okara brownie waffles

I wanted brownies, but I also wanted waffles. I struck a compromise and formulated a recipe for brownie waffles, with okara acting as a secret ingredient, natch. I was very happy with the way these tasted -- maybe they weren't quite sweet enough, but that's what maple syrup is for, I suppose. The only problem with them was that they were quite "floppy" and difficult to remove from my waffle iron. I use a Belgian waffle iron (worth every penny, but I did have a 20% off coupon, not to mention the fact that I live with someone who was able to fix it when it broke), and if I didn't spray oil on it before pouring in the batter, the resultant waffle would sometimes stick to the top and bottom of the iron when opening it. Waffle irons with more shallow pockets might not have this problem. Having said all this, I was able to have intact, albeit floppy, Belgian waffles; I just had to be very careful when removing them from the iron. Your mileage may vary. In the future I'll be trying to tweak the recipe to create a sturdier yet equally tasty chocolate waffle.

This recipe made four waffles with my waffle iron, but in a smaller (non-Belgian) waffle iron it could yield more than that.



In a bowl, combine
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 Tablespoon soy milk powder
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
and stir until well incorporated.

Note: Soy milk powder is the "secret ingredient" of my regular waffle recipe, and I swear it makes a huge difference. I haven't tested this recipe without the soy milk powder, so I can't say whether or not it's really worth using. If you don't have it already and don't want to buy it, you can probably just omit it and use soy milk instead of water. Or perhaps omit it entirely.

In a separate bowl, combine
1/3 cup okara
1 cup water
2 Tablespoons canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla
and whisk until oil is emulsified.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and combine until "just mixed." Then add
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans
1/2 cup chocolate chips
and combine thoroughly.

Prepare waffles according to the manufacturer's directions.