Waffles

Banana’s Foster Waffles

July 15, 2015

Okay, summer, can you please get hot?!?!?

I’ve been anxiously waiting for it to get hot here in Boston. Sure, it’s been in the 80’s but it has not yet hit 90 yet. Every day they show a chart on the local news that shows the number of days above 90 for the past few years and this year has a big fat ‘0’ next to it. It breaks my heart.

I live for the hot sticky days. It just feels so great to step outside to hot humid weather. Like when I travel to Florida and the doors open up at the airport and it feels like a big slap to my face. It just makes me feel alive when my skin gets prickly from the heat.

So while it’s not as hot as I’d like, I’m still enjoying the summer. We have been grilling a lot, playing around in the kiddie pool, and just sitting out enjoying the nice days and nights. My neighbors do as well. It’s so nice to see families enjoy it together with kids running around before and after their BBQ dinners. In fact, our neighbors were recently enjoying the cool summer nighttime breezes with some friends when I brought them over a big platter of these Banana’s Foster Waffles. That’s just how I roll!

Banana’s Foster was originally invented at Brennan’s Vieux Carré Restaurant located on Bourbon Street, across from The Old Absinthe House in the 1950’s. (Side note- Price and I believe that the best Bloody Mary is from The Old Absinthe House in NOLA. GET ONE!!!) It was a solution to excess bananas that they had in stock. Brilliant.

It’s a great combination of ripe bananas, butter, sugar, cinnamon, and booze. It’s sickly sweet. It’s sticky sweet. It’s perfection.

And I, of course, dumped all that syrupy banana goodness on of a big old scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, which was happily melting on a warm waffle.

I kept it simple stupid when I approached the waffle as I just used a mix and added some cinnamon to it amp up that flavor that’s in the Banana’s Foster syrupy goodness. Don’t get me wrong, Bisquick is great but the Belgiuan Waffle Mix from Krusteaz is AWESOME. It is airy and has a great sweet flavor to it. Their Buttermilk Pancake Mix is also great, but I wanted to use something on the sweeter side as it’s for dessert.

When you make Banana’s Foster the rum should flame up… FLAMBE! But as I don’t have a gas range mine didn’t. I tried to get it to catch with a flame, but by the time I lit it the booze was already cooking off. Hey, I tried! So no worries if your flambe is a dud, it will still be great!

I don’t tattle if you make this awesome dessert for breakfast. You know what they say, well, what do they say?

Banana’s Foster Waffles

Makes 6 – 7″ wide round waffles

Ingredients

For the waffles

3 Cups Belgiun Waffle Mix, I used Krustez
2 eggs
1 1/3 Cup water
1/3 Cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

For the bananas

4 Tablespoons butter
1 Cup light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Ounces banana liqueur
1 1⁄2 Ounces aged rum
3 bananas

For serving

Vanilla Ice Cream
Whipped cream

Process

Preheat your waffle iron.
In a large bowl, mix together all of the ingredients for the waffle batter. Begin to make the waffles. As they finish, place on a cooling rack.
Cut the peeled bananas in half, then cut each half in half again, then repeat to cut each portion in half to create 8 long pieces.
To prepare the banana’s foster sauce, combine butter, sugar, and cinnamon in a flambé pan over medium heat. As the butter begins to melt, add the banana liquor and stir to combine.
Add the banana to the sauce, cook until they begin to soften (about 1-2 minutes).
If using a gas range, tilt back the pan to slightly heat the far edge of the pan. Once hot carefully add the rum, and tilt the pan toward the flame, to ignite the rum. If using an electric cook top, use a lighter to ignite the rum.
Gently stir the sauce and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes to ensure that all of the alcohol cooks out.
Plate a waffle, add a scoop of ice cream, and then top with 4 slices of banana and sauce.

Banana’s Foster recipe adapted from Brennan’s New Orleans Restaurant

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While I received product from Krusteaz for recipe development, all opinions are my own

Chili Topped Cornbread Waffles

July 8, 2015

Ugh, technology kills me at times. It really does.

