Waffles! Breakfast's Underrated Son

Lemon-poppy seed waffles

Happy Wednesday everyone! As we cross over hump day and focus on the weekend plans ahead, one such plan might in fact be making brunch. An easy way to impress your friends is by making waffles! As someone who has FINALLY acquired a waffle iron (I didn't know all I had to do was convince my husband I knew where to store it! I know I have a place for it...at least, I'm sure I do. Well, I probably do...), I am ready to get started! We'll be having waffles for dinner tonight, as they taste great anytime of day. Here are a few recipes to get you started:

Lemon-Poppy Seed Waffles with Blueberry Sauce
The Little Rooster Cafe

Ingredients
Blueberry Sauce

• 1 pound frozen blueberries, thawed, undrained
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons apple juice
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Lemon-Poppy Seed Waffles

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel

Directions
For blueberry sauce:

1. Bring blueberries, 1/2 cup apple juice and sugar to boil in heavy medium saucepan. Simmer over medium heat until reduced to 2 cups, about 15 minutes. Dissolve 1 tablespoon cornstarch in remaining 2 tablespoons apple juice and add to blueberry mixture. Add lemon juice. Bring to boil, stirring constantly; simmer until thick, about 1 minute. Cool slightly. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium-low heat before serving.)

For lemon-poppy seed waffles:

1. Whisk first 6 ingredients in large bowl to blend. Whisk eggs, buttermilk, melted butter and lemon peel in small bowl to blend. Add buttermilk mixture all at once to flour mixture and whisk until just blended. Let mixture stand 15 minutes.
2. Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturer’s instructions. Spoon batter onto waffle iron. Cover and cook until golden and cooked through, about 7 minutes (cooking time will vary, depending on waffle iron). Repeat with remaining batter. Serve immediately with warm blueberry sauce.

Cornmeal-and-Ricotta Waffles

Michael Mina

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese (12 ounces)
• 2 cups milk
• 6 large eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups cake flour
• 1/2 cup fine yellow cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for serving
• Pure maple syrup, for serving
• Crisp bacon strips, for serving

Directions

1. Heat an 8-inch square waffle iron and preheat the oven to 200°. In a large bowl, whisk the ricotta with the milk, egg yolks and sugar. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Whisk the dry ingredients into the ricotta mixture until combined. Stir in the melted butter.
2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until firm peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the waffle batter until no streaks remain.
3. Coat the waffle iron with vegetable-oil spray and spoon about 1 1/2 cups of the batter onto the waffle iron. Close and cook until the waffles are golden and crisp. Serve the waffles immediately or transfer them to a rack in the oven to keep warm. Serve the cornmeal waffles with melted butter, maple syrup and crisp bacon.

Belgium Buttermilk Waffles with Glazed Bananas

Gourmet June 2005

Ingredients

For Waffles

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
• 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• Vegetable oil for waffle iron

For Topping

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 firm-ripe large bananas, cut diagonally into 1/3-inch-thick slices
• 1 1/4 cups pure maple syrup

• Special equipment: a waffle iron (preferably Belgian-style)
• Accompaniment: sour cream or whipped cream

Directions

Make waffles:

1. Put oven rack in middle position and put a large metal cooling rack directly on it. Preheat oven to 250°F and preheat waffle iron.
2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
3. Whisk together buttermilk, melted butter, and eggs in another bowl, then whisk into flour mixture until just combined.
4. Brush hot waffle iron lightly with vegetable oil and pour a slightly rounded 1/2 cup of batter into each waffle mold (see cooks' note, below). Cook waffles according to manufacturer's instructions until golden and cooked through, about 3 minutes. Transfer as cooked to rack in oven to keep warm, keeping waffles in 1 layer to stay crisp. Make more waffles in same manner.

Make topping:

1. While last batch is cooking, heat butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then add banana slices in 1 layer and cook until golden, about 1 minute per side. Remove from heat and add syrup to skillet.
2. Spoon bananas over waffles, then drizzle with warm syrup before serving.

Note: If using a regular waffle iron (not Belgian), batter will yield about 14 waffles using 1/3 cup per waffle.

Happy baking!