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What happens when you cross-breed a Belgian waffle, with Japanese mochi, with a Canadian doughnut aka a ‘Beaver Tail’? The result is like culinary eugenic whereby the best qualities of each are leveraged to create a superior breakfast or anytime treat – these addictively delicious Mochi Waffles with Cinnamon Sugar and Lemon. Don’t be misled by their unpretentious appearance. The texture of the waffles with the cinnamon-sugar-lemon combination is so amazing they need no further adornment. What’s more is, after researching other mochi waffle recipes and testing a handful myself, I streamlined the method so that the batter involves merely whisking dry ingredients and wet ingredients, then combining the two with a spatula. No stand mixer, and no need to microwave a portion of flour and water separately first. I’m lazy like that. And mostly because I didn’t feel the extra step was justified based on the outcome in this particular application. Awesome, right? Wait til you read what’s next!!

IT’S A.

WAFFLE.

MAKER.

GIVEAWAYYYY!!! 🎉

In collaboration with All-Clad Canada on this recipe (my fourth of the series), we are celebrating the holidays by giving away one All-Clad 2-Slice Square Belgian Waffle Maker! like the one pictured in this blog post. The waffle maker features a stainless-steel body, non-stick cooking surface, 7 browning levels and remains true to All-Clad’s reputation for quality and design. This is a Canadian giveaway (sorry ex-CAD friends). If you live in Canada, be sure to read the end of this post for details on how to enter!

Back to the recipe, because I am soooo not done singing its praises. The mochi waffle, also dubbed moffle or mochiffle (bless you), is crispy on the outside including all of those edges surrounding each of those deep square craters, making the shape of Belgian-style waffles exceptional for max crispiness. That crispy exterior yields to a delightfully bouncy and chewy inside reminiscent of mochi, a type of Japanese glutinous rice treat you might know best in the form of (although certainly not limited to) ice cream mochi. You can already imagine how good that is, right? Now stay with me for the finishing move – I’m squealing – it’s seriously the best part.

The warm mochi waffles get a light brush of melted butter, dusting of cinnamon sugar and, in an unexpected turn of events, a big squeeze of fresh lemon juice which take it to that next level where taste buds dance and eyes roll back. This synergistic flavour combination is my nod to the quintessentially Canadian post-ski / skate doughnut treat nicknamed the “Beaver Tail”. In case you’re not a school-aged Canadian boy or girl and didn’t know this, the beaver is Canada’s national animal. The name for this pastry came about because the dough is hand-stretched into a long, flat shape resembling the animal’s tail. It can be topped in various ways including Nutella, Oreos, bananas and chocolate. But the most classic and in my opinion, best way, is cinnamon sugar and lemon juice.

YOU HAVE TO TRY IT!

Head Note:

Mochi waffles are best enjoyed immediately for that optimal crispy-chewy factor! They will soften over time (and over-cooked mochi waffles will actually harden further with time). Softened mochi waffles can be placed in a toaster oven to bring back some of that fresh crispiness, then brushed with melted butter and topped as outlined in the recipe.

Mochi Waffles with Cinnamon Sugar and Lemon 

Special equipment: All-Clad 2-Slice Square Belgian Waffle Maker. Recipe makes 7 x 4”mochi waffles.

INGREDIENTS

For the Mochi Waffle batter:

1 ¾ C (295g) glutinous (aka sweet) rice flour (not rice flour – I use Mochiko brand)

1/3 C (80g) granulated raw cane sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 C unsweetened almond milk (or sub other unsweetened plant-based milk)

2 tbsp butter, melted

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

1 large egg, whisked

For the Cinnamon Sugar:

¼ C granulated raw cane sugar (a little bit coarser than regular white granulated sugar is ideal)

2 tsp ground cinnamon

Pinch fine sea salt

To serve:

6-7 tbsp butter (preferably organic / grass-fed), melted

Fresh lemon juice for sprinkling (from 1-2 small lemons)

METHOD

Make the mochi waffles:

Preheat waffle iron to medium-high or high setting (on my All-Clad 2-Slice Square Belgian Waffle Iron, I set mine just under the max 7 setting).

Whisk the dry ingredients (glutinous rice flour, sugar, baking powder, salt) in a large bowl. Whisk the wet ingredients (egg, milk, melted butter, vanilla) in a separate smaller bowl. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well with a spatula until well combined and there are no more streaks of flour (make sure to get to the bottom of the bowl). Scoop 1/3 cup of batter for each waffle. If this is your first (of many ;)) times making this recipe and you are using a waffle iron other than my All-Clad one pictured, I suggest you cook one waffle first to determine optimal browning setting on your specific waffle maker. Take a very quick peak for doneness whenever the steam has subsided and you can smell the aroma of the waffle. A perfectly cooked waffle is still pale but has gone from the white batter colour to a lightly golden hue with some browning on the edges, feels crisp on the outside but gives when squeezed gently between your fingers. On my All-Clad waffle maker, it alerts me at about 2.5-3 minutes.

Make the cinnamon-sugar mixture:

While waffles are cooking, whisk the ingredients for the cinnamon sugar together on a shallow dish about 5-6” in diameter to comfortably hold a waffle while sprinkling them with the mixture.

To serve:

Use a pastry brush to lightly brush on melted butter all over, on both sides, including inside all the waffle craters. Place waffle on the dish holding the cinnamon sugar mixture and cover it on both sides evenly, using spoon or fingers to assist. Serve with a small wedge of lemon. Sprinkle fresh lemon juice all over and enjoy immediately. So very excellent!

x

* GIVEAWAY CLOSED * CANADIAN ALL-CLAD WAFFLE MAKER GIVEAWAY *

Head on over to my Instagram feed @SALTNPEPPERHERE! Entries for this giveaway will be accepted in the comments section of my corresponding Instagram post for this Mochi Waffles with Cinnamon Sugar and Lemon on my IG feed, @SALTNPEPPERHERE, which will go live before noon on Tuesday, December 17th, 2019. The giveaway will be open until Friday, December 20th, 2019. One winner will be selected randomly by me on Saturday, December 21st, 2019 and notified that day via Instagram direct message. This giveaway is open to all readers with a Canadian mailing address.

Good luck, my friends!

2021 Jan – recipe streamlined slightly with removal of 1 tbsp almond flour. After making it many more times and omitting it, I didn’t feel it made a significance difference to the texture to warrant the trouble. This made me very happy!

This post was sponsored by All-Clad Canada but as always, opinions are my own.  Thank you for supporting the brands that allow me to bring new content to this site! You can explore All-Clad’s line-up on facebook @AllCladCanada, Instagram @AllClad_Canada or website All-Clad.ca.