Peachy Keen Treats Using Old-School Gadgets

If you read my monthly newsletter, you know that I took a family trip recently. I promise to post an update about that as soon as I can get my bearings (I’m still not totally unpacked!). But for now you get these peachy recipes…Peach Waffles topped with Peach Ice Cream!

Our family trip involved driving to Florida. On the way down all of the signs for Georgia peaches got me craving them. The ones I’ve gotten this summer in Pennsylvania haven’t been all that ripe. The last time I made my peach water ice recipe, it came out a little blah. I decided that on the drive back home I would pick up some of the ripe and juicy peaches that Georgia is famous for. I confess I ate a few immediately. But, I wanted to make some peachy treats for the kids with the ones that made it the rest of the way home.

This inspired me to try out some old-school kitchen gadgets. On our vacation, we stayed with my aunt and she gave me this stove top waffle iron. It’s likely from the 70s, since it’s avocado green. Another aunt had previously given me this ice cream maker. Yes, everyone dumps their crap on me when they downsize – just kidding, they know that I do a lot of cooking from scratch now. This is a great way for me to make ice cream that Christopher, my son who has severe autism and multiple food allergies, can enjoy with the rest of the kids because even the dairy-free stuff in the store has additives or some ingredient that he can’t tolerate.

That brings me to the Peachy Waffles à La Mode (which is kind of funny because even though the thought of them makes my mouth water, pre-autism/special diets/healthy living Joanna would never have made this from scratch as long as Eggos and Häagen-Dazs existed). These recipes contain no dairy, wheat/gluten, corn, sugar, or dyes. They are grain-free and mostly (there is a little baking powder) PALEO and GAPS legal. The peachy sweetness of the ice cream is a perfect complement to the hint of peaches in the savory waffles, but you can of course enjoy either one on its own. The recipes will yield about a pint of ice cream, and about 12 small (3-4 large) waffles.

I’m told that you can make the ice cream without the ice cream maker by blending the mixture and then pouring it into a bowl or baking dish lined with plastic and then freezing for 45 minutes. But, I’ve never tried it so I can’t vouch for how that will turn out. I don’t think there is a way to make the waffles without a waffle iron though!

Peachy Ice Cream (dairy-free)

Ingredients

• 2 large peaches, chopped
• 2 small frozen bananas (Take the peel off before freezing!)
• Juice of 1/2 lemon, about 1 or 2 TBS (strain out any stray seeds)
• 1 cup full fat coconut milk (this brand comes in a BPA-free can)
• 4 TBS raw honey, divided (for this recipe, liquidy honey works best)
• 1 tsp (gluten-free) vanilla extract
• 1 pinch of sea salt

Directions

1. Freeze bananas (I only froze mine for the few hours it takes to prepare the ingredients and it turned out great. So, you don’t need to wait to get started if you don’t have bananas that are frozen. You DO need to make sure that the freezer bowl of your ice cream maker is completely frozen. For the one I have this takes from 6-22 hours).
2. Chop the peaches. I didn’t do anything special and I left the peels on. You could peel them or puree them but I like ice cream with chunks in it, so that’s what I was going for.
3. Put the peaches in a bowl and stir in 1/2 (2 TBS) of the honey.
4. Squeeze the lemon juice over the peaches and stir.
5. Let sit 2 hours, allowing the peaches to marinate.
6. In a separate mixing bowl, briskly whisk the remaining honey into the coconut milk.
7. Add in the frozen bananas, vanilla, salt, and the juice from the marinated peaches and combine, mashing the bananas with the fork. I gave this a quick whip with the hand mixer, but this isn’t really necessary because the ice cream maker will churn it all together.
8. Remove the ice cream maker’s freezer bowl from the freezer and assemble the ice cream maker.
9. Pour the mixture into the ice cream maker. Turn on and allow to churn until the mixture thickens, about 20 minutes.
10. Add in the marinated chopped peaches and allow to churn about 5 more minutes.
11. Turn off the machine and move your ice cream to a freezer safe container (or enjoy right away). This makes about a pint of ice cream and you will be amazed at how great it tastes.

