Waffles, Everyday
Nothing earth-shattering with this one, loves. Just waffles, that's all. Waffles that are golden with a slightly crisp edge, and even slighter sweetness, and unexpectedly, the crunch of walnuts. Wheat flour gives them a deeper, nutty taste, so wholesome that when you tear a hot one in half and eat it while padding around the house in your slippers, you don't even miss the butter or syrup. The idea of a naked waffle seems sacrilege to some, but I've never felt a lick guilty about it.
In our house, as maybe in yours, the tricky thing with a batch of fresh waffles is balancing the ratio of eaters to waffles. When we have all bodies at the table, we can almost polish off a triple batch - you know, athletic boys and all. But more often these days, all bodies aren't at the table at the same time. So what is one to do? Bake up the entire batch, that's what (I've always thought), then keep any leftovers in the fridge for hungry ones who show up later or next day. But the thing is, who wants to eat a limp, re-heated waffle when you've experienced the crisp-tender ones straight off the iron?
A few days ago, the youngest teenage boy of the three, who's been home more this summer than his brothers, and who has a particular penchant for fresh, hot waffles, asked if we could make some for breakfast. Already deep in a whirl of other activity, I said I could mix them up and he could take things from there. That he did, cooking and serving himself up a nice tall stack - and leaving a large portion of the batter in the bowl. I didn't have time to stop and run the rest of the batter through the waffle iron, so I poured it into a mason jar and popped it in the fridge, telling him as he headed out the door that tomorrow, he could make himself waffles for breakfast again. He did. And the next day, too. (Hmm, and next I'll teach him how to make the batter, too!)
Just like that, we'd stumbled onto the best way of always having the right fresh, hot waffle-to-eater ratio: refrigerated waffle batter. Of course I should have thought of this eons ago, but for some reason I hadn't, which made for feeling particularly triumphant on that weekday morning.
At this very moment that waffle-loving boy is in the kitchen, whistling while dipping batter from a squat, wide-mouthed jar, and pouring it, sizzling, onto the hot waffle iron. He won't forego the butter and syrup.
Nutty Whole Wheat Waffles adapted from Cuisinart
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole milk
1/3 cup oil (I use sunflower or safflower, but vegetable or canola will work, too)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds, or hazelnuts
Place ingredients in a large bowl and mix well with a wire whisk. Let batter sit for 5 minutes to thicken. Meanwhile, preheat your waffle iron. Pour by 1/2 cupfuls onto hot lower plate of waffle maker and close lid. When indicator light turns green, remove waffle using tongs and serve immediately or keep warm in a low oven.
If you have left over batter to keep, put it in a sealed jar, in the refrigerator. I wouldn't keep it longer than three days.
For the curious: