Corn Waffles With Caramelized Apples
I served mine with caramelized apples. Caramelized apples are basically apples sautéed with butter and sugar until they are tender and the sauce has thickened enough to pour beautifully over these waffles or anything you would like them on - pancakes, oats, toast, cake. So many possibilities. I had plenty of apples and corn on hand and thought the two were great together in this recipe.
I came across a lot of good recipes when planning to make corn waffles (also known as corn bread waffles) but a lot of them were just made of corn meal. Corn meal is all good and I love baking and cooking with it - it makes these waffles heartier and gives them those nice crispy edges but I wanted them to be a bit ‘cornier’. I wanted them to actually have fresh corn in them. There were lots of recipes out there that had whole corn kernels in them but that was not quite what I was looking for.
Finally I found this Bon Appetit recipe that has grated corn in it. So no big chunks of corn kernels in the waffles - only that sweet delcious corn nectar and tiny bits that are grated into the batter. Just the perfect recipe for corn waffles especially right now while the sweet corn is in season and available. If you don’t have fresh form to grate have no fear. You can also use canned or frozen corn (make sure to allow to thaw) and just either chop it until super fine or pop some in the food processor and allow it to do the chopping.
They freeze really well so feel free to make a double batch and freeze some. All you have to do is cook the waffles like normal, let cool and then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze. When you are ready to use them, toast them in a toaster or warm in the oven. They are perfect with the sweet caramelized apples but easily made savoury. I can’t wait to add some bacon bits and jalapeños to mine the next time! There are a lot of savoury ways I can think of to enjoy these. Whichever route you take with these I know you will love the taste and texture of them. Enjoy!
Recipe
Ingredients
For the corn waffles
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup fine stone-ground yellow cornmeal
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 ears of corn, husked, kernels grated on the large holes of a box grater (about ½ cup or so) * see post above for alternatives
- 2 large eggs, beaten to blend
- 1½ cups buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, slightly cooled, plus more room temperature for waffle iron
For the caramelized apples
- 2 apples sliced
- 2 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- ¼ tbsp cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
Directions
Prepare apples
- In a small pan, combine butter brown sugar, cinnamon, and pinch of salt . Whisk to combine and bring to a soft boil.
- Add the apples evenly in the pan and allow to cook in the mixture for 10 minutes, or until the mixture is bubbly and gooey and apples are soft.
- Top waffles when ready to serve
Prepare waffles
- Preheat oven to 200°F. Set a wire rack inside a rimmed baking sheet and place in oven to set waffles on off the griddle
- Whisk flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and 1 tsp. salt in a medium bowl to combine.
- In a separate large bowl whisk together grated corn, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, and ½ cup melted butter to combine. Add dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just incorporated (don’t worry about any small lumps).
- Heat waffle iron until very hot; brush with butter or spray with cooking spray. Working in ¼-⅓ cup batches and brushing iron with more butter as needed, pour batter onto iron (more if you want larger waffles). Cook waffles until golden brown and cooked through, 5–7 minutes. (Could be slightly different according to waffle iron) Transfer to wire rack in oven as you go.
- Serve waffles with room-temperature spreadable butter, and caramelized apples.
Adapted from Bon Appetit
