I eat almost flawlessly healthfully on weekdays, and then undo all of that hard work on the weekends. Weekdays are full of vegetables, fruit, lean protein, whole grains, water. Weekends are all about butter, white flour, sugar, beef, wine (and/or beer and/or margaritas). While I have no intention of eating perfectly all the time – mostly because cooking with fat is FUN – perhaps a better balance is in order.
Not to jump to the punch line, but if the only compromise I have to make is eating these healthy waffles instead of cinnamon rolls or biscuit sandwiches for breakfast, I’ll take it. There was absolutely nothing weird about these waffles. Made from just eggs, oats, cottage cheese and protein powder, the flavor and texture were exactly what you would expect from any carb-filled, butter-rich variety, and yet they are perfectly healthy.
Not even one unhealthy ingredient. I have to keep saying it, over and over, because I can hardly believe it. Topped with homemade (not by me) jam and Greek yogurt, this is a perfect breakfast in every way. Now someone needs to come up with a no-compromise version of cinnamon rolls. And beer.
Three years ago: Chocolate Cream Pie
Printer Friendly Recipes
Protein Waffles (from Cara’s Cravings)
Substitutions I’ve made that worked: 2 whole eggs plus a dribble of milk for the 4 egg whites; regular oats for the instant oats Cara recommends; ½ tablespoon honey for the sweetener; vanilla ice cream protein powder, which is all that my grocery store sells and is so sweet that I don’t need any additional sugar at all
Substitution I made that didn’t work: Greek yogurt for the cottage cheese
I don’t recommend cooking this batter in a Belgian waffle iron.
4 egg whites
½ cup (4 ounces) low-fat cottage cheese
½ cup (40 grams) oats
1 scoop (25 grams) vanilla protein powder
2 packets of Truvia, or other sweetener to taste
½ teaspoon baking powder
Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.
Cook in waffle iron according to manufacturer’s directions, to desired crispiness. Spray with nonstick spray between each waffle.
“Now someone needs to come up with a no-compromise version of cinnamon rolls. And beer.”… I’m on it. I think?
Guilt-free cinnamon rolls – that’s a thought. Seems unlikely though… But who knows, if you can make waffles healthy, I’m sure you can make almost anything healthy.
Those waffles are definitely worthy of being a weekend breakfast! I’ll let you know if I find that no compromise version of cinnamon rolls or beer. 🙂
Wonderful! I think I’m jumping on the protein waffle bandwagon. It looks pretty tasty, I must say.
What a beautiful waffle – thanks for taking all the time to make the recipe so healthy. I bet they will keep one satiated for a long time with all the protein and yet they sound really yummy also!
What’s the deal with waffles? Can I take this recipe and make pancakes instead (since I don’t have a waffle iron)?
Omega – I’ve never made protein pancakes, but I’ve seen a number of recipes that are similar to this one. Cara has at least one on her blog, so you might want to look there. My understanding is that the breadier texture of pancakes is harder to mimic with only protein-rich ingredients.
ha you and I eat the exact same way!
these sound good—think I could make them but just omit the protein powder? it’s not something I usually have on hand.
natalie – I’m not sure, but I’m guessing that with so few ingredients, each one is important. You might consider picking up a container of protein powder; my grocery store sells it in reasonably sized jars (although I confess that it isn’t cheap), and I’ve found it easier than I was expecting to use it up. Granted, it helps that I drink smoothies every morning which are improved by a scoop of protein powder.
I like your idea to add protein powder. They look delicious.
have you tried to reheat these? any tips on making a bigger batch and freezing for the week ahead?
Rebecca – I haven’t, but I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t underbake them initially, freeze, and toast for a quick weekday morning breakfast. If you try it, let us know how it works!
I’ll have to make waffles this weekend now. It’s been so long. 🙂
this perfectly describes my weekday/weekend healthy eating/junk food 180! thanks for sharing- i’ll definitely try this weekend!
PS- beautiful waffle iron!!
What a pretty waffle design! What kind of waffle iron do you have?
These waffles look delicious! It makes me sad that I don’t have a waffle iron so that I can try these ASAP. Also, what kind of waffle iron do you have?
Culinarication – Mine is made by Cuisinart. It seems to get the job done just fine.
This comment is a little late, but if you’re still wondering on how to make healthy cinnamon rolls, make these…
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/09/09/cinnamon-roll-baked-oatmeal/
oatmeal cinnamon rolls 🙂
Thank you! I made these but added half a frozen banana, and cinnamon to make banana bread flavored waffles! I just added a few more oats to cover the moisture of the banana. Yum! And I used a Belgian waffle maker! Turned out pretty well!
These were yummy! I added 1.5 TBSP of lemon juice to the recipe (acid + baking powder = fluffy!) and waited a few minutes for the bubbles to form as my waffel maker warmed up. The only waffel maker I have is a round belgian waffel maker and it worked out great!!! The recipe made 2.5 waffels. I also routinely make extra waffels to freeze, although I haven’t done so with this recipe. Reheating the belgian waffels, in general, can be a bit tricky, microwave em and they’re too soggy, toaster oven them and they get too dry.. I usually do a combination of the two to get em just right… 🙂