I totally get it. These sound absolutely disgusting and you’re probably thinking that beans and waffles do NOT go together and that this is something you would never, EVER make. I felt the same way but the ingredients sounded so curiously odd (and so darned healthy) and I was looking for an easier way to get beans into my little guy who just happened to love waffles. I read about these in Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Mama
I definitely recommend a Vitamix 
Preheat your waffle maker. We just bought this Breville Waffle Maker which may seem a bit extravagant if you are unfamiliar with how often we eat waffles. This thing is great. It makes four deep, square perfect waffles at a time, has a digital display, timer with beeper and a ‘little bit more’ option that we love.
Add your drained and rinsed beans to the blender with the water and blend on medium for 3-5 minutes until completely smooth. Add your flax seeds, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and vanilla and blend again until fully incorporated. Add your oats and blend for another minute. Remove the blender from the stand and add your crushed walnut pieces and grated apple and gently stir with a spatula to combine.
Spray your waffle iron with oil (I love this Misto 
Add fresh berries and maple syrup. Enjoy!
*You can also add blueberries instead of apples and cinnamon.
*To reheat from frozen, I prefer to leave them on the counter to thaw for a few minutes before they hit the toaster to prevent them from overcooking.
Adapted from Silverstone, Alicia. “Protein Packed Waffles”. The Kind Mama
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- 1 cup dried small white beans ( great northern, navy etc) soaked overnight and drained
- 4.5 cups water
- 2 tbsp whole flaxseeds
- 2 tbsp baking powder
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 2.5 tsp cinnamon
- 3.5 cups rolled oats
- 2 apples grated
- ¼ cup ground walnuts
- oil for spraying waffle maker
- Fresh berries for serving
- Maple syrup/peanut butter for serving
- Preheat your Waffle Maker.
- Add your drained and rinsed beans to the blender with 4.5 cups of water and blend on medium for 3-5 minutes until completely smooth.
- Add your flax seeds, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and vanilla and blend again until fully incorporated.
- Add your oats and blend for another minute.
- Remove the blender from the stand and add your crushed walnut pieces and grated apple and gently stir with a spatula to combine.
- Spray your waffle iron with oil and pour in just enough batter to fill the wells.
- Cook until golden brown for about 6-8 minutes depending on your waffle maker.
- Add fresh berries and maple syrup.
Is there a mistake in the amount of baking powder? It calls for 2 tablespoons, which is a huge amount. My waffles turned out super salty for some reason.
Interesting. I have not ever found them to be salty. Perhaps decrease the salt (not baking powder) and see if you prefer them that way?
got nutrition data for these?
Sorry Joanne, I don’t. You’d have to plunk the recipe into Cronometer or a similar app to get that information.
Hi Tara,
I misplaced my regular bean waffle recipe (from Oats, Peas & Beans cookbook) and googled for it. I found your recipe & tried it. Since I already soaked pinto beans I used them. I was out of regular oats so used quick oats. We thought they were good. I’ll try the navy beans next time. I’d also reduce the salt and use regular oats to see what if any difference it makes. The batter was pretty thick but I didn’t add water because I was afraid they would be soggy. I didn’t grate the apples, but I did chop them fine in the food processor. It is a good/healthy/vegan recipe 🙂
Grandparents made oat bean waffles. I like this variation.
Hi, can I use ground flax seed instead?
Yes! They just get ground up in the blender anyway:)
The beans are just soaked, not cooked at all?
They are just soaked,completely pulverized in the blender and then cooked in the waffle iron:)
Ok. Thanks!
White kidney beans (cannellini) contain a toxin, Phytohaemagglutinin (Kidney Bean Lectin). You’re supposed to boil them to destroy it. Merely heating them up can make the beans more toxic.
I personally would never eat cannellini beans that have not been boiled for at least 10 minutes.
http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodborneIllnessContaminants/CausesOfIllnessBadBugBook/ucm071092.htm
http://wildoats.com/blog-posts/undercooked-beans-dangerous/
Noah, when I first stumbled across this recipe I had concerns about the beans as well. I use small white beans (I have removed the cannellini as an option:), completely pulverize them in a Vitamix and then cook them (not merely warm them up) in a waffle iron. They are completely cooked by the time we eat them:)
These turned out great. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Even my son ate them. I did find they turned out better on the waffle iron if I did not use any kind of oil on the iron itself, kinda weird but they cooked so much better. I also used some of the batter to make pancakes and they turned out ok, not as good as the waffles but good enough for me to eat 🙂
I will definitely be checking out the other recipes too. Thanks!
Glad you liked them Michele. If you want a great pancake recipe try the Carrot Walnut Pancakes. They are delicious!!
Hi there 🙂
I stumbled over this recipe and am so excited to try it! Was wondering what you think of using canned beans, I’ve not got any dried. Thoughts?
Cheers,
Sarah
I’ve had a couple of people ask me this. I haven’t tried using canned beans so I’m not sure but I am guessing they might be a bit mushy? Let me know if you try!
Just did these with canned beans, draied and rinsed. Worked perfectly well
I am so excited to try these, they look delicious! I can’t believe how healthy they are. Waffles are the best; so many syrup traps. I also love those MISTO sprayers. Basically, this post is amazing. 🙂