As soon as I walk up to our IT guys I just apologize. I usually come bug them with a silly problem, which, thankfully, can be fixed quickly. But it feels so silly bugging them about it. Like I couldn’t get into a program last week and I went over to one of the guys asking for help. I sit back down and go to open the program and say ‘I’ve tried it open this like 4 times and it won’t and I keep getting a pop up…’ and that was when it opened up perfectly. He just shrugged his shoulders and walked away. Typical.

I had a moment at home like that, which is exactly why this post is getting posted a week later than I planned! Bummer! I was getting warnings when I was trying to download the pictures off my SD card to edit them about copying them without properties. WHAT? Well, it still seemed to work as I could download them and edit them in. But then they won’t upload to WordPress. And I was literally trying to do this as I was packing up the car last week to go to Maine. After swearing like a sailor, I shut the laptop, swore some more, and just had to blow off posting last week for #WaffleWednesday. So annoying!!!!!!!

And guess what, I open up wordpress again to mess around with the post when we get back and all the photos I tried to load in where in. Just magically appearing now. Sigh…

Anyway, this is the closest I get to making a 30 minute meal.

I am no Rachel Ray. I really admire her idea of 30 minute meals and how she (and her team) have created some wonderful 30 minute meals. I’ve tried plenty. There are some that I can totally do in 30 minutes and then there are others that take 35-40 minutes. Sometimes I’m just slow.

But with this dinner you I bet you can whip it up in about 30 minutes. I swear!

Start off by preheating your waffle iron. The veggies are quick to chop and then you just dump in the a pot to soften. Add the meat to brown. Between breaking it up and it browning, mix the cornbread batter together and start to make the cornbread waffles. While they are baking up continue on with the chili by smooshing the chili to a side and cooking the tomato paste for minute. Then dump in the beans, canned tomatoes, and spices to wrap it up and let it do its thing until you are done making your cornbread waffles. Done and done!

The best thing about this is how the waffle iron makes the cornbread have a nice crisp texture. It’s like how the best part of lasagna is the crunchy edge pieces. The crisp cornbread texture is right on the money!

And the second best thing is smothering that waffle with quick, delicious chili. Such a good dinner.

Chili Topped Cornbread Waffles

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

For the Chili

1 yellow onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 poblano pepper, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon olive oil
approximately 20 ounces of ground beef
1 heaping Tablespoon tomato paste
1 – 15.5 ounce can of black beans
1 – 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon chipotle powder
1 teaspoon cayenne powder
salt and pepper

For the Cornbread Waffles

1 11.5 box of Southern Cornbread Mix from Krusteaz
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/3 Cup butter, melted

Optional Chili Toppings

Salsa, fresh tomatoes, cilantro, shredded cheese, sour cream, jalapenos, diced avocado

Process

Preheat your waffle iron. Mix the ingredients for the cornbread waffles together. Begin to make the waffles, continue while making the chili. When done place on a cooling rack in a warm oven (200-ish degrees) oven.
In a medium sized pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the diced vegetables and garlic. Saute, stirring occasionally. Cook for about 3 minutes, until the vegetables are soft, and onions are lighter in color.
Add the ground beef. Break into small pieces while stirring.
When the majority of the beef had browned and it’s in small pieces, push over to 1 side. Add the tomato paste of the bottom of the pot. Cook for 1 minute to brown the tomato paste (this process helps enhance the flavor!)
Pour in the beans and diced tomatoes and add the spices and continue to simmer until you are done making your waffles.

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While I received product from Krusteaz for recipe development, all opinions are my own

Whole Wheat Apple Sauce Waffles

June 24, 2015

You know, being sick really, really sucks.

That’s an obvious statement right there. Duh.

But it’s even worse when your kid is sick. Double duh.

Our house is one big germ bubble. From Autumn’s double ear infection to my viral something that had me practically sleep away the day yesterday. I wish I was still in bed now in fact. And I’m sure I’ll feel the same way tomorrow too. Oh well.

I did manage to make these awesome waffles yesterday afternoon. It made me feel like a human. You know, it gave me something to do other than roll over in bed, look at the time on my phone, and roll back over again to fall back asleep. Plus, ya gotta eat.

