Bread in Any Other Form Smells as Great

When I hear the word BREAD, I immediately have a mental image of a loaf of bread, shaped in a bread pan and with a rounded, crusty, golden top. That’s probably because my Dad used to bake bread from scratch and that’s how his bread looked.

For Bread Baking Day #26 Jamie of Life's a Feast asked us to bake a birthday party bread.

Instead of baking my iconic bread, I decided to bring what would be needed if I showed up early to help get ready for the party…waffles. They have a totally different shape, being somewhat flat and indented with those lovely squares that hold the syrup, but they smell just a great as any loaf of freshly baked bread. Sweetie and I enjoyed one plain, then I partied them up with chopped dried Michigan cherries (thanks W-Gs!).


To make them dual purpose and good enough for the Monthly Mingle hosted by the same lovely blogger, Jaime at Life's a Feast, I included the cherries and added a sprinkle of chocolate chips

…chocolate and cherries are always wonderful together and they were this time, too. The Monthly Mingle theme is Bread and Chocolate, so this fits it perfectly.

The waffles themselves are started the night before and the batter is finished off in the morning. Because all you are adding is melted butter and some egg, you can finish the batter while the waffle iron is heating. Since you add butter to the batter, you don’t really need any added at the table. We poured on a bit of real maple syrup.

If I had taken the time, a cherry compote would have been even better.

For those of you who can’t imagine having a single purpose item like a waffle iron, perhaps it helps that this one was from a garage sale and is eons old. It’s smallish and round and fits inside of a stew pot. If it is still working when I die, my survivors will probably discard it, but for now it does the trick and produces nice circles of yummy waffles.

I'm sending this over to Susan at Wild Yeast for her wonderful weekly event Yeastspotting. If you love bread, you should check it out...she has lots of lovely breads and rolls and other yeasted goodies featured each week.

Amazing Overnight Waffles with Chocolate Chips and Dried Cherries
from Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe' Cookbook

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg (I used ¼ cup egg substitute)
Nonstick spray
Butter for the waffle iron
!/3 cup dried cherries, chopped
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Pure maple syrup – hard to resist on waffles

Combine the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl Add the milk and whisk until blended. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand overnight at room temperature (or put in the fridge if room temp. is over 70 degrees F.) I figured out a sourdough version since my starter needed feeding and I hate to actually toss out the 'toss-off'.

The next morning, preheat the waffle iron. Melt the 6 tablespoons butter and let cool a bit. Beat the egg is a small bowl (unnecessary if using egg substitute) then beat it into the batter along with the melted butter. The batter may be a bit thin.

Lightly spray the hot waffle iron with non stick spray, top and bottom plates, and then butter a piece of bread and use that to rub some butter on top and bottom plates.

Add just enough batter to cover the cooking surface…this varies by waffle iron…about 2/3 cup. Sprinkle about a tablespoon of the cherry bits and similar amount of chocolate chips over the batter. If you like and can be fast, use the bottom of the scoop (which has batter on it) to dab a bit of batter over the tops of the chocolate chips. That keeps them from melting all over the iron.

Lower the top and cook until golden brown…it’s OK to check now and then. It takes about 2-3 minutes. You want it golden brown, but not dark brown.
Serve hot, right away, with maple syrup, or toppings of your choice.

Note; If you have too many waffles for the number of people you are feeding, bake the leftover batter a little less than the ones you are eating, let cool on a baking rack, then freeze and store in the freezer tightly wrapped. Re-heat in the toaster.


Sourdough Version
1 cup sourdough starter
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups milk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg (I used ¼ cup egg substitute)
Nonstick spray
Butter for the waffle iron
!/3 cup dried cherries, chopped
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine the sourdough starter, flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl Add the milk and whisk until blended. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand overnight at room temperature (or put in the fridge if room temp. is over 70 degrees F.)

The next morning, preheat the waffle iron. Melt the 6 tablespoons butter and let cool a bit. Beat the egg is a small bowl (unnecessary if using egg substitute) then beat it into the batter along with the melted butter. The batter may be a bit thin.

Lightly spray the hot waffle iron with non stick spray, top and bottom plates, and then butter a piece of bread and use that to rub some butter on top and bottom plates.

Add just enough batter to cover the cooking surface…this varies by waffle iron…about 2/3 cup. Sprinkle about a tablespoon of the cherry bits and similar amount of chocolate chips over the batter. If you like and can be fast, use the bottom of the scoop (which has batter on it) to dab a bit of batter over the tops of the chocolate chips. That keeps them from melting all over the iron. Lower the top and cook until golden brown…it’s OK to check now and then. It takes about 2-3 minutes. You want it golden brown, but not dark brown.
Serve hot, right away, with maple syrup, or toppings of your choice.