Carrot Cake Waffles

Fat Tuesday is known in some parts of the world as Pancake Tuesday.  I think it comes from the time when people were using up their eggs and milk before the season of fasting began.  We don't really fast but I thought it would be fun to incorporate the concept into our Fat Tuesday celebrations.

Except I Fail at pancakes.

So, I did what any creative cook would do...make Waffles.  Because Waffles are Awesome!

I went through my recipe to do list and found 5 great waffle recipes.  I let Blockette make the selection and she chose Carrot Cake Waffles.

This recipe makes nice thick waffles.  Some waffles are light and fluffy as air.  Those can be nice, but sometimes you want a nice substantial hearty waffle.  These babies are it for sure!

I really liked the maple walnut cream cheese on the waffles, but Blockette did not.  It was regular old butter and syrup for my girl.

My favorite waffles are still the gingerbread waffles, but I think these are a close second.

Yields: about 7 waffles (using 1/2 cup batter for each)

Carrot Cake Waffles from Willow Bird Baking.  Makes about 7 waffles using 1/2c batter for each
2 c flour
2 T sugar
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1 t nutmeg
1 t allspice
1 3/4 c buttermilk* or 1 1/2 c sour cream/plain yogurt thinned with 1/4 c milk
2 eggs, separated
4 T (1/2 stick) butter
1/2 t vanilla
1 c walnuts, chopped
1 1/2 c grated carrots

Maple Nut Cream Cheese Spread:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
3-4 T maple syrup
1/8 c chopped walnuts

Heat 4 T butter in skillet over med heat til melted, 1-2 min. Continue to cook, swirling pan constantly, til butter lt brown and has faint nutty aroma, 2-4 minutes. Add spices stirring constantly, 15 sec. Remove from heat and cool to room temp, about 30 min. (I sped this process up by slowly adding some of the milk to the melted butter.)  Combine flour, salt, sugar, baking soda. Mix buttermilk and egg yolks. Stir in spiced butter and vanilla. Spray iron well and preheat. Stir wet into dry ingred. Beat egg whites in a separate bowl with a whisk or electric mixer (make sure bowl and mixer are spotlessly clean) til hold soft peaks. Stir them gently into batter. Fold in carrots and  walnuts. Spread a 1/2c batter onto waffle iron and bake til waffle is done, 3-5 min. Spray iron w between waffles as needed. (I found I need to spray the iron after every other waffle.)

Maple Cream Cheese:  combine nuts, syrup, and cream cheese and mix well.

Zucchini Waffles

Zucchini in waffles? Why not!

I'd like to say that you can't taste the zucchini in these waffles, but that would only be a half truth.

Fresh off the waffle iron there is not even a hint of zucchini, but when the leftovers were reheated on a skillet, I could taste a hint of zucchini.  This was probably because I eat waffles with little to no syrup.  I'm sure normal people who drown their waffles in butter and syrup couldn't taste anything but waffley goodness.

Zucchini tasting leftovers or not, I'll be making these again next year at zucchini harvest time.

Zucchini waffles from The Perfect Pantry
2 med zucchini, shredded
1-1/2 c unbleached flour
1 T baking powder
1 t kosher salt
1 t cinnamon
1/3 c sugar
1-1/2 cu skim milk
2 large eggs
1 t vanilla

Place shredded zucchini in a strainer, and sprinkle with 1 t kosher salt and let drain for 30 min. Rinse under cold water, shake off excess liquid, and squeeze out as much moisture as you can from  zucchini, and set aside.  Preheat waffle iron to high.  In lg bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and sugar.  In another bowl, mix milk, eggs, and vanilla . Add dry ingredients, then zucchini. Spray waffle iron with cooking spray (top and bottom plates). Add batter and cook per your waffle iron directions.

Light as Air Waffles

Have you ever seen those commercials for the Three Musketeer candy bar? You know the one where the candy bar is so light it floats up into the air?



These waffles from Buns in my oven remind me of that. They were so light and fluffy I thought they were going to soar right off my plate.

It's the added step of beating the egg white and incorporating it into the batter at the end that makes the batter seem weightless.   I think it's this lightness that allows for the exterior of the waffle to crisp up so nicely.