At least Autumn ate some waffles for dinner. Actually, let’s not kid ourselves, she ate whipped cream off the waffles. My kid is addicted to whipped cream. She yells when she sees the can in the door. I have have start to hiding it. Now I wouldn’t normally let her just pick whipped cream off homemade waffles and eat it for dinner, but I needed her to eat something and she blew off the mac and cheese, grapes, yogurt, and waffles. So, whipped cream for dinner, sure. #parentsoftheyear

Okay, back to the waffles…

They are a perfect flavorful, low fat, healthy waffle for when you’re craving a hearty waffle while trying to reduce the fat. I ditched the oil for apple sauce in my favorite Classic Waffle recipe which sounds boring but it makes them really moist. And I added some fun spices to enhance the whole wheat and apple flavors. Jazz hands!

I topped them off with more apple sauce, some softened butter, and a good swirl of maple syrup. And you should too.

Whole Wheat Apple Sauce Waffles

Makes 12-14 4″ Square Waffles (Qty will vary per waffle iron)

Ingredients

2 eggs
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup apple sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch of ground ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Process

Preheat waffle iron.
Vigorously whisk the eggs in large bowl until fluffy.
Mix in flour, milk, apple sauce, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and vanilla extract until just smooth.
Spray the preheated waffle iron with a non-stick cooking spray.
Ladle 1/4-1/3 cup of the batter the onto hot waffle iron. Cook until golden brown. Serve hot with butter & syrup.

Chocolate Stout Waffles

June 17, 2015

We are still riding our wedding high. Oh man, so much fun. So much work. So exciting. So tiring. So everything!!

We worked hard on the wedding and were so happy with how it all turned out. We were very hands on with the planning and execution of it. I loved the decorating part, but I really loved the meal planning too!

The food was so important to us so we worked with the organizer and chef to create a fun menu for the night from the stationary and passed hors d’oeuvre to the dinner and to our cake and dessert. (I’ll go into more detail in upcoming wedding related posts.)

Our venue, Crissey Farm, is owned by the same family that owns the adjoining Barrington Brewery & Restaurant, which is known for their Chocolate Stout Cake. As it’s their signature cake we decided to us it as our wedding cake. We did change things up slightly as they use a chocolate ganache like frosting, but we opted for a chocolate buttercream. The design mimicked this one with it being ‘naked’ and with berries. Oh man, I can’t wait to get our pictures back to see it all over again.

It was incredible. We loved it. I can’t wait to dig into out top tier on our anniversary, although I don’t really think we will wait that long. ha!

I was inspired by the cake to make these chocolate stout waffles.

They are chocolatey with a hint of beer in the batter. Perfection!

These waffles would be great to serve for Father’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, or any Sunday for brunch. Chocolate 24/7 please!

While I could have made a chocolate whipped cream, to match the chocolate butter cream used in our cake, I decided to just keep it ‘basic’ with a vanilla bean whipped cream. But I don’t discourage if you want to make it into a chocolate whipped cream. Dive right in!

As well you can totally trash these up by making them into a sundae! Pile on some ice cream, break out the hot fudge, and dollop on the whipped cream. I wouldn’t hate it if you added some nuts and cherries too.

Celebrate our new marriage along with us by enjoying these Chocolate Stout Waffles, inspired by our wedding cake! Enjoy!!

Chocolate Stout Waffles

Makes 14 waffles

Ingredients

For the Waffles

2 Cups, plus 3 Tablespoons all purpose flour
3 Tablespoons quality cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
2 Tablespoons sugar
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 Cup milk
1 Cup stout beer
2 large eggs
2/3 Cup miniature chocolate chips, option, but encouraged

Whipped Cream
Fresh Berries
Miniature Chocolate Chips

Process

To make the waffles, preheat your waffle iron.
In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar. Set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the milk and small pieces of butter. Microwave in 30 second intervals, mix, and repeat until the butter is melted.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and whisk in the eggs, warm milk and butter mixture, and finally the stout to combine.
Scoop out 1/3 Cup measure into each well of your waffle iron. Cook according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Garnish with whipped cream, berries, and miniature chocolate chips. Enjoy!!

Waffle is slightly adapted from Hungry Girl Por Vida

The Best Buttermilk Waffles

June 10, 2015

These waffles make me sooo happy!!

