Courgette fritter waffles

Part fritter, part waffle, these courgette fritter waffles (fraffles? witters?) are the first in a long line of experiments with my new waffle maker.

Yes, just in case there was any danger of the six inches of free counter space in my kitchen feeling lonely and unloved, I got a new appliance to fill them. Vegetable chopping now occurs on top of the oven, and you have to move the spiraliser to get to the toaster, but it’s fine. The waffles are worth it.

Of course, the first thing I made when we first unboxed our new waffle maker was a batch of regular waffles, which we could make with ingredients we already had in the house (eggs, flour, sugar, etc.). But since my tooth is decidedly un-sweet, I very quickly felt the urge to experiment with other things.

Hence, courgette fritters, waffle-ified!

The fritter mixture is just a simple combination of grated courgette (that’s zucchini to some of you folk, I haven’t invented a new vegetable), flour, egg, and some fresh herbs – nice and simple. Rather than dolloping it into a panful of sizzling oil, I put it in the waffle maker instead. You do need a good drizzle of oil to get the crispy, fritter-style exterior, but they definitely use less oil this way.

The result is a delicious hybrid of the two – slightly spongey like waffles, but crispy like fritters. Plus they look so pretty. I left mine in a fairly rustic shape (as I always say, it’s my get-out clause for lazy sloppiness), but you could spread the mixture more evenly into the waffle maker if you’d prefer a perfectly square fraffle (yes I’m using that word now).

The waffle maker I used was the Sage Smart Waffle Iron (part of Heston Blumenthal’s range). It’s got a nifty little timer, which you can set to make light or dark waffles, depending on how crispy you like them. My favourite part is the moat around the edge to catch any overflow (normal waffle mix expands a lot as it cooks, so it’s easy to make a mess). I’m definitely looking forward to experimenting with this thing more!

Disclosure: I received the Sage waffle iron as a gift, but I was not obligated to write about it or promote it on the blog. I think it’s pretty awesome. This post contains affiliate links.

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Courgette fritter waffles

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• 250 g courgette zucchini, ~ 2 small or 1 medium courgettes
• 100 g plain flour ~ 2/3 cup
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• Small bunch fresh chives chopped
• Salt
• Black pepper
• 3 tsp oil
• Sour cream or Greek yogurt optional, to serve

Instructions

• Grate the courgette, and spread it out on a few layers of kitchen paper. Lay a few more layers on top, and press down to squeeze out any excess moisture.
• Transfer the grated courgette to a large bowl. Add the flour, and mix to coat. Next add the eggs, chopped chives, and a generous amount of salt and pepper, and mix thoroughly.
• Drizzle a small amount of oil into the waffle maker, and add the fritter mixture, spreading it around into your desired shape. Drizzle a little more oil on top, and close the lid of the waffle maker. Cook until the waffles are browned on the outside, and fairly firm (they will take a good few minutes, maybe up to 10 minutes depending on your waffle maker).
• Serve with a dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt, if desired.

Course: Light lunch

Author: Becca Heyes

Note: nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose. Information above is for one waffle.

Love fritter recipes? Why not try my corn and avocado fritters: