Spiced Gingerbread Waffles

Strange how different things can be in less than a week. On Saturday evening a week ago I stirred together a batter for the next morning. We were having our neighbors over for breakfast on Sunday and I wanted to try out a recipe that I had cobbled together for a seasonal waffle. Somehow gingerbread always seems like a fall treat to me, with the richness of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves and the added heft of dark molasses. A long time ago I took those flavors and made donuts, filled with lemon curd. They were sooo good.

This time I wanted to take my favorite overnight waffle recipe and turn it into a gingerbread waffle recipe. I had made some great gingerbread that included all those signature ingredients, plus stout, so I decided to use them all in the batter. Well, it turns out that putting both the molasses and the stout into the overnight yeast mixture was a mistake. The mixture rose pretty high in the bowl, then subsided, so by the time I was making the batter, the yeast wasn't helping things rise, plus the batter was sort of flabby once cooked. Not my idea of a good waffle for sure. We still had them for Sunday breakfast and they had good flavor, but I was determined to try again and see if I could get a better waffle. I do enjoy a good waffle!

In the meantime, we had strong winds Sunday night, which blew a firestorm our way, wiped out the homes of friends and acquaintances, and sent us smoke and unease through last night. This morning the smoke was far less and we heard that the fires were being contained, although there is still some danger. Last night I knew that strong winds were called for that could have started things up again, but I wanted to be hopeful, not fearful.

So last night I whisked together the flour, yeast, spices, salt and milk, covered the bowl and let it all sit overnight so that we could have Overnight Gingerbread Waffles. In the morning the dough looked fluffy, just as I hoped it would.

To the melted, cooled margarine (cuz I can't do butter) I added the molasses and stirred it together well. I beat the egg a bit to break it up and loosen the white, then added it and the butter mixture to the overnight mixture. No stout was used this time.

These made really great waffles, even better in flavor than the Sunday ones. I think that the stout had intensified the spices, so the waffles did taste spicier, but also somewhat bitter. Maybe one day I'll figure out a way to include just a small amount of stout. In the meantime, these are delightful, seasonal waffles if you like gingerbread. You can decrease the amount of ginger a bit, too, if you want it blander, but I'm quite happy with these spicy waffles!

Spicy Amazing Overnight Gingerbread Waffles
based on a recipe from Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe' Cookbook

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tablespoons ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon yeast
1 tablespoon brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups milk (I used soy milk)
1/4 cup dark molasses
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg (I used ¼ cup egg substitute)
Nonstick spray
Butter for the waffle iron
Lemon curd – optional, but nice
OR Applesauce - especially home made - wonderful
OR Pure maple syrup – hard to resist on waffles
whipped cream - hard to resist on anything

Combine the flour, spices, yeast, sugar, and salt in a medium bow. l Stir the milk  into the flour mixture 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, then stir in the molasses. Beat the egg in 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. Make sure that indicator light/gauge shows iron is still hot enough. If not, let it heat a little more.

Add just enough batter to cover the cooking surface…this varies by waffle iron…about 2/3 cup. Lower the top and cook until dark golden brown…it’s OK to check now and then. It takes about 2-3 minutes. The steam usually almost stops rising when it is done.
Serve hot, right away, with lemon curd, applesauce or maple syrup, whipped cream, 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.

Raspberry Overnight Waffles

As long as your waffle iron works (and that you actually have a waffle iron), there is nothing as wonderfully crisp and delicious in the waffle world as Overnight Waffles. Thank you Mollie Katzen! The batter is started the night before and in the morning you add melted butter and eggs and are ready to go in no time. Because these are yeast waffles, the steam that emanates from the waffle iron as they bake smells just like freshly baked bread. In my house that means that the waffles just can't bake fast enough. On a recent morning, the waffle iron seemed to be having trouble getting up to baking temperature, so the wait seemed even more interminable.

For this venture into waffle land I decided to add fresh raspberries to the waffles before they baked. They were pretty large raspberries, so I sliced each one in half. The addition of those sweet red berries really was a great idea because they tasted wonderful, looked better than plain waffles and we had the addition of warm raspberry scent added to the warm bread fragrance. Lucious!

You can get creative and use another berry or diced fruit instead of the raspberries. Chopped nuts are also a nice addition. Topping with more berries is even better!

Be sure to have a well greased iron and one that gets as hot as possible since that makes for a lovely crispy waffle and golden crust. Serve right away with your favorite toppings. Berries, jam drizzle, yogurt and/or whipped cream. Maple syrup is classic but imagine these with an apricot syrup. If your mouth isn't watering by now, perhaps you should move on to another blog.

