I know there is no toasted coconut on the top of this waffle. Oops! It was all gone before I took the picture. Don’t do this! Put toasted coconut in your waffle batter and save some to sprinkle on top of it, too! Now on with the post!

The taste of a tropical vacation!  I liked the waffle topped with butter and apricot jam.  My kids were hollering for pineapple, mango, and some toasted nuts but I gave them what I had on hand, maple syrup and whipped cream. They didn’t complain…much.

I toasted the coconut and mixed up the dry ingredients before I went to bed, which made Sunday morning a bit easier.  I just had to stir in the eggs, milk, and coconut oil and heat up the waffle iron. The batter made 7 large, round waffles (which leaves some for us to throw in the toaster tomorrow morning). Word of advice, if you like waffles, and want to enjoy them on a regular basis, get two waffle irons.  The horrible thing about waffles is that it’s hard to get everyone a hot waffle at the same time.  

Toasted Coconut Waffles

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup shredded coconut (original recipe specified unsweetened, but I didn’t have any, so used sweetened coconut)
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup cornstarch (yes, my eyes popped, too.  Not a misprint.  One-half a cup of cornstarch!)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk (or soured milk)
• 1 cup whole milk (I had whole milk on hand, so I used it, but I am sure 2% would be fine, too)
• 2/3 cup coconut oil, melted
• ½ cup sugar (use 2 tablespoons less if you are using sweetened shredded coconut)

DIRECTIONS

1. The original recipe said to preheat oven to 400°, toast coconut on a rimmed baking sheet until golden brown, 2 minutes, then let cool. I find it easier to toast the coconut in a dry frying pan over medium heat.  Just keep stirring and watch closely.  Once the coconut is a nice golden brown remove it from the pan and let cool on a plate.
2. Whisk flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl—I did this the night before, covered, and left on counter.
3. Whisk eggs, buttermilk, milk, oil, and sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk buttermilk mixture into dry ingredients (do not over mix). Mix in ¾ cup coconut; set aside remaining ¼ cup coconut for sprinkling on waffles.
4. Heat a waffle iron until very hot.
5. Ladle approx 2/3 cup of batter onto hot waffle iron, close lid, and cook waffles until golden brown—each waffle iron is different, but usually 4-6 minutes.
6. Serve topped with your choice of toppings: butter, syrup, apricot/pineapple jam, diced fresh bananas/mango/pineapple, toasted pecans, whipped cream and reserved coconut.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today!