A Pantload of Belgian Waffles

 My family loves waffles. When I ask my 4.5-year-old daughter what she wants for breakfast, 99% of the time she will say, "chocolate waffles," and it has been that way since she could talk (only three years ago, it was "shaw-kwit faffles"). She means waffles with Nutella on them. Yep. I do that. Every morning. And I'm not sorry. Very lately, she has changed her preference to vegan butter (okay, she doesn't know I put that on them), and maple syrup. Next I hope to interest her in a little fruit to go with them. Baby steps.

My two-year-old chooses waffles about 80% of the time, sometimes branching out to yogurt, and always pinching about three out