Amazing Overnight Waffles with Raspberries

adapted 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 (I used a mixture of soy creamer and rice milk)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (I melted some non-dairy margarine)

1 large egg (or  ¼ cup egg substitute)

Nonstick spray

Butter for the waffle iron

1 cup fresh raspberries, rinsed, blotted with a towel, then carefully sliced in halves

Pure maple syrup – hard to resist on waffles

Combine the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl Add the milk (or rice/soy milk mixture) 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 (or non-dairy margarine) 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. Scatter about 12-14 raspberry halves over the batter. Lower the top and cook until golden brown. That is usually when the bread fragranced steam almost stops coming from the waffle iron...it’s OK to check now and then. It takes about 2-3 minutes, but cook longer if you prefer. I like them golden brown, but not dark brown.

Serve hot, right away, with strawberries and 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.

One of the things that often keeps me from making anything more complicated for breakfast than a bowl of oatmeal  or some fruit and toast is the time it takes to put together a batter (pancake, waffle, muffin, coffee cake) and then cook/bake it and then clean up from it.

The advantage of this waffle recipe is that you start the batter the night before and only need to add the egg and melted butter in the morning. Now, it's true, there is still some cleaning up to do (although half can be done the night before) and waffles do take a while to bake in the waffle iron, but the amazing ease of finishing off the batter, plus the fact that they taste great, makes it worthwhile. An added bonus is that the house smells like freshly baked bread...hard to beat on a chilly spring morning. Add some fresh raspberries and you have a decadent way to start the day.

The ingredients for this are so simple that most people will have them handy in the pantry. That makes it so easy to whisk the first part together one evening, cover it, let the little yeasties do their thing overnight, then finish it off and enjoy the next morning. These freeze well and can be easily reheated in a toaster or toaster oven...if any are left.

Amazing

When I was growing up pancakes were part of a special breakfast, but not rare, at least as far as I remember. Waffles, on the other hand, were very special, perhaps because my Mom made the recipe that included stiffly beaten egg whites for giving the waffles both crispness and height. When you make the batter that way, it takes extra time to separate the eggs and an extra bowl to beat up the whites, so it is not the easiest thing to do. Pancakes depend on a chemical reaction, usually baking powder, for their loft, so they are quick and easy.

Now that it is finally strawberry time with local berries available on Hwy. 12, in my mind it is also waffle season. My lovely neighbor brought us a basket of berries and a jar of freshly made strawberry jam. Those are all the toppings necessary for the right waffle. So what's the right waffle? A waffle that is made with yeast and that you start the night before gets my vote. It's a Mollie Katzen recipe and it is called, with good reason, The Amazing Overnight Waffle. Because the yeast causes the batter to rise once it hits the hot waffle iron, no extra work with beaten egg whites is necessary. You do have to melt some butter before plugging in the waffle iron in the morning, and, once the butter cools, add an egg, then stir that mixture into the batter, but that is the work of just a few moments.

The waffles are really crisp and lovely on the outside and tender on the inside. They are just fine with maple syrup and butter, have been made by me with blueberries scattered over the batter once it goes into the hot waffle iron (as in photo above), would be super with crumbled bacon used the same way, but are out of this world wonderful topped with strawberries...and a few dots of fresh strawberry jam.

These waffles are amenable to having part of the flour be whole wheat if you want a more earthy flavor. A sprinkle of flax seeds would add some heart healthy nutrition, too. I've even made these in a gingerbread version! Just remember to start the batter the night before and leave it, covered, on the counter so the yeast has time to work it's magic. Once you see how easy they are and taste your first bite, you'll agree that they are amazing.

Amazing Overnight Waffles

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

Sliced strawberries – optional, but nice

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.)

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. Lower the top and cook until golden brown…it’s OK to check now and then, but while there is still a lot of steam coming out the sides of the iron, you may want to wait before lifting the lid. It takes about 2-3 minutes. You want it golden brown, but not too dark a brown.

Serve hot, right away, with strawberries and jam, or 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.

Let's Hear It For Gingerbread!

Lots of emotions going on recently. I was remembering school Christmas nativity plays and all of the costumes and songs. I was painfully shy after about age 7, so never acted in any that I can remember, but a friend remembered being an angel and she said something interesting: "The tinsel made my shoulders itch." At first I thought she meant literally, but she was talking about feeling not worthy to be such a higher being as an angel. I know that feeling myself.

At this time of year I alternate between feeling good about myself as I choose just the right gift or make some quick bread as a gift and feeling inadequate when I realize that I don't have a gift for a friend who just made a lunch date with me or when I can't even seem to find the time to see someone I really enjoy spending time with.

I get a warm glow sending out cards to good friends and a sinking feeling that I'm going to forget to send cards to people I care about since my list hasn't been updated and I'm terrible at keeping my database clean with up to date addresses and phone numbers.

Then there is the well of sadness that lives just below the surface of my emotions and has for 13 years. Mostly it stays below the surface and I'm happy, even joyful, as I prepare for the holidays. Then something will poke a hole in that happy and the missing of my son wells up. It's OK. I ride with it, shed a few tears sometimes, and then the happy is all around me again.