I recently had a long msg exchange with my best friend explaining how I’ve been so overwhelmed and struggling to be happy recently. Every day life has been a handful to juggle, and the wedding prep on top of it has been crazy cray. Plus, I’m on a project that has a deadline this Friday & I’m out of the office on Thursday (for another project) and Friday (for the wedding) so there is a big push to get as much possible done so I don’t leave my coworker screwed with a mile long to-do list.

When I’m stressed I tend to look forward in the future for things to get me through to that point. My friend totally gets me and my ways of ‘goal’ thinking. It’s not that I don’t ever enjoy the moment but I am often quickly moving on to the next thing. Having a rough day… look forward to the weekend. Having a rough week… look forward to the next vacation. Having a rough month… look forward to winning the lotto. There definitely is some benefit but when I start talking ‘well, I just have to get though this year and then when we move…’ she knows I’m in too deep. She reminded me how I can’t keep focusing on something so far off in the distance. Since having to think of it as 320-ish days as something ‘to get through’ is no fun.

So I’m really, really trying to rework my thinking so that I think about the day and little joys. I’m still thinking about the move to Florida but every day I’m trying to look around and appreciate the little things, instead of feeling that everything is an obligation and that I am about to be swallowed up by my to-do list.

So I took my friend’s advice and focused on day to day and enjoyed the weekend and the various moments throughout it.

Sunday was a great day and it started off with breakfast. Well Autumn’s 2 breakfasts… she had already 1 1/2 apricots and 1/2 cup of cheerios for breakfast early on. Then she noticed I was making waffles and walked over to her highchair and let us know she wanted back in and wanted some of the buttermilk waffles I was making. In the end she ate most of a waffle all by herself. Such a win!

Well, it’s easy to understand why she loved the waffles… they are the BEST. I swear by it. In fact, I already shared this recipe years ago, but I had to post again as I love it so much. Plus, I needed to give it the proper respect is deserved with some nice pictures. Good bye point and shoot, hello DSLR! ha!

This recipe makes for such a tender airy waffle. What makes it so tender? All that butter!! Yep, the recipe uses 2 sticks of butter. No joke!! But it’s all worth it. I mean you usually put butter on the waffle, but this time you just put butter IN it. I won’t judge if you put more on top actually.

But since it does use so much butter I will judge you if you use poor quality butter. For real. It is the biggest flavor component of the waffle, so you must use a good butter. I love Kerrygold as it adds so much flavor to the waffle. It’s a great Irish butter that uses milk from grass-fed cows. It makes such a difference. You’ll love it.

Get some good butter & buttermilk and you’re on your way to waffle bliss.

The Best Buttermilk Waffles

Makes 8 Belgian waffles

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups unsifted cake flour or 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
2 cups of buttermilk
16 tablespoons of butter, melted and cooled

Process

Wisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
Beat the eggs and buttermilk together in a small bowl.
Combine the buttermilk and eggs into the flour mixture. Mix lightly with a fork until the flour is moistened. Mix in the melted butter. The batter should be lumpy.
Cook in your waffle iron. A really hot iron will produce a better waffle- nice crisp edges!

Sourced from The Cake Bible

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Kerrygold has provided me with butters and cheeses to use in the creation of these waffle recipes for my #WaffleWednesday series. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks for all of your comments. I appreciate them all.

Cherry Crisp Waffles

June 3, 2015

1o days until the wedding!!!!

HOLY SMOKES!!!! I’m excited and nervous. Not nervous about marriage, no I’m exited about that! I’m nervous about the ceremony and the reception. We have so much still to do and still to coordinate.

The jam favors need to get labeled, the gifts need to be packaged up, the centerpieces need some work. But it is getting there!

Thankfully, my dress is all done with. I had the final fitting last week. It needed a bit more of adjustment to fix two things but I hung around for that and was able to take my dress home that night. YAY!

On the other hand Price had his final fitting and they had to take his pants in another 3/4″ of an inch! Yep, he lost another 3/4″ since his first fitting in Mid March. He’s been working so hard and it’s really paying off by sticking doing another round of Whole30 (in April) and Whole30-ish foods since. Like right now, we are doing Whole30 most of the time with a daily cheat thing. It’s a good balance for us.

