Turn Leftovers Into A Great Breakfast With These Root Vegetable Waffles
So you’ve got half a butternut squash (or sweet potato, or pumpkin, or carrots…) left over from the night before–what to do? Breakfast, obviously. Pancakes, waffles, crepes–all can be infused with pureed root vegetables with little to no effort and with much reward (or simply your child not noticing the difference). Take a look at the ingredient list and instructions list for proof: really nothing you know or have done pertaining to morning staples is changed. So self back-pact on this one: you’re not ‘hiding’ vegetables; you’re winning breakfast.
- 1 cup Butternut Squash (or sweet potatoes or carrots)
- 3 tbsp Butter
- 1 cup Milk
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1.25 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- Ginger Powder
- Cinnamon
- Is your vegetable of choice already cooked? Great, skip ahead to the next step. If not, for butternut squash do this: split it in half and cook facing down on a pan for 35-40 minutes at 400. For a sweet potato, do this: poke all over with a fork and microwave for six minutes. For carrots, do this: split 2-3 carrots in half lengthwise and steam or boil until soft, roughly 15 minutes. Allow to cool before handling.
- Melt the butter and add to blender, along with squash (or sweet potato or carrot), milk, egg, and vanilla extract; blend until smooth.
- Add in flour, baking powder, a pinch of salt, a shake of ginger powder, and two shakes of cinnamon. Add a splash of water if the batter is looking especially thick.
Heat your waffle iron, coating with cooking spray once hot. Pour in enough batter to coat the bottom portion of the iron, close, and cook for three minutes; turn or flip the waffle and cook for two minutes more.
The waffles tend to be soft–you’ve added a bunch of vegetable puree to a waffle/pancake batter, after all–so drop them in the toaster if you or your child prefer ‘em crispy. These are naturally sweet on their own, but a little syrup won’t hurt; you can also mix a drizzle of syrup into a big spoonful of yogurt to serve as a sauce.
Of course you can use canned pumpkin puree (which is really butternut squash anyway) for this–saves you a step, even. And of course you can make pancakes with these, too: just toss them on a griddle rather than a waffle iron. Want to go savory, make fritters by adding a pinch more salt, garlic, and grated cheese; cook in a pan until golden brown.
Brad (the Dad) is the founder and Chief Recipe Officer of New Dad's Kitchen. His own cooking/feeding journey started humbly during his son's infancy, preparing and managing his son's bottle intake in order to support his wife; it has since blossomed into a full-on passion to feed his child and family delicious and healthy meals that can satisfy both a toddler and his very tired parents.
