Paleo Waffles with Pumpkin Spice Cream Sauce

Place apple cider vinegar into a large measuring cup and fill with coconut milk until it reaches 2 cups. Whisk and set aside for 10 minutes.

Once it’s sat, add mixture into a blender. Add almond meal, 1 1/2 cups tapioca starch, 1 cup of pumpkin, coconut oil, baking powder, 2 tablespoons of the pumpkin pie spice, and the cinnamon. Blend until smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape the sides down as necessary. Remove 1/2 cup batter and set it aside. Let remaining batter rest while you begin the sauce.

Dump the rest of the coconut milk into a large measuring cup (you should have about 1 1/2 cups) then add almond milk to reach 3 1/2 cups of liquid. Stir, then remove 1/2 cup of the liquid and set it aside.

Pour remaining 3 cups of milk into a large, microwave-safe, clear glass bowl. It’s key to use clear, as you need to be able to see the mixture. It also rises a lot, so a large bowl is also very important! Microwave the liquid until it just begins to boil, about 7–8 minutes depending on the strength of your microwave.

While the liquid boils, whisk the reserved batter and milk that you have set aside. Add monk fruit, nutmeg and remaining 1/2 cup of pumpkin and 2 teaspoons of the pumpkin pie spice. Finally, whisk in 2 tablespoons of the tapioca starch, one at a time, so that it doesn’t get clumpy.

Once the milk has started to boil, remove it from the microwave and immediately pour in the pumpkin/batter mixture, whisking until well combined. This is where it gets a bit tricky. You need to microwave it until it begins to boil, then microwave it for 1 more minute once boiling. My batter boiled at 5 minutes, so I cooked it 6 minutes. Then stop and stir.

Repeat this process 3 more times, watching the sauce to see when it boils and then cooking 1 more minute. My sauce took 1 1/2 minutes to boil each round, so I cooked it for 2 1/2 minutes. It looked like this: Cook 6 minutes. Stir. Cook 2 1/2 minutes, stir. Cook 2 1/2 minutes, stir. Cook 2 1/2 minutes, stir.

Place the remaining 1 tablespoon tapioca starch into a medium bowl and add 3 tablespoons of the hot liquid. Whisk until smooth. While whisking, stir this into the sauce until well combined. Repeat that same cooking process one more time; this was another 2 1/2 minutes for me.

Remove the sauce from the microwave and let it stand for 10 minutes to thicken, stirring every so often so that it doesn’t develop a skin over top.

I usually begin cooking the waffles when the sauce is microwaving, and then keep them in the oven to stay warm. Spray your waffle iron with coconut oil spray and heat it on the highest setting (note that I have a classic waffle maker, not Belgian). Ladle in 1/3 cup of the batter, spreading it out just slightly. Cook until your waffle maker stops steaming. Then cook and additional 1-3 rounds, depending on how crispy you like your waffles. We like ours really crispy so we have each waffle a total of 4 rounds.

Serve waffles with the sauce one it’s thickened up, and devour!

Notes:
1. As with all gluten-free recipes, please weigh your flour to ensure accurate results
2. It may take some time for you to master the cooking time for the sauce. But, once you get it, it’s totally worth it!