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Corn Waffles and Pancakes
While classic waffles and pancakes are lovely, you’re missing out if you don’t venture into additional ingredients, and this waffle recipe is a great way to showcase the flavor of corn. These waffles are perfect for chicken waffles — both fried chicken or as my family ate them: with maple syrup and a scoop of homemade chicken salad. They are also enjoyable as a traditional breakfast and you can use the same batter for pancakes if you thin it out a bit with milk or water.
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Since getting a countertop grain mill in 2017, I’ve enjoyed pancakes and waffles with fresh milled buckwheat, chickpea, and corn flours. The latter is one of my favorites but I’ve always yearned for an even more intense corn flavor. So with this recipe I’m using both corn flour and immersion blended canned sweet corn liquid included. The corn flours I tested were Bloody Butcher and White Olotillo. These heirloom field corn varietals have delicious deep flavors, but you can use a store-bought corn flour instead of home milled if it is finely ground. The base of the recipe is still all purpose flour, so the waffles are chewy and have a delicate crisp at the edges.
Here is a short video demonstrating a range of batter hydration for waffles.
I tested this recipe three times and the most important thing I learned was that canned corn has different nutrition facts even though the ingredients are the same: corn, water, salt. One store brand of organic sweet corn had 7 grams sugar per can while another, non-organic store brand had 24.5 grams sugar per can. (There are 3.5 servings in a 14-ounce can.) This meant I was either adding to the batter 14 grams sugar or 49 grams sugar via the two cans of corn. For reference, 1 Tbsp sugar is 12 grams. For this reason, the sugar in the recipe is listed as a range of 0-2 Tbsp. I found the batch with 38 grams sugar between the canned corn and table sugar was the perfect sweetness and I put guidelines in the recipe’s notes section for approximating this.
The salt content between the canned corn brands had wide range also: two cans either added 1.4 grams sodium or 2.2 grams sodium. For reference, there is about 2.3 grams sodium in 1 teaspoon of table salt. If you’re sensitive to salt or your canned corn is particularly salty e,g, more than 320 mg sodium per serving, you might reduce the recipe salt from 1/2 tsp to 1/4 tsp.
This recipe doesn’t use canned creamed corn because those ingredients vary even more widely, with actual added sugar and corn starch. If you need to use it though, skip the sugar in the recipe list, use a pinch of salt, and expect to need a drizzle of water to thin out the batter.
Corn Waffles and Pancakes
If you love the flavor of corn, these waffles (or pancakes) are such a treat. The heirloom corn flour and sweet canned corn combine to pack a tasty punch, yet the texture of the waffles is still classic with a perfect chewy inside and crispy edges.
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
* Suggested sugar amount for canned corn with:
2g sugar per serving, use 2 Tbsp sugar
3-4g sugar per serving, use 1 Tbsp sugar
more than 5g sugar per serving, use 0-1/2 Tbsp sugar.
** If your canned corn has more than 320 mg sodium per serving, reduce the salt in the recipe to 1/4 tsp.
Shopping List
Mockmill 100 Grain Mill
Heirloom White Olotillo Corn
$16.00Bloody Butcher Corn
$8.50 – $57.75All Purpose Flour
Skinny Spatula
Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls — Set of 3
$39.99Breadtopia’s Choice Kitchen Scale
$18.00Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
$16.95Magnetic Measuring Spoons
$17.00Corn Waffles and Pancakes