weekend waffles

My Dad has a thing for food traditions--like Mexican food Wednesdays and Weekend Waffles. Last night I was talking to my Mom, who was prepping waffle batter (we make the yeasted, refrigerate overnight variety) for a Sunday morning breakfast with my Grandpa, and I was inspired to make waffle batter too.

The recipe is adapted from Cook's Illustrated. I like to make a half batch when I'm a) low on milk and b) low on freezer space to store the extra waffles. I have a Cuisinart Belgium Waffle maker, and this recipe makes 2 and 1/2 batches (i.e. 5 single rectangles).

7 oz. skim milk
2 TBS butter
1 c. flour (I used 1/2 cup white whole wheat and 1/2 c whole wheat)
1/2 TBS sugar (I used raw sugar)
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. yeast
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
cinnamon to taste

Heat the milk and butter until butter is just melted; cool until just warm to the touch.

Mix together the dry ingredients in one bowl, and whisk together egg and vanilla in another bowl.

Add the cooled milk/butter mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Finally, whisk in the egg mixture. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, remove the bowl from the fridge and allow it to warm up as your waffle iron heats. Follow the directions for your waffle maker, and enjoy! I like to top my waffles with local maple syrup and nuts--pecans or walnuts--and whatever fruit I might have. This morning I ate fresh pineapple slices on the side, along with a cup of orange juice and a mug of hazlenut coffee with the very last dregs of milk, steamed to frothy perfection.