So making these Cherry Crisp Waffles the other day meant that we were really treated our selves. But let me tell you, it was worth it!!

The sweet, yet tart cherries were the perfect accompaniment to the sweet waffles. The honey flavor in the Honey Wheat waffles paired so nicely with the cherries and the cinnamon flavor in the crisp topping. I never used to be a fan of crisp toppings as I didn’t love the texture of the toasted oats but I’ve begun to change my tune as it really adds a fun crunch.

This just screams summer to me. Makes for a great brunch-y breakfast. Or even a dessert. Wouldn’t it be fun to change things up and do a real breakfast for dinner night and finish it off with one of these waffles.

As the recipe makes 6 waffles I called up Autumn’s daycare teacher, who lives than a block away, to offer them breakfast. Autumn and I delivered them before they headed off to church. Autumn of course didn’t want to wear pants for our walk over! HA!!

I hope that you enjoy these as much as we all did.

And 10 days!!!! AHHHHH!!!!!! YAAAA!!!! WOOOOHOOOO!!!!! EEEEE!!!!

Cherry Crisp Waffles

Makes 6 waffles

Ingredients

1/2 of a 10oz package of Krusteaz’s Crisp Topping Mix
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 1/2 Cups of Krusteaz’s Honey Wheat Pancake Mix
1 Cup Water
20oz can of cheery pie filling
whipped cream & syrup, optional

Process

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Preheat your waffle iron as well.
Mix together the crisp topping mix with the butter. Mix until all of the topping is moist. Sprinkle onto a cookie sheet. Bake for about 7-8 minutes and mix the topping, return to the oven for another 6-7 minutes. Let cool.
While the topping is baking, combine the honey wheat mix with the water in a large bowl. Mix until just combined.
Scoop out a 1/3 Cup of batter into your waffle iron. Bake until your waffle iron beeps, at this point steam should have stopped escaping and your waffle is golden brown. Place on a cooling rack while you make the rest of the waffles.
Serve your waffles by adding a big scoop of the cherry pie filling to the waffle, and then sprinkling the topping crumble on the pie filling. Add whipped cream or syrup, if you wish.

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Krusteaz has provided me with all sorts of fun mixes to create waffle recipes in a collaboration of their #BreakfastNight and my #WaffleWednesday. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks for all of your comments. I appreciate them all.

Mozzarella Waffle Sticks

May 27, 2015

Oh, our poor car!!!

Our trusty, reliable Frank The Tank is in the shop now. He is in need of some lovin’.

…

Waffle Sticks with a Cannoli Dip

May 20, 2015

I can be really flaky at times.

Okay, most of the time. I mean I don’t back out of commitments, I can’t handle being late, and I love to-do lists but when it comes to doing stuff for me I get flaky. My things just get pushed aside a lot of the time.

Like getting my license renewed…

Yep, it expired back in January while we were on our cruise and I only just got it renewed. My time during the day is so crunched from having to leave work early to get Autumn so I kept putting it off because I’d check the RMV website and it’d say there were 55+ minute waits. Ummm, no! Ugh. Well, I finally bit the bullet one day and headed over to the RMV in Watertown Mall at lunch. Well, what the dumb RMV website didn’t say was that there was a do it yourself kiosk there. WHAT? I was able to do that and it took like 5 minutes!! And I got to take multiple pictures until I liked one enough. yay!! Finally, something off the never ending to-do list!!!

Anyway, whenever I think of cannoli I think of my Poppy. Well, I am also reminded of him when I think of sfogliatelles, Drake’s Coffee Cakes, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. There were always boxes of coffee cake and packages of peanut butter cups in his refrigerator every time we would visit him in New Jersey. And he would often get Italian pastries for our visits as well. Most often cannoli and sfogliatelles were in the box. The best!

Now, because of the superior quality of the cannoli he would get I have a pretty high standard for them. You can’t have a soggy shell. Nor can your filling be too loose. And, something that I feel passionate about is that when you get a chocolate chip cannoli the filling MUST have mini chocolate chips in it. Don’t try to give me a regular cannoli that has its ends dipped into chocolate chips. Once you take a bite from either end it’s just like any other cannoli.

