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.