be a fair trade off, especially if you’re going to make waffles a special memory, as so many of the commenters on this post seem to hold.
I also learned that I need to make double batches from now on. There were none left.
Sugar-free Cinnamon Waffles
Ingredients
- 2 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt regular is fine, too
- 4 egg separated
- 1 cup applesauce try homemade
- 1/2 cup neutral oil
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In another mixing bowl, whisk together the milk and yogurt. Stir in the egg yolks, applesauce, and oil. Whisk to combine well.
- In another bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
- Pour milk mixture into the dry mixture. Stir gently to combine. Some dry bits are okay.
- Fold in the egg whites until evenly dispersed.
- Cook in a waffle maker according to the manufacturer's directions.
- Make-ahead tips: Mix the dry ingredients together and store in a ziptop bag. Make many at one time and label with mixing instructions. Alternatively, cool baked waffles on a rack and freeze them for quick toaster breakfasts.
Notes
Nutrition
Try these waffles for a fun weekend breakfast. Serving them with maple syrup or homemade whipped cream (lightly sweetened, of course!) and fresh fruit for a slightly sweeter indulgence.
To make them ahead, make a mix or freeze the cooled waffles for easy toaster breakfasts.
Carla says
Sounds wonderful! Do you think part of the flour could be substituted for white whole wheat, or would that be too heavy for this recipe’s makeup? (I haven’t done a whole lot with egg whites).
Jessica says
@Carla, I thought about it, but with the sifting, you’ll lose some of the “whole ness”. I think you could pull it off with whole wheat pastry flour, but I didn’t have any to try it out on. You can do it with regular ww, but it won’t be very “light”.
Erin says
@Jessica, I did it today with all whole wheat pastry flour, and my 6 yr old picky girl had seconds and thirds!
Jessica says
@Erin, yay! Good to know.
Kathy says
I think I need to find a waffle maker! These sound wonderful!
Sweetlana says
From personal experience, you can put whole wheat flour in anything. It doesn’t have to be white whole wheat, because there’s no such thing as “white” whole wheat. Anything white is processed and that’s not healthy. I stopped using all purpose flour years ago. I substitute 100% whole wheat flour for all purpose flour everywhere, and where I can’t, I just stay away from that recipe, because it can’t be good for you! I’ve made 100% whole wheat chocolate chip cookies that taste just as good, if not better than the regular kind; I make cakes, muffins, quick breads, you name it with whole wheat flour, even stuff you wouldn’t dream of putting whole wheat flour in: brownies and corn bread of all things! All purpose flour stays in your gut forever, the longer it sits there the more damage it does. Whole wheat flour shoots right through you, little to no damage done! And, here’s the biggy about sugar (somewhat off the subject but not by much) — I find recipes call for way too much sugar than necessary, so I always only add 75% of what’s called for. Where I can, I substitute brown sugar. It tastes good and the texture isn’t even compromised! Well, that’s my 2-cents. Great blog! 😀
Laura says
@Sweetlana, The white in white whole wheat refers to the variety of wheat, white wheat as opposed to red wheat. Red wheat has a stronger wheat-y taste. I grind my own at home but King Arthur sells a white wheat flour. It substitutes for all-purpose flour beautifully. I can only assume other whole wheat flours available at the supermarket are red wheat.
Cheri A says
Oh, I’m so making these tomorrow! I may even try them gluten-free for two in my fam.
Lisa says
I would double check the ingredient list on your yogurt. I’m doing a modified paleo diet and when I tried to buy yogurt I found that every single variety on the store shelf had sugar in it-even the greek yogurts. Sugar is hidden in nearly every food and it’s quite discouraging.
Jessica says
I get plain yogurt or make it myself. But, thanks for letting us know!
Beth says
All dairy milk products have inherent – not added – “sugars” from the lactose that is naturally in milk. If you carefully choose a brand of PLAIN regular or Greek yogurt, you will be able to buy one with no added sugar. (Unlike anything with fruit or even vanilla flavors, which all will have added sugars.) Check the ingredients list – for plain yogurts, the ONLY ingredients should be (1) milk and (2) probiotic live yogurt cultures. Steer clear if you see thickeners (guar gum, tapioca, cornstarch, etc) or of course, sugar. I suggest Fage plain Greek yogurt or Siggis plain yogurts, both of which have no added sugars and pretty much the lowest carb and highest protein per serving.
Sara says
I just made these for Saturday-morning breakfast, and they were fantastic! I followed the recipe exactly, except I skipped the step about separating the eggs and beating the whites separately. My husband (who is decidedly skeptical of anything “health-foody”) was extremely enthusiastic. I think next time I’ll experiment with using some whole-wheat flour, but these were really perfect.
June says
I finally made these and I love the light and fluffyness of the egg whites whipped Yum! I think Paula Dean is on to something with butter it made the waffles sort of crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside when I cooked them in a little butter! Yum. Next time I’m using whole wheat or almond flour! Thank you for sharing all your research with us so I DONT have to do it!
Jessica Fisher says
So glad you enjoyed them!
Julie says
Made these tonight. Winner winner waffle dinner! My kids had seconds and requested more so I’ll be making a freezer batch tomorrow!
Jessica Fisher says
Love it! Thanks for letting me know.
Jaime says
These look very good! Could you just make them like pancakes if you don’t have a waffle maker?
Jessica Fisher says
I’ve never tried it, but I can’t imagine why not?
Charlotte says
Because I’m being all the pregnant crazy, I tripled this. One batch for today and 2 for the freezer. I have never been more grateful for my Bosch mixer for all the egg whites. I used ALL the mixing bowls.
And my kids loved them.
So now I feel like all the work was worth it.
Yummy recipe. Thank You!
Jessica Fisher says
Yay! So glad they were a hit. Congrats on the new little one! Such a sweet time.