There are too many places that slack off when it comes to their chocolate chip cannoli (I’m looking at you Mike’s Pastry) so when I was planning on making this cannoli dip I was really excited that I would get to load it up with chocolate chips, just the way I like it!

The waffle sticks are lightly scented with coffee and orange, similar to the perfect Italian pick me up. The cannoli dip also has orange zest, which just makes the flavors pop, especially the chocolate.

The recipe makes for a lot of waffle sticks, which is great for a crowd to serve for a snack or dessert. But it you think that is too many for you then you can halve the recipe easily. Or just make them all and freeze them by laying them out in a single layer on a cookie sheet and then placing them in a resealable plastic bag once frozen.

Even Autumn loved snagging a waffle stick. I love that the waffle sticks are great for little hands. Plus, all kids love waffles. At least she really does!

I hope you’ll give these a try as the waffle sticks as they are so cute and the dip is incredible. I swear that you won’t stop dipping!

Waffle Sticks with a Cannoli Dip

Makes about 48 waffle sticks

Ingredients

For the Waffles

2 1/4 Cups all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teapsoon salt
2 eggs
1 1/3 Cups milk
1/4 Tablespoons brewed coffee
1/2 Cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
about 2 Tablespoons orange zest (I used 2 oranges)

For the Cannoli Dip

8 ounce container Mascarpone cheese
15 ounce container Part Skim Ricotta
1 1/4 Cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 to 1 Tablespoon orange zest (depending on taste)
2/3 Cups mini chocolate chips

Process

For the waffles, preheat your Mini Babycakes Waffle Sticks Maker
Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
Vigorously beat the egg in a large bowl. Add the milk, coffee, oil, and vanilla extract and beat well.
Add in the dry ingredients and the orange zest. Mix until just combined.
Scoop out 1/3 Cup of batter and evenly spread out in the waffle iron. Cook until golden brown and crisp. Place on a wire rack to cool and crisp up.
For the dip, begin by straining off the Ricotta cheese to eliminate excess fluid.
In a large mixing bowl, combine mascarpone cheese, ricotta, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and heavy cream. Mix until smooth and well combined.
Add the orange zest chocolate chips and mix well.
Pour into a serving bowl. Serve with waffle sticks.

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While I received the waffle maker from Select Brands, all opinions are my own.

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And now the GIVEWAY!!!!

I have another awesome giveaway from Select Brands!! We’re partnering up this year and I’m so excited about it!

We want you to be able to make these fun Waffle Stick recipes so be sure to enter my giveaway for a Mini Babycakes Waffle Sticks Maker!

Follow the instructions HERE!!

Elvis’ Favorite Waffle Dunkers {& a Giveaway!!!!!}

May 13, 2015

I savor every day that is nice out. In fact our windows and doors are open now so I can enjoy the breeze and warm afternoon temps. We’ll just ignore the fact that I just let a ton of flies in, shall we…

My Dad rented a house on Cape Cod or all of our families to go to for a week in August for his 75th birthday. I can’t wait!! It will be awesome to have everyone together to hang for the week. The cousins will all get play and swim at the beach and in the pool, which is going to be so much fun for all of them. Plus, it will just be so nice for the family to be together. I think it’s been 15 years since my bother, sister, and I all took a vacation together. I am really looking forward to that lazy week in August.

And I swear I am going to pack my waffle irons so I can make all the cousins breakfast every morning. No really, I propably will. ha!!

I am just so hooked on waffles!!! And why shouldn’t I be?!?!? They are so awesome!!!

Exclamation points!!!! LOTS OF THEM!!!!

I think all the kids are gonna love when I bring my Mini Babycakes Waffle Sticks Maker since it makes fun waffle sticks that they can dunk into syrup. They are fun for kids of all ages as Autumn can easily grab them with her little toddler hands. And I swear the biger boys will enjoy that they are perfect for an on-the-go breakfast so they can play outside.

Plain waffle strips getting dunked in maple syrup us awesome, but I wanted to create a jazzed up, super fun recipe so I created this Banana and Bacon Waffle with a Peanut Butter Sauce for dunking.

Yep! I was inspired by Elvis’ favorite sandwich! He loved peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwiches. So I made these waffles sticks using those ingredients. I think The King would approve of these sweet, and yet slightly smokey, waffles with the luscious peanut butter sauce. Oh man, that peanut butter sauce is to die for.

