Wild Blueberry Oatmeal Waffles

“By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by Wild Blueberries and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.”

When we think of holiday meals we tend to think of the dinners. Those big, heavy meals that leave us feeling comatose and overfull. But what about the other meals on those days? For me, I always try to start the mornings of the big holidays off with a good, healthy breakfast so that I can face the day knowing that I started out on the right foot. I also am fan of a hearty breakfast on those mornings because it helps me to not get too hungry too early in the day, which helps to minimize snacking. So when I was invited through The Recipe Redux to come up with healthy holiday recipes that included frozen wild blueberries my first thought was breakfast. I wanted to create a recipe that would be healthy and hearty, but also one that would feel special enough to use on a holiday morning and I think that these wild blueberry oatmeal waffles fit the bill perfectly!

As you all know, I only do these sorts of sponsored posts if it is a product that I truly feel good about sharing and since frozen wild blueberries are a staple in our house, this felt like a perfect fit! You see, the boys and I love wild blueberries because they are so much more flavorful than the big ones that we all normally think of when we think of blueberries. Honestly, I can’t tell you how many pictures I have of tiny blue-tinted fingers and cheeks… And when I got a chance to learn some more about wild blueberries it made me feel even better about my preference for them and I wanted to share some of the interesting factoids with you as well:

• These berries truly grow in the wild and the barrens (the fields they grow on) are made up of thousands of genetically diverse plants that interlock with each other, leading to a more complex and delicious flavor.
• They have been growing in the same area of the world, Maine and Eastern Canada, for over 10,000 years! Isn’t that cool?!
• They are antioxidant warriors! They have 2x the antioxidant capacity of the standard, cultivated blueberries.
• They pack a nutritional punch! One serving of Wild Blueberries (1 cup) have 8 times the manganese, 72% more fiber and 32% less sugar than cultivated blueberries.
• They are frozen at harvest, which locks in the nutrition and taste.

You can find frozen wild blueberries at most grocery stores and I keep a stockpile of them in my freezer all winter when the fruit choices can be a bit of a bummer—we eat them mixed in with plain yogurt, in pancakes and smoothies, and even straight out of the freezer!

Ok. So now to the important stuff: the recipe! I adapted this recipe from an Alton Brown oatmeal waffle recipe that I loved but found to be way too labor intensive, so I simplified it and incorporated ingredients that I would normally have knocking around, rather than special ingredients I would need to seek out. The outcome was just as delicious, with the added perk of the wild blueberries! Now these aren’t your average healthy waffles. For one thing, they are not super dense, in fact, they are quite light and fluffy. But they are chock-full of whole grains with the oats and spelt/whole wheat flour, protein from the eggs and yogurt, and antioxidants from the wild blueberries. So basically, you are getting a light, fluffy, delicious waffle that you can feel virtuous about! My little one loves these waffles so much that he begged for them not only for breakfast but also for lunch as a cream cheese sandwich yesterday and I was happy to oblige…

So try these out on one of these upcoming holiday mornings. I think you will find them to be a welcome, healthy addition to the table!