Sunday Morning: Waffles

I like to double all the recipes I make on the weekend, so that I have those leftovers to eat during the week. This Sunday Marshall and I had planned to eat breakfast together. Usually I want him to get up and make the food, but I wake up so much earlier than him that most of the time I end up making it anyway.

This morning I decided to make waffles. This was partly because I recently read a book about clutter and getting rid of stuff, and a waffle iron was listed as one of the least used kitchen appliances. In order to justify the space it is taking up under the counter, I decided I had to use it more often. The other reason is because I like waffles and because they make the prefect weekday morning leftover - a minute in the toaster oven or microwave and your breakfast is ready! I try to make my waffles pre-sweetened and pre-flavored, and then you can even skip the butter, syrup, etc, making them truly "out the door" food.

Mix and Match Waffles

Whenever I make food, I usually look at a recipe and then don't follow it. The waffles were no exception. I looked in my trusty Diet for a Small Planet, which almost always has a recipe for the basics that other cookbooks often leave out. I usually have to change these recipes because they are based on making "complete proteins", and I don't always have the ingredients. (And I don't really worry too much about complementary foods... I figure that kind of stuff works itself out if you eat a healthy, diverse diet).

2 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour (this is a light whole wheat flour; you can probably use regular whole wheat, or white, or half and half and they would still turn out fine)
1/4 cup whey protein (I try to add this to carb-a-licious recipes, to increase protein)
2 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons baking powder

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. I use a whisk to try to fluff them up a little. I like to think it's a close approximation to using a sifter (which I still don't own).

4 eggs
2 1/2 cups milk (I used plain soymilk)
1/2 cup sugar (I used vanilla sugar)
6 tablespoons oil (I used grapeseed - it's good for high temperatures)

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry. Whisk together well.

I used about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of batter mix for each pour into the waffle iron. I oiled the iron only for the first batch (using spray oil). I also added a small handful of "mixings" into each pour of batter. I used a handful of each of the following:

Chocolate chips
Dried mixed berries
Shredded coconut
Pecans
Candied ginger

Then the last two pours I also added about a tablespoon of cocoa powder and a small handful of chocolate chips (to each pour). Oh, and I did one plain pour as well.

Marshall says: I like chocolate chip the best. And I agree, with mixed berries as a close second.
Time: about an hour, with cooking (you can eat after the first batch or two, becuase each pour takes at least 5 minutes to cook)
Serves: at least 8 servings (about 8 pours). We pigged out this morning - at least two pours each (wanted to try all the flavors), but I will probably only eat 1/2 of a pour on the weekdays.