The waffles sticks come out stuck together, but you just need to snip them apart with your kitchen shears to break apart the 4 waffle sticks. As well, they will come out a wee bit soft from the waffle maker, but they crisp up in just a few minutes when you place them on a wire baking rack.

Now don’t freight if you don’t have this awesome waffle sticks maker, you can use a square or circular waffle iron and just stack up your waffles and drizzle the peanut butter sauce over the waffles when serving them. But I think the Mini Babycakes Waffle Sticks Maker makes for the cutest waffle dunkers.

If The King was still alive I swear he would be singing the praises of these waffles. Definitely not singing the blues here!

Elvis’ Favorite Waffle Dunkers

Makes 48 Waffle Dunkers/12 waffles

Ingredients

For the waffles

6 ounces bacon
12 ounces butter
3 large very ripe bananas
1/2 Cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Cups flour
1/2 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 Cups buttermilk

For the peanut butter dunking sauce

3/4 Cup heavy cream
3/4 Cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1/4 Cup light corn syrup
pinch of salt

Process

Cut up the bacon into small pieces, no bigger than 1/4″ wide. Cook until golden brown. Remove from the skillet and place on paper towels.
Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
Beat together the bananas and sugar. Once combined add the eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract, beat well.
Add 1/2 of the flour mixture to the banana mixture, gently mix. Add half of the milk and mix to incorporate. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture and milk. Add in cooked bacon and mix to thoroughly incorporated.
Cook in your preheated Mini Babycakes Waffle Sticks Maker until golden brown and crisp. Place on a wire rack to cool and crisp up.
Prepare the peanut butter dunking sauce by combining all of the ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat until it has reached a boil. Turn down the heat slightly and mix thoroughly. Let simmer for 3 minutes to thicken. Serve warm with the waffle sticks.

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While I received the waffle maker from Select Brands, all opinions are my own.

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And now the GIVEWAY!!!!

I am kicking off my awesome partnership with Select Brands by giving away a Mini Babycakes Waffle Sticks Maker. In fact, for the next 2 weeks I am sharing fun dunkable waffle recipes and will be giving away waffle makers then as well. Three awesome recipes, three awesome giveaways in the month of May. Awesome!!

So let’s kick things off this week with this Select Brands Mini Babycakes Waffle Sticks Maker giveaway!

Follow the instructions HERE!!

Churro Waffles with Dulce De Leche Whipped Cream

April 29, 2015

Churro Waffles with Dulce De Leche Whipped Cream – a mash up of a Mexican Style treat with a waffle topped with Mexican Style sweet dipping sauce

My Bachelorette Party is this upcoming weekend. Whoohoo!!!!

That just means that the wedding will be here before I know it!

…

Waffle Iron Grilled Cheese

April 22, 2015

My mom was up from Florida visiting this past long weekend. It was such a blast. The last time I saw her was in January when we were staying with my dad after we went on our cruise. And the next time I will see her is in June when we get married. So we had a lot of catching up to do. As well as things to get done!

We did plenty of shopping for the wedding to get our DIY decorations and the goodie bags we are handing out at the rehearsal dinner started. I got my dress fitted on Sunday which was an ordeal but I think it’s all settled now. oy. And my mom get her dress too.

Besides that we also attempted to get some stuff from the Lilly for Target collection but that was a cluster … UGH! While that was a bust, we did get to enjoy some great food throughout her stay that I cooked & Price grilled. And I think I got her hooked on Naked and Afraid. ha!!

I was bummed that I didn’t get to break out the waffle iron while she was in town but I’ll better plan for it the next time she is visiting us. But I do have a great recipe to share this week!!! So pumped about it.

I just couldn’t ignore the fact that is it Grilled Cheese Month!!! And I obviously had to waffle it. Duh.

I swear I am going to use my waffle irons to make everything this year. Price is definitely going to kill me. I say by September, at the latest. ha!

It’s just that a waffle iron is like a panini press, but cooler. So you can, and should, use it to make grilled cheese.