To me, the perfect waffle is crispy on the outside, without being burnt, and fluffy on the inside.  Technically, this should fall in the category of a perfect waffle.  Sadly, I think it misses the mark.

The waffle is almost too light and airy.  Normally, I'm a two waffle sort of girl.  Maybe 2 and a half if I'm really hungry.  I ate 3 and a half and I was STILL hungry.  Blockette ate 3 and a half as well and she was still hungry too.  The recipe only made seven waffles.  Ugh.  We even ate a bunch of fruit too.  Strawberries AND peaches.  Luckily I had some popcorn in the pantry.  We each had a bowl and we finally felt satisfied.

While the waffles were tasty with an awesome crispy exterior, I don't think I'll make them again.  I don't like to put the effort into cooking a meal and not feel full after eating it.

Lighter as Air Waffles from Buns In My Oven

3/4 c flour
1/4 c cornstarch
1/2 t salt
1/2 t t cinnamon
1/8 t nutmeg
1/2 t  baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
3/4 c buttermilk
1/4 c milk
6 T vegetable oil
1 egg, separated
1 T sugar
1/2 t vanilla

Oven to 200°F and heat waffle iron. Mix flour, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and baking soda in med bowl. Measure buttermilk, milk, and oil in measuring cup and add egg yolk. Set aside. In another bowl, beat egg white almost to soft peaks. Sprinkle in sugar and continue to beat until peaks firm and glossy. Beat in vanilla. Pour buttermilk mixture into dry ingredients. Whisk til just mixed. Drop whipped egg white onto  batter in dollops. Fold in til incorporated. Pour batter onto hot waffle iron. Cook til waffle is crisp and brown.Set waffle directly on the oven rack to keep warm and crisp. Repeat with remaining batter, holding the waffles in the oven (don't stack). When all waffles cooked, serve immediately.

Banana Bread Waffles

With the weather being so insanely hot for such an extended period of time, we've found that our bananas are ripening at an accelerated speed. I try to buy the greenest bananas they have at the store, but still they are black by the end of the week. So I peel them and freeze them and try to find a use for them.

There are two things I usually make with bananas: banana bread and banana pops. The popsicles would seem like the obvious choice with how hot it has been this summer. However, Blockette has not been into eating popsicles lately so all the popsicle molds are still full. And as for the banana bread, I just don't feel like turning on the oven if I don't have to.

So I went on a quest to find a way to use up my growing store of frozen over ripe bananas. I came across a few different recipes for Banana bread waffles, but settled on the one from Willow Bird Baking simply because it called for three bananas instead of two.

I made a few minor changes to the recipe (not listed below).  I had some vanilla Light n fit yogurt so I used that instead of the buttermilk.  As there was quite a bit of sugar in the yogurt already, I omitted the 2 T of sugar as well.  My batter was super thick, so instead of adding 1/4 c of milk, I added 1/2 c. The batter was still very very thick.  I also only used 1/2 c of chopped walnuts.  In place of the other 1/4 c walnuts, I swapped in 1/4c chopped cinnamon baking chips.

I don't know if it was the cinnamon chips, but the waffles really wanted to stick to the iron.  I found that if I sprayed the top and bottom plates of the iron after every other waffle, that eliminated the problem.

We ate our waffles with homemade syrup and strawberries.  I'm not normally one for fruit on my waffles, but this was a really great flavor combination. 

Banana bread waffles from Willow Bird Baking (This recipe made 13 waffles in my round standard waffle iron.)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 3/4 cups buttermilk* or 1 1/2 cups sour cream or plain yogurt thinned with 1/4 cup milk
2 eggs, separated
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick butter, melted and cooled)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped

Combine the flour, salt, sugar, baking soda, and cinnamon. Mix together the buttermilk (or buttermilk substitute) and the egg yolks. Stir in the butter, mashed banana, and vanilla.

Spray the waffle iron lightly with oil and preheat it. Stir the wet into the dry ingredients. Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl with a whisk or electric mixer (make sure bowl and mixer are spotlessly clean) until they hold soft peaks. Stir them gently into the batter. Stir gently to combine.