Grain-Free Peachy Waffles

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk (this brand comes in a BPA-free can)
• 3 TBS ghee (or coconut oil)
• 2 TBS raw honey
• 2 tsp (gluten-free) vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 cup almond flour
• 4 TBS coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder (Eliminate if very sensitive. Baking powder is not PALEO and GAPS legal, but I use this brand, which is made from potato starch and not corn starch – and it’s only 1/2 tsp.)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 peaches, peeled and chopped

Directions

1. Preheat waffle iron.
2. Combine the wet ingredients (eggs, coconut milk, ghee, honey, vanilla, and lemon juice) in a mixing bowl.
3. Combine the dry ingredients (almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) in a separate bowl.
4. Gradually stir dry mixture into wet mixture until combined.
5. Stir in the chopped peaches (you can puree these first if you want a smoother mixture, but I wanted them to have peachy pieces, like blueberry waffles do).
6. Cook batter according to your waffle iron’s instructions (see my tips, and fails, below).

Waffle FAILS

I have a confession to make – I have never cooked waffles before. You might have guess that since I told you I just got the waffle iron. And I am NEVER good at doing something, especially cooking/baking, the first time I do it. So, I had a few waffle fails.

I really should have tried a practice batter before wasting so much of my peach batter. But everything I read online before attempting them said how easy they were, especially when using this great waffle iron I had, etc. So, apparently a monkey can figure out how to make waffles faster than I can, but I finally got it. That is also why my waffle pictures have one waffle (and it’s a circle waffle because I didn’t have enough batter left to fill the whole giant square of the waffle iron) instead of a gorgeous fluffy stack.

My first batch of waffles pulled apart and stuck to both sides of the waffle iron. It was a mess. I had to shake the crumbs out and then clean the waffle iron and start over. I was relieved that the crumbs tasted really delicious, but I was very frustrated because I am fully aware that no one wants to eat or look at a plate of waffle crumbs. Turns out it was a heating issue and when I finally got that figured out and made an actual waffle, it was super-burned (if the iron is hotter, you don’t need to cook the batter as long – who knew?). Finally, I got my yummy fluffy waffle (yes, singular). Here are some tips to help you avoid waffle fails if you are a newbie waffle maker too. I’ve included some pictures of the #FAILS for your amusement. I promise to post a future grain-free waffle recipe to redeem myself!

Tips for Making Waffles Using a Stove Top Waffle Iron

• Make sure the iron is really hot. You need to thoroughly heat the iron on both sides by rotating it on the stove. I read 2 minutes per side, but it needed closer to 8 minutes each (and then I did an extra minute on each side for any cooling that might have occurred). And of course then my smoke detector went off, so turn your vent fan on!
• Coat the waffle iron with oil even if is non-stick. The best way to do this is to by dipping a basting brush in oil (I used coconut oil) and coating the iron. Just make sure the brush is silicon so that the bristles won’t singe. And though it may be tempting to use a spray-on oil, over time this will damage the iron (and most are terrible for you anyway).
• As long as the iron is hot enough, you should only need to cook the batter about 90 seconds per side. Open the iron slowly to check (take just a little peek at first), so that if you need more time the waffle isn’t completely ruined.
• Don’t over-mix your batter. Thicker batters cook better. If you think it is too thin, you can refrigerate it for a few minutes to thicken it up a bit.
• You don’t need to put the batter all over the whole waffle maker. You can pour or scoop it in the center and it will run into the rest. If it is enough to fill the waffle maker (for me, this was about a cup of batter), it will make a big square (or 4 small squares). If it is less than this, the batter won’t make it to the edges and you’ll have a round waffle. It was helpful to me to use a ladle that had measurements on it (like this one) to scoop the batter from my big measuring cup onto the waffle iron.
• If they don’t turn out right the first time, at least you can take comfort that you are not alone!