I often alternate using mayo or butter on my grilled cheese, but this time I decided o use butter. What, you’ve never heard of mayo on a grilled cheese?!?! Oh I swear it makes for a dang good grilled cheese. Just swap out the butter you schmear on your bread with some mayo and cook like normal. Anyway, anyway, I used butter this time as I wanted it to feel more waffle-y as I pretty much always have butter on my waffles. No, I dunno. Actually.

Anyway, it’s important to use soft butter so you don’t tare the bread when you are schmearing it on. (Schmear is my current favorite word.) You can totally use butter softened to room temperature but I don’t typically plan for that prep time so I always keep some Kerrygold Naturally Softer Pure Irish Butter on hand so that I can use it right out of the fridge. I know there are other soft butters on the market but I truely prefer to use Kerrygold’s as the don’t add anything, like oil, to keep the butter soft. It’s just how they churn the milk the cows produce in the summer (naturally higher in softer milkfat) that keeps it soft. Cool!

I am totally flexible on the kind of cheese to use when making grilled cheese- America, light cheddar, sharp cheddar, etc. But I am not flexible with the color. If it can be orange it must be orange. It’s just one of those things that I really like, I dunno. Reminds me of growing up and using Kraft singles, I guess. But you can use whatever cheese you really enjoy. Just make sure do take a bite when it’s nice and hot!! Yum!!!

Waffle Iron Grilled Cheese

Makes 1 Sandwich

Ingredients

2 slices of sandwich bread
1 Tablespoon butter, softened
3-4 ounces of cheddar cheese, sliced very thin or grated

Process

Preheat your waffle iron.
Butter 1 side of each of the slices of bread.
Lay out one slice of bread down on your work surface, butter side down. Cover with your cheese, and top off with the other slice of bread, butter side up.
Lay your sandwich in your waffle iron. Close the top. No need to press it down as the weight of the top will slowly compress the sandwich on its own.
Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the sandwich is golden and the cheese is melted. Enjoy!

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Kerrygold has provided me with butters and cheeses to use in the creation of these waffle recipes for my #WaffleWednesday series. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks for all of your comments. I appreciate them all.

Bacon Chocolate Chip Waffles

April 15, 2015

I have a new addiction. Oh baby, it’s a good one!

I can’t stop watching “Married At First Sight”. I just discovered it a few weeks ago so I am so into now. I am watching the latest episode as I write this. I know it’s going to take me 5x longer to write this post as I will be so distracted watching it.

ummm, 5 minutes just passed as my fingers rested on the keys as I watched…

It’s so interesting! It’s so weird. It’s so amazing. I mean, these 3 couples met each other at the alter. For real, they learned their names then. That’s insane, but cool.

I can’t figure out which couple I like the most. Or which one will actually continue on by committing to stay married after the ‘experiment’ phase.

All I do know is that I love to watch the current season and watching last season.

Anyway, I made these Bacon Chocolate Waffles a few years (ago and shared it then but I wanted to share it again as I had make some tweaks over the years. Mainly more bacon and more chocolate, obviously.

They do such a good job of combining the salty and sweet flavors. Every bite gets a bit of bacon and chocolate. I’ve made them with both regular semi-sweet chocolate chips and mini chips. It’s good both ways. When you make it with regular chips you get bigger bursts of chocolate in each bite, but with the mini chips you get more chocolate coverage. You can’t go wrong either way.

I insist that you make these! Plus, you gotta binge watch “Married at First Sight” so that we can catch up and dish on your favorite couple!!

Bacon Chocolate Waffles

Makes 12-14 (4″ Square) waffles

Ingredients

1/2 pound of bacon
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 cups of buttermilk
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 Cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Process

Cut the bacon into small pieces. I suggest using a scissor. In a skillet, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove and place on paper towels to drain away the excess fat.
Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl.
Whisk together the egg, oil, vanilla and buttermilk in a small bowl.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine. Fold in the chocolate chips and crumbled bacon.
Preheat your waffle iron. When ready, scoop a 1/3 Cup of batter into your waffle iron. Cook until the steam has finished escaping out the sides and the waffles are golden brown. Serve with syrup & fresh fruit.

*If you don’t have buttermilk on hand you can make your own with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar for every cup of milk and let it sit for 5 minutes