Spread a ladleful or so of batter onto the waffle iron and bake until the waffle is done, usually 3 to 5 minutes, depending on your iron.

* The buttermilk can be substituted with 1 1/4 cups of milk at room temperature, mixed with two tablespoons white vinegar, left to clabber for 10 minutes.

Syrup AND Waffles from Scratch

I made my own fake maple syrup ya'll! (Apparently, making syrup gives me a southern accent.)

It turns out, whipping up a batch of syrup is insanely easy.  Just dump the ingredients in a pan and bring it to a boil.  Ding, fries are syrup is done!

Mrblocko claims that this syrup is infinitely better than the talking lady bottle, or the stuff from a wooden home structure.  The flavor is much richer for sure.  Oh, and the color of the syrup is this wonderful dark brown.  Why on earth do they need to add all those fake coloring chemicals?  Why people? Why?

Now I'm sure there are some of you saying, well that's pure sugar!  Um, what do you think that stuff in the grocery store is?  Or the real stuff that oozes out of tree?  You're not meant to drink it by the tumbler full three times a day.  Just use it in moderation and all will be hunky dory.  Well, unless you're diabetic.

Since I couldn't very well eat the syrup plain, I tested out the recipe for nutmeg waffles from Taste of Home.  The waffles tasted great, but the recipe made just enough for the three of us.  The recipe says it feeds four, but they lied. Next time I make this recipe I will make a double batch.

Basic pancake syrup adapted from food.com
1 1/4 c br sug
1/2 c sug
3/4 c cornsyrup
1-1 1/2 c water (depending on how thin you like your syrup.  We like ours thin so I used 1 1/2 c water)
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 t maple flavor
1/4 scant t almond

Dump everything in a pan and boil 3 min. Pour over waffles, or pancakes, if you are freaky like that.


Nutmeg waffles from Taste of Home - serves 3
1-1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup  milk
1 tsp canola oil
1 tsp vanilla

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and baking soda. In another bowl, combine egg, milk, oil and vanilla; stir into dry ingredients until smooth. Bake in a preheated waffle iron according to manufacturer's directions until golden brown.

Bloody Banana Cinnamon Waffles

A few weeks ago I attempted to make strawberry freezer jam. Strawberries have been on sale for a dollar at Meijer's for a few weeks, so it seemed like a good time to experiment, in case something went awry.  Wouldn't you know it, the jam never set up properly.  Grrr.  And I followed the recipe in the package to the letter too.

Instead of pitching a fit (and the jam) I decided that it would make perfectly awesome syrup.

Now what to put that strawberry syrup on?  Obviously I would make waffles, not pancakes.  That's a given.  But what kind of waffles?  I searched the internets and found this recipe for banana cinnamon waffles from Handle the Heat.

As luck would have it, I happened to have two very ripe bananas.  Awesome!   We hardly ever have over ripe bananas.  These must be waffles of destiny. (Insert dramatic music here.)  

Here they are in all their syrup-y glory.  Let's pretend that the waffles DON'T look like they're bleeding.

And here they are nekkid. 

I was a little worried while making the waffles. First, they started sticking to my waffle iron. Something that doesn't normally happen. After a bit of trial and error. I discovered that I needed to spray the iron with cooking spray after every other waffle. Second, they really smelled banana-y while cooking. Normal people would not think this is a cause for concern, unless those normal people have the same aversion to the aroma of bananas that I do.

Luckily the scent was short lived, and I didn't have any nausea flashbacks.

The strawberry syrup and waffles made a great pair.  I can appreciate bananas when they are accompanied by strawberries. Even if the strawberries make the banana dish look like it's in dire need of a tourniquet.

The waffles were quite filling.  I usually eat 3, but could only eat one and a half.  I thought maybe it might have just been my appetite that day, but now that I think about it, Blockette usually eats two waffles, and only ate one.  Oh and Mrblocko only ate two as well.  Maybe its the combination of the whole wheat, flax and banana that makes them so hearty.

I'd totally make these waffles again, even if I didn't have any strawberry syrup.  Although, I think next time I'd add some walnuts.  Cause that would be like banana bread waffles!

Banana Cinnamon Waffles from Handle the Heat  
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups low-fat milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 large ripe bananas, mashed

Combine flours, flaxseed, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl.

Whisk together milk, butter, and eggs in a large liquid measuring cup or small bowl. Add milk mixture to flour mixture, stirring until blended. Fold in mashed bananas.

Preheat a waffle iron. Coat iron with cooking spray. Spoon about 1/4 cup batter onto hot waffle iron, spreading batter to edges. (I used a heaping 1/3c for my round waffle iron.) Cook 3-4 minutes or until steaming stops; repeat with remaining batter.  (I set my waffle iron on a 4 out of 5.  I usually make waffles set on 5 as I like them crispy.  If you have your waffle iron set too high, the banana in the waffle will start to burn.) Makes about 1 dozen in a standard square waffle iron, and 9 in a round waffle iron.

French Toast Waffles

My mom makes the best french toast on the planet. This is not up for debate as I doubt any of you have ever had my mom's french toast. You'll just have to take my word for it. I did come pretty close on the deliciousness scale this summer using Homemade Cinnamon Bread for the bread in french toast.

Well, I didn't have any cinnamon bread on hand, fresh or store bought, to go that route. So, instead, I gave waffle iron french toast from Cooking with my Kid a test drive.  This is pretty much your standard french toast recipe, but you cook it in the waffle iron.  Waffles and French Toast?  At the same time?  Can you say AWESOMESAUCE?!!!!

Blockette and I agreed that this french toast was almost as good as the french toast my mom makes. Almost, but not quite. However, as I can't very well have my mom drive 7-8 hours just to satisfy my french toast desires, it will suffice.

what I did:
7 pieces of sandwich bread (I left the crusts on)
2 eggs
1/3 c milk
3 T maple syrup (aka tree blood)
lots and lots of cinnamon (I kept adding more after every slice of bread was dipped)
1/4 t nutmeg
pinch of black pepper

Preheat your waffle iron. Whisk all ingredients together until combined. Dip bread immediately before placing on the waffle iron to cook. I only gave my bread a quick dip in the egg mix,and let the excess drip off. I don't care for the soggy type of french toast. This was how I was able to get 7 pieces of bread. The last piece was a bit lacking on the egg coating so keep all that in mind. Setting 4 on my particular waffle iron worked out perfectly, but we like our french toast and waffles on the crispier side. Experiment to find out what works best for you.

Maple Bran Waffles

This is the picture you get when you have a crabby child eating her dinner. Then you tell her to not smile. Or Laugh. I mean it! Whatever you do. Don't. Smile.

Yeah, it works every time. She can't help but smile.

Look how hard she is trying NOT to smile. She has to look away so we won't see her smile.  Cause if we can't see her face then she isn't smiling.

Personally, I couldn't help but smile when I tasted these maple bran waffles from Dinner with Julie.  These were way too tasty to be make with whole wheat or bran.  Isn't that stuff supposed to taste nasty?  Shouldn't it taste like cardboard?  Not these waffles missy ma'am.  They are good.  Really REALLY good. I mean like you-can't-shut-up-about-them good.

I had got a good deal on real syrup a few months ago.  I've been hesitant to use the syrup because even on sale it was a bit on the pricy side.  But since I spent the money on it, I thought I should get over myself and use it already.

Not only did we use the syrup in the pancake batter, we used it on top of our waffles too!  This was the first time Blockette had actual real live maple syrup on her waffles.  At first, she said she didnt like it, especially after Mrblocko said the syrup was like the tree's blood.  Once I kicked Mrblocko under the table, and told Blockette removing the sap from the tree was just like when daddy gives blood, she thought it was the best thing ever.

I also thought the real syrup tasted "weird" at first.  I don't know that I've actually used maple syrup as Syrup for waffles or pancakes.  After a few bites, I realized that it was oodles better than the fake stuff.  Mrblocko and I agreed that we also used loads less than the normal corn syrup based pancake syrup.  I think the jury is still out if I am going to continue to buy the cheap stuff or splurge for the real thing.  If we use lots less, and consume less sugar in the process, is that worth the cost?  Lucky for me I have a while to make that decision.

