Fluffy Waffles with Banana Foster Sauce

I LOVE breakfast foods... at breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner! This made a wonderful breakfast for dinner meal. The waffles were extremely light, with just the right amount of sweetness. And the sauce was delicious! I've made it a couple times in the past, and each time it reminds me of this quaint B&B my husband & I stayed at 4 or 5 Christmases ago. A similar sauce was served with granola & nuts, and while my husband didn't like it, I eagerly ate both of our servings!

Both components are easy to make, making it a great weeknight meal, or a special treat on the weekend mornings (without having to do any preparation the night before or wonder if you have buttermilk in the fridge).



FLUFFY WAFFLES (Adapted from All Recipes)
Feeds 2-4 people

2 eggs
2 tablespoons white sugar
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 3/4 cups milk (I used soy milk)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder

Preheat a waffle iron.

Beat together eggs and sugar. Pour in butter, milk, salt, and vanilla; mix until well blended. Sift together the flour and baking powder. Mix the flour into the liquid.

Spoon 2/3 cup of batter onto the preheated waffle iron at a time. Close the iron and cook until steam no is no longer coming out and waffle is browned.

BANANA FOSTER SAUCE
Makes enough for topping 1 large waffle

1 banana, sliced
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

Place all ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until bubbling. Serve warm over fresh waffles.

ENJOY!

Banana Pecan Waffles

If you can't tell yet, after cupcakes, breakfast is one of my favorite things to make. We occasionally find a few very ripe bananas sitting on our counter (a very rare occurrence as my husband & I both love bananas). When we do have some dark bananas, I look forward to baking with him. Banana bread used to be my "go to" recipe to utilize them, but I decided I wanted to experiment this time and found this delicious recipe. They are very hearty waffles - I couldn't even finish one entire waffle without being stuffed! They reheat wonderfully in the oven or a wide-slot toaster, making them a great breakfast for the rest of the week!



Banana-Pecan Waffles (Original source Sunset Magazine, January 2005)
Servings 8 – 10

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs
3/4 cup low-fat milk
3/4 cup mashed ripe banana (approx 2 medium-large bananas)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped (directions follow)


In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

In another bowl, mix egg yolks, milk, banana, sour cream, and butter until well blended. Stir egg-yolk mixture into flour mixture just until combined. Stir in the toasted pecans (see below for directions).

In another large bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gently fold into batter until no white streaks remain.

Preheat a Belgian waffle iron to high. Brush both sides lightly with melted butter. When iron is ready, pour about 1/2 cup batter per 4-inch square; close iron and cook until waffle is browned, about 6-9 minutes. Remove waffle; keep warm on a baking sheet in a 200 degree oven up to 15 minutes. Repeat waffle cooking process to finish batter.

Serve warm with syrup or powdered sugar and some banana slices.

Toasting Pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pecans on a rimmed baking sheet and toast until golden brown, about 8-10 minutes. Remove immediately from oven and allow to cool before using.

ENJOY!

Blueberry Waffles with Fresh Blueberry Syrup

We have been eating some fantastic (& inexpensive) blueberries recently. I never ate many blueberries when I was younger, but I'm loving them now! And what a perfect fruit to incorporate into a July 4th breakfast!

These were fairly easy to whip up. However, the waffle iron was a mess afterwards from the popping blueberries while cooking. I initially had some difficulty with the waffles splitting (which I've read can happen with blueberry waffles in a belgium waffle maker), but found that if I turned the temperature down, I had less of an issue. The waffles weren't overly sweet, and were complemented nicely by a simple blueberry syrup/sauce on top.



BLUEBERRY WAFFLES (Adapted from VeganYumYum)
Made 6 large Belgium Waffles

2 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
3 Tbs Sugar

1 (6oz) Container Blueberry Yogurt
1 1/3 Cup Milk
1/3 Cup Oil

1 Cup Fresh Blueberries
Spray Oil for the waffle iron


Preheat your waffle iron.

Mix all the dry ingredients together well with a whisk. Add the wet ingredients & whisk until combined. Gently fold in berries.

Spray your waffle iron with a little bit of oil. Follow the baking instructions for your waffle maker. (Mine has a measuring cup for the batter, and beeps when the waffles are done - I found that they needed another 1-2 minutes after my maker indicated they should be done.)



BLUEBERRY SYRUP(From A Yankee in a Southern Kitchen)

1 container fresh blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

Heat above ingredients in a small sauce-pan till bubbly and boiling, cook till it thickens slightly.

Serve warm over waffles.

(When it cools completely, it has a texture similar to cranberry sauce).

ENJOY!

Overnight Waffles

This waffle recipe has been sitting in my folder for 5 years, and I'm just now trying it out. A co-worker of mine, back when I was working on my undergraduate honor's thesis, recommended this recipe to me. He said it was one of the best recipes he's tried, and was his "go-to" recipe when guests were over. At the time, I had 4 roommates, and to be completely honest, I didn't trust a bowl full of batter sitting out on the counter when they (and all the people they had around) were in the house. So, my recipe got tucked away until now.

My husband & I finally exchanged a Christmas gift for a new Belgium waffle maker. It's one of those fancy hotel style machines that flips over. I can kind of pretend I'm on vacation while making them (except for knowing that I'm the one who has to clean up the mess). The waffle maker worked wonderfully - I would fully recommend it to anyone, and the recipe produced beautiful, light waffles. We made a double batch, and froze some of the waffles. They taste just as good after reheated in the oven for a few minutes.


(See my pretty new waffle maker in the background?)

OVERNIGHT WAFFLES ("How to Cook Everything" p745)
Makes 6-8 large round Belgium waffles

1/2 tsp instant yeast
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbls sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted & cooled
1/2 tsp vanilla (I always add more than called for)
Canola oil for brushing on waffle iron
2 eggs

Before going to bed, combine the dry ingredients and stir in the milk, then the butter and vanilla. The mixture will be loose. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside overnight at room temperature.

In the morning, brush the waffle iron lightly with oil & preheat it. Separate the eggs and stir the yolks into the batter. Beat the whites until they hold soft peaks, then gently stir them into the batter.

Spread a ladleful or so of batter onto the waffle iron and bake until the waffle is done, usually 3-5 minutes, depending on your iron. Serve immediately or keep warm for a few minutes in a low oven.

Note: The book I got this recipe from highly recommends immediately serving the waffles as they are "delicate creatures" - keep them in a 200 degree oven for no more than 5 minutes prior to serving.

They do start to get soggy if not eaten within a few minutes. To keep them crisp prior to freezing, I put them onto cooling racks immediately until completely cool.

Enjoy!

Vanilla Bean Waffles

I'm on a bit of a vanilla bean kick lately. All of the vanilla beans in my cupboard are just begging to be used! While these waffles were delicious, I could not taste the vanilla bean. Next time, I'll either add a little vanilla in addition to the bean, or add two beans. Even without the strong vanilla flavor I was hoping for, these waffles turned our beautifully. They were my first attempt at a yeast based waffle recipe (requiring some planning as the batter is made the night before), but they were quick to mix up and had a light, airy texture that most pre-made mixes don't have. I hope to someday have a belgian waffle maker - this would be the perfect batter for belgian waffles! One thing to note, the batter will have a very strong smell of yeast - however, you cannot taste it in the finished product.



VANILLA BEAN WAFFLES (from DoughMessTic)
Feeds 2-4

2 cups plus 2 Tbsps flour
1 1/2 tsp yeast
1/2 cup melted butter
2 cups warm milk
2 eggs
1 vanilla bean, cut in half and scraped
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

The night before:

Combine the warm milk, sugar and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes.

During the wait, melt the butter and scrape the vanilla bean.

When the 10 minute wait is up, mix in the flour & salt. Whisk the vanilla bean seeds with the 2 eggs, then add to the batter. Mix in the melted butter. Combine, but do not over beat.

Cover batter and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning:

Just before cooking, stir batter to deflate it.

Use cooking spray to prepare your waffle iron. Prepare the waffles according to your manufacturer’s suggestions.

Enjoy! They are wonderful with syrup or strawberries & whipped cream!