Waffles!

Sweets and I have been shopping for a Belgian waffle maker for several months.  We were looking for a specific model, one capable of producing two waffles in the same cook cycle: the KitchenAid Pro Line Series Waffle Baker.

It’s a pricey thing but desirable.  The drawback to the standard waffle maker — only one waffle bakes at a time.  By the time the second waffle has cooked, the first one is eaten and waffle eating becomes a solitary act.

Our search focused primarily on finding the unit on sale.  Like, on a BIG sale.  We were prepared to live without waffle making capabilities if we had to so, while we hadn’t quite given up, we had pushed the hunt to the back burner because all the stores seemed content to keep the thing at full price.

Last weekend, we swung by The Great Indoors to look at a patio umbrella.  This offshoot of Sears is closing, which is a darn shame.  It’s a great store.  If you don’t have one near you, The Great Indoors is one of those places where you can buy anything from dishes to draperies to lighting to Sub-Zero refrigerators.  And the prices are reasonable for name brand, quality stuff.

But the economy still sucks (although it’s hard to tell that when driving by the multitude of overflowing restaurant parking lots) and Sears is cutting its’ losses by closing stores.

We found the umbrella we wanted and the clearance price was within range.  While waiting for the store clerk to pull it from the stockroom, we browsed small kitchen appliances, specifically the waffle makers.  None of the display models were KitchenAid, so I’d moved on to mixers.  Sweets was following about an aisle behind.  He scanned the waffle makers and began to step away, disappointment trickling through him when, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a familiar box shoved to the back of the bottom shelf.

It was the one!  The last available one!

And it was 40% off!!

We bought it.

Obviously.

Even Ebay wasn’t selling it that cheap.

There was great rejoicing and rhapsodizing about the waffles we would eat.  The only thing lacking was a waffle mix recipe and the one on the Bisquick box wasn’t going to cut it in this fancy schmancy waffle maker.

I cracked open the laptop when we got home and pulled up the index to my 10 years of King Arthur Flour recipes.  There were at least six different ones.  We opted for the basic mix (start simple, we decided), substituting buttermilk for regular milk.

Topped with a little crème fraiche, a few fresh raspberries, and a drizzle of pure maple syrup, last night’s dinner was AWESOME!

There’s not much better than breakfast for dinner.

Basic Waffles

Waffle Mix

• 3 cups whole wheat flour, traditional or white whole wheat (I used King Arthur White Whole Wheat)
• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (again, I used the King Arthur brand…I’m a big fan)
• 4 TBSP baking powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground nutmeg

1. Whisk all the ingredients together.  Store in an airtight container in the freezer for long-term storage, or on the shelf if you’ll use it in a few months.

Waffles

• 4 large eggs
• 2-1/2 cups milk (I substituted buttermilk)
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter OR 1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used the butter)
• 2 cups waffle mix from above

2. Mix the liquid ingredients together in a large bowl.  Quickly but gently stir in the dry mix.  Add a bit more milk if the batter is too stiff; it should be pourable.

3. Preheat the waffle iron.  Pour batter onto the center of the iron.  Close the lid and bake until the waffle is golden brown.  You can usually tell waffles are done when the amount of steam coming from the iron drops significantly.  (The KitchenAid waffle maker has a built-in timer.  Our waffles took just over 3 minutes.  This will vary from waffle maker to waffle maker.)

There’s an art to pouring the batter to fill up the whole grid, without spilling over the sides. It’s a work in progress.

The house still smelled like waffles this morning.

Please come back again to see what else comes out of the oven.

Until then, may your days be filled with tasty goodness!