Crispy Paleo Yucca Waffles

There are many occasions where it’s prudent to increase the carbohydrates and decrease the fats. Since I’ve been in a slow bulking phase the past couple years, I generally periodize my starchy carbohydrate intake with some days higher carb and lower fat, and some days lower carb and higher fat.

One of my favorite guilty pleasures is waffles, and I really wanted to fit some in on my higher carb, lower fat days. But most store-bought paleo waffles are pretty high in fat in order to get that crispness to the outside of the waffle with the soft chewy inside.

After being in the test kitchen and trying to waffle just about every paleo starch you can imagine (potato, sweet potato, purple sweet potato, parsnips, korean yam, taro, yucca, plantains, lotus root, burdock root, white rice…Probably some more) without a whole lot of added fat, most left me with a completely soft exterior in conjunction with a soft interior.

Floppy waffles. And nobody likes floppy waffles.

Until yucca. I have no idea what magical property of the starch in yucca imparts that crispy exterior with a soft interior without a whole lot of added fat, but it does. And it does in spades.

A few notes:

If you’ve never done it before, peeling a yucca root can be slightly intimidating. I still haven’t perfected it; but I generally just take a sharp knife and slice off the bark (taking small chunks of yucca flesh with it, but alas. More practice needed).

If you’re doing something like boiling and mashing yucca, you have to remove the woody core first. However, when shredding it with a fine shredder/grater, the core gets broken down as well so it’s not such an issue.

Crispy Paleo Yucca Waffles

A lower fat version that retains all the crispness of a regular waffle.

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Servings 8

Ingredients

1000 grams Peeled and finely shredded raw Yucca root
2 Eggs
12 Egg whites or 12 servings cage-free liquid egg whites
1/2 cup Coconut flour
1/3 cup Granulated Swerve
1.5 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

Preheat Belgian waffle iron. I prefer a 4-square waffle set-up to a round one.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together coconut flour, swerve, baking powder, and salt.
In a separate large mixing bowl, place peeled and finely shredded yucca root, eggs, and egg whites, and stir.
Mix dry ingredients into shredded yucca/egg mixture well.
Grease waffle iron with non-stick avocado oil spray, and spoon a ladle full of waffle mixture in accordance with the size of your waffle maker. The batter does expand a bit, so allow at least an inch from the edges.
These particular waffles take a bit of time to cook and crisp up. They're done when they're obviously a bit browned, but not burnt.
One serving is two waffles; I like to put them in tin foil in servings of two and freeze them. They can go straight from the freezer into the toaster. Two rounds in the toaster will generally bring them back to crispy.