It's part of the season for lots of people I think. Many of us have lost a loved one, are worried about the illness a loved one is dealing with, have to face loneliness or the death of a dream. So day by day I remind myself to live the meaning of the season. Be kind to those around me, be kind to myself, and patient, be grateful for my blessings. Share my love as generously as possible. It works. All the lights on the Christmas tree help, too.

Last, but not least, I find that making and sharing good food is my way of finding the happy. This morning we had a great breakfast with dear friends and I made Gingerbread Waffles. I'll bet you can imaging just how wonderful my house smelled as they cooked! There were topping of pure maple syrup, applesauce, an apple that had been sauteed, then mixed with some cinnamon and chopped pecans. For Sweetie there was a bowl of whipped cream which he even shared with the rest of us. Good man! Our friends brought a lot of fantastic candied bacon which also had some rice wine vinegar in the basting sauce to cut the sweetness a bit. It was a hit and I'll share the recipe if I get it. Could not have been a happier time.

The Gingerbread Waffles were based on the Amazing Overnight Waffles I love so much, but with the addition of some spices and substitution of molasses for the sugar. They were crispy and spicy and just wonderful!

Amazing Overnight Gingerbread Waffles

adapted for gingerbread flavor
from Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe' Cookbook
Sponge:
1 packet dry yeast
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
½ cup water

Whisk together and let sit, uncovered, at room temperature for 2 hours


Batter:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon salt

all of the sponge
1/8 teaspoon instant yeast
½ cup molasses
2 cups milk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs

Nonstick spray
Butter (and bread) for the waffle iron
Sliced apples
Whipped cream if you are feeling decadent or maple syrup if you prefer

Combine the flour, spices, yeast, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the sponge that has sat for 2 hours waiting for this moment, and whisk to combine. Add the molasses, 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 eggs in a small bowl (unnecessary if using egg substitute) then beat into the batter along with the melted butter.

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. Lower the top and cook until dark brown…it’s OK to check now and then. It takes about 2-3 minutes and it's usually when the steam starts to diminish. You want it medium-dark brown but not burnt.

Serve hot, right away, with sautéed apples, whipped cream or 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.

Blackberry Syrup

When I was talking, in recent post, about the harvest starting to be ready to pick I completely forgot to mention the blackberries. We must have gotten just the right combination of rain and sun and fog because the blackberries this year are gorgeous and plentiful.

Sweet and juicy, we usually just eat them out of hand or put some in with the morning fruit or with our cereal. Every now and then I take some of the berry baskets I save from year to year and I spend some time picking enough blackberries to have some fun with.

This time I used a recipe I saw in the August issue of Sunset magazine to make a blackberry syrup. One of the nice side effects of the effort is that, as the syrup simmers, the whole house smells like ripe blackberries. I did such a great job of simmering that I ended up with something closer to a jam than a syrup, but when I was ready to use it I just mixed in a little water and heated it up in the microwave. I also made a third of the amount in the recipe because it was too hot that day to pick 3 pounds of blackberries!  I started with 3/4 pound of berries, weighed on my scale, then adjusted the amount of sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice proportionally.

A stash of already cooked sourdough waffles waiting the freezer meant that a luxurious breakfast of sourdough waffles with fresh strawberries topped with blackberry syrup was quick and easy. I heated the waffles in the toaster oven so that they were hot and crisp, dropped a large handful of sliced strawberries on top, then enhanced that with a generous helping of warm, sweet, fragrant blackberry syrup. The perfect summer breakfast and you don't even need butter on the waffles! Don't forget, National Waffle Day for Americans is August 24th. Can you wait that long?

Since these waffles had been made with half whole wheat flour and some flax seed meal they were even healthy. You can find the basic sourdough waffle recipe here. It is a good one because you start the batter the night before, so the batter is ready to bake right away, sometimes even before the waffle iron has heated up.

With the addition of a little more flour in the batter you could make these up as sourdough pancakes and cook them in a frying pan. The strawberries and blackberry syrup will still taste great. No strawberries? Fresh sliced nectarines or peaches would be delightful with this syrup.

Blackberry Syrup
Makes 6 half-pint jars

3 pounds fresh blackberries
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice

Prepare 6 half-pint canning jars and lids. One of the reasons I made a smaller amount was that I didn't have time to do the canning part. If you have the time and know how to can, and have enough berries, by all means do the full recipe.

Put berries, sugar, lemon zest and juice and 3/4 cup water into a wide pot. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until fruit releases juices, about 30 minutes.

Smash berries with a potato masher. Cook until juices have thickened, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes more.

Strain syrup into a 2 quart glass measuring cup. Press fruit with a ladle or spatula to push remaining juice into the cup. Discard seeds and pulp.

