Amanda Chantal Bacon is the founder of Moon Juice, a shop that sells adaptogens, skin care, and foods meant to, put simply, make you feel good. Her Sex Dust (and other such alluring products that target sleep, energy, focus, and more) catapulted it from a brick-and-mortar juice shop to a full-fledged national company several years ago. But Bacon’s philosophy goes beyond supplements, serums, and powders — namely to how she cooks for herself and her family at home. After publishing her first cookbook, a rather dense encyclopedia of how Moon Juice makes its products (“It’s not for the faint of heart,” as she puts it), she turned her attention to her second title, The Moon Juice Manual, which came out last week. Here, her goal is to highlight the recipes she’s actually turning out in her own kitchen. We talked to Bacon about the only waffle maker that does justice to her grain-free waffles — and got the recipe for you, too (stress-relieving adaptogen powder optional).
The Moon Juice Manual is, in a sense, a guide to adaptogens. But the heart of the book is what Bacon calls “comfort foods.” She means this in the most commonly understood way; there are recipes for cookies and banana bread and hot chocolate. But she also means that her versions of those foods “are nourishing and leave you feeling better than they found you.” Such is the case with her grain-free waffles, which she only ever makes in her Cuisinart waffle iron. “I probably went through six other ones before this and gave them all away,” she says.
The grain-free flours in Bacon’s waffle recipe — almond flour, cassava flour, and coconut flour — don’t contain gluten, which is what gives doughs their stretchy, chewy quality. And while there are other decent waffle irons on the market, this one gets hot, creating an intense steaming effect when the batter goes in — the key to Bacon’s success. The steam doesn’t re-create a glutinous texture. That’s not the point. But it does “keep the inside fluffy and spongy,” she says. Meanwhile, the iron’s surface still gets hot enough to give the outside a nice, golden-brown sear. “With grain-free, my goal is to always get a crust, and then have a steamed cake on the inside,” she says. Simply, none of the other models she tried got hot enough to achieve this optimal texture, leaving the waffles thin and flat.
This waffle iron’s other main appeal is the super-deep Belgian-style waffle pockets, a nonnegotiable for Bacon — and again, something those other irons were lacking. “I eat waffles for the butter and the syrup,” she says. “And whether you’re using that or coconut oil or ghee — whatever you fancy — the pockets fill up with your toppings and you get these little geysers of fat and syrup. I can’t think of anything more fun than that.”
How to make Bacon’s waffles
Start by whisking together ½ cup of almond flour (which brings something toothsome), ¼ cup of cassava flour (which adds a starchy, carb-y quality), and ¼ cup of coconut flour (which contributes a nice fibrous texture) in a medium bowl. Then whisk in ½ teaspoon of baking soda and ¼ teaspoon pink salt. Finally, in that same bowl, you can add an optional ½ teaspoon of raw vanilla powder and an optional 4 teaspoons of astragalus or other adaptogen. Bacon notes that this dry mixture can be stored for up to a year — especially useful if you want to make a big batch and have waffles at the (almost) ready at a moment’s notice.
Next, in another medium bowl, whisk together 3 eggs and ½ cup almond milk. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until completely combined. “There can be variation in flours from brand to brand,” Bacon notes, “so depending on what you buy, you may need an extra bit of milk. You’ll know you’re in the right place when the batter is thick, but pourable.”
Heat up your waffle iron to the highest setting. This Cuisinart model gets there very quickly, another bonus. No extra fat is necessary on the surface when it’s at max temperature. Pour some batter in, but don’t overfill; it will spill out the sides if there’s too much. Cook until the iron beeps (though you can pull it out sooner, if you like an all-around softer waffle).
Serve by filling each pocket with butter, ghee, or coconut oil, and add a dollop of syrup or honey.
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