As for the recipe itself, I used 1/2 c of wheat bran.  The recipe said 1/4-1/2 cup and I figured, it's was humid and I was trying to use up the wheat bran. Why not add the extra amount?  I didn't think it made the batter extra thick.  The batter was the perfect thickness for waffles, in my opinion.  I also used buttermilk powder instead of the real deal.  Instead of using water to reconstitute the buttermilk powder, I used skim milk.  The milk was going to go bad if it wasn't used up in the next few days, so I figured why not.  I don't know if adding milk and buttermilk added any extra special flavor to the waffles but it did save me from having to pitch spoiled milk.

Maple Bran Waffles from Dinner with Julie
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4-1/2 cup wheat bran or oat bran
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

In a large bowl, stir together the flours, bran, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the buttermilk, oil, maple syrup, eggs and vanilla and whisk until well blended. Preheat your waffle iron and spray it with nonstick spray or brush it with oil. Cook the batter according to the manufacturers directions (I cook about a ladleful in a thick Belgian waffle maker) until golden brown. Keep them warm in a 200F oven while you cook the rest. Makes 6-8 large waffles.

Orangey Whole Wheat Flax Waffles

MMMMM. Waffles. How can you not love them? Most of the time I just cheat and whip up a big batch from a box mix. Sometimes it's nice to switch things up a bit and try a "fancy" from scratch version. I have a list of waffle recipes I'd like to try. I showed the list to Blockette and let her choose. She picked Healthier Whole Wheat Waffles from goodLife{eats}.Apperently, the recipe on goodLife{eats}is one that she made over. The original recipe had a whole cup of sugar, plus the sugar content from 2 cups of apple juice. This revised recipe has 1/3 c brown sugar and the juice from one orange. Loads less sugar, which is a great thing for me, especially now that it is hotter and I have to be careful about my sugar intake.

When I make new waffles for the first time I taste test them plain, without butter or syrup. My first impression was that they were sweet. Not overly sweet, but a good sweet, the kind that I thought didn't need any syrup though. This may be because I used a sweet mineola orange. If I thought the reduced sugar version was sweet, I can only imagine what the original waffles must taste like!

One word of warning, this batter is very thick. I have one of those round waffle makers, not the kind that has 2 or 4 squares. If you have a small waffle iron like this, 1/3 c of batter will be enough for one waffle, but you will need to spread it out quickly over the entire surface of the iron with a spatula.

I'm going to have to make these waffles again in the not too distant future. One, because they were so tasty, and two because Blockette and I ate these for dinner two nights when Mrblocko wasn't home.  Mrblocko was none too happy he didn't get a single taste!


Healthier Whole Wheat Waffles from Good Life Eats
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter, melted
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons cold milled flax
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup milk
3 eggs, separated
juice of one orange
zest of half an orange

Preheat waffle iron. Sift brown sugar, flour, flax, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together in a bowl. Add egg yolks and milk to dry ingredients and beat together thoroughly. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Stir 1/2 of the egg whites into the waffle batter, and then fold in the remaining egg whites and stir (do not beat) until mixed. Add butter, orange juice and zest, and mix until smooth. Grease the waffle iron, if necessary. Pour scant 1/3 c of batter on the heated waffle mold. Makes about 10-16 waffles, depending on the size of your waffle iron.

Waffle of Insane Greatness: Worthy of it's Name?

With a name like waffle of insane greatness, could you pass up the opportunity to test out the recipe? I couldn't. When I saw the recipe featured on Inn Cuisine, I just had to see if the waffles would live up to their name. They were good, but I don't know if I would file them under insanely great.

These waffles were light, but not as light as the overnight waffles I made last month. I think they did achieve optimum waffle density, and they had a nice crispy exterior too. Where these waffles fell short for me was that they did not reheat as well as other waffles.

Part of the appeal of making waffles is having leftovers and freezing them. I even made a double batch since this recipe had a relatively small yield. This would probably be my new go to waffle recipe if they tasted better the second time around. Next time, I'll just make a single batch of these waffles, at least until I find my Holy Grail of Waffle Recipes.

Waffle of Insane Greatness from Inn Cuisine
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Stir first 5 ingredients together in mixing bowl until thoroughly combined. Add milk, cream, oil, egg, sugar & vanilla to dry ingredients and stir by hand until mixture is smooth. Let batter rest for 30 minutes. Preheat waffle iron; pour batter into preheated waffle iron and cook as indicated by manufacturer or refer to waffle iron’s indicator light. There is no need to pre-spray the waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray as the oil in the batter will allow the waffles to release with ease. Serve warm.

Cook’s choice: You may substitute 1 cup whole milk, 1 cup half & half or 1 cup buttermilk for the 1/2 cup milk & 1/2 cup heavy cream as suggested in the recipe above, using 1 cup (diary product of preference) in total.

Overnight Waffles

I came across this recipe when I was drooling over the cinnamon roll pancakes at Tasty Kitchen. Tasty Kitchen has a neat feature where it references other recipes (with pictures) below the recipe you're looking at.

Since all waffle pics look pretty much the same, it was the title that intrigued me...overnight waffles. You mix everything but the egg and butter together and let it sit overnight. This was awesome since my brain doesn't function well right after I wake up. I'm always worried that if I make a recipe that requires a lot of measuring in the morning I'll forget something or use the wrong measurement...that and I'm really lazy in the morning.

But adding an egg and butter I'd already measured out the night before, then sitting in front of a waffle iron waiting for the light to click from red to green? Yeah I can handle that in a semi-conscious state.

I'd never made a yeasted waffle before. They turned out very light and airy. Both Mrblocko and Blockette said that this recipe was a keeper. I was a bit put off by the yeasty smell. The yeast smell wasn't very strong, but I have the nose of a bloodhound. I think if I hadn't been standing in front of the uncooked batter for so long I wouldn't have smelled the yeast on the cooked waffles.

Mrblocko pointed out one negative thing about these waffles as he used his last bite of waffle to sop up the last vestiges of syrup on his plate. He said, "These waffles are so light and airy that instead of eating 2, I had to eat 3."

Overnight Waffles from Tasty Kitchen
2 cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Yeast
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
½ teaspoons Salt
2 cups Milk
½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1 whole Large Egg
6 Tablespoons Unsalted Melted Butter

In large bowl, combine flour, yeast, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Whisk in milk and vanilla til blended. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand overnight at room temp. In the morning, heat waffle iron. Beat egg and melted butter into batter, which will be quite thin. Spray hot waffle iron with nonstick spray. Add just enough batter to cover cooking surface. Cook waffles til crisp and brown, but not too dark, 2-3 min each.

Gingerbread waffles

Today MrsThunder and her daughter came over for a play date. I made them Gingerbread waffles for lunch. Blockette often refers to them as "Black waffles" because the molasses makes them so dark. (Brown waffles are regular homemade waffles, while white waffles are Eggo. She won't eat the white waffles anymore. I guess I've ruined her with homemade ones. )

MrsThunder asked for the recipe, but as she doesn't have a waffle iron yet, I figured I'd link the recipe here. That way, when she gets around to getting a waffle iron, she doesn't have to search for a random email.

This recipe does make a metric ton of waffles, so, unless you have a crowd to feed, be prepared for leftovers. Luckily, the leftovers can be frozen and taste great reheated in the toaster, oven, or on a skillet. I prefer to reheat them on the skillet. It makes them just a bit crunchy, which I think makes them taste even better than the first time around.


Gingerbread Waffles from Rachael Ray
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, eyeball it
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter, plus some to butter the iron
Syrup, whipped cream or fresh fruits for topping, to pass at table

Preheat waffle iron. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. In a medium bowl, beat eggs and brown sugar until fluffy, then beat in pumpkin, milk, molasses and melted butter. Stir the wet into dry until just moist. Do not overstir the waffle batter. Brush the iron with a little melted butter and cook 4 waffles, 4 sections each. Serve with toppings of choice.