Pour strained syrup into jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Can, processing 10 minutes. If you want to learn about canning, go to sunset.com/canning.

Use the syrup drizzled over pancakes, yogurt, ice cream or, as I did, waffles.

Even Better Sourdough Waffles and a Busy Week

Strawberry season is finally here! This year May has been the wettest and coldest on record, so the strawberries are later than usual, but the locally grown ones are sweet, juicy and oh so delicious. This week I paired them with freshly made, crisp and fragrant sourdough waffles for a breakfast to die for. Can you see how crisp these were?

I love waffles! Almost always if given a choice between pancakes and waffles, I'll choose waffles. I love that they have a crispy, crunchy exterior and soft interior when properly cooked. I love the golden color and their yeasty fragrance when you make them with sourdough starter or commercial yeast. I love the way the indents in the crust hold butter and/or syrup. Fortunately, Sweetie loves waffles, too.

One day this week I fed my starter and decided that I would also feed the "toss off" and make some waffles. The cup of discarded starter was mixed together with a soup make of 1/2 cup all-purpose flour and a little over 1/2 cup water, and 1 tablespoon sugar which had all been whisked until smooth. The new flour mixture provided new food for the little sourdough yeasties to eat and get happy.

About 4 hours later I added an additional 2 cups of flour (1 cup was whole wheat flour), 1/8 teaspoon instant dry yeast, 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Then I whisked in 2 cups of milk and covered the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit out overnight to become an even better batter.

In the morning butter was melted and cooled, an egg was whisked and they were both added to the batter. To this point the process is very much like what I posted almost a year ago here. I guess there is something about the arrival of strawberry season that puts me into a waffle kind of mood!

The difference this time was that I had a leftover egg white to add. It warmed up while the melted butter was cooling, then I whisked the egg white in a clean bowl until it held a soft peak. The beaten egg white was then folded into the batter using a flexible spatula. Now the batter was ready to bake in the preheated waffle iron. The first one was a little short on the batter, but Sweetie enjoyed it anyway.

Not sure if the egg whites are responsible or not, but these were the crispiest waffles ever! They were addictive and we ate them with sliced fresh strawberries and a splash of maple syrup...no butter necessary with these beauties!

The busy week part began with the delightful visit from Flying Fingers and her hubby, was followed by a day where we set up a new storage structure and unloaded lumber and wainscot ting. Sweetie played tennis on Friday, but we also took down towel racks and shelving so that we can paint the bathroom.

We decided that the carpet in the vanity area of the bath is shot, so yesterday we removed the carpeting and installed new thresholds where carpeting is staying in the bedroom and hall. Let me tell you, removing the carpet tack strips was the hardest part for me. I'm a little sore today for all of that crowbar work.

Sweetie showed me how to prepare the threshold metal strip which keeps the remaining carpet edges in place. First you measure the door opening, then cut it to size with a hacksaw. Once cut you smooth the edges with a rasp and find the center point with a punch. Not shown is the hole he drilled with the drill press so that there was a screw hole near the end that had been cut. Once the threshold piece was screwed into place with two screws, he could cut the carpet with a utility knife. He then took out the screws and moved the metal threshold forward to cover the carpet edges, then screwed it down all across the threshold. This was repeated for the other doorway. All in a days work in getting ready to install new flooring in the bathroom.

I also spent some time in Home Depot looking at paint swatches since the walls will be getting a new coat of paint, and so will the trim. I've already decided to paint the trim a glossy bright white, which is what I'm doing throughout the house. I enjoy color so finding the perfect shade or shades of wall color is fun for me. Some possibles include a soft sage green, a pale greyed turquoise and a deep brassy green. I'm also looking at a soft sesame color similar to the hallway walls.

Saturday evening we were off to Healdsburg for a barbecue. I made dessert...with more strawberries. Will post about that soon.

XO Elle


NOTE: For those of you who can’t imagine having a single purpose item like a waffle iron, perhaps it helps that mine was from a garage sale and is eons old. It’s smallish and round and fits inside of a stew pot so it doesn't take up extra room in the cupboard. 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, crispy waffles.

Amazing Overnight Waffles
adapted for sourdough starter and egg whites
from Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe' Cookbook

Sponge:
1 cup sourdough starter
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
½ cup water
Whisk together and let sit, uncovered, at room temperature for 2 hours

Batter:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
all of the sponge
1/8 teaspoon instant yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
1 egg white
Nonstick spray
Butter for the waffle iron
Sliced strawberry
Pure maple syrup – hard to resist on waffles
Songe: Whisk together all of the sponge ingredients and let sit, uncovered, at room temperature for 2 hours.

Combine the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl Add the sponge and whisk to combine. 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. Whisk the egg white until it forms soft peaks. Fold into the batter with a spatula.

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. 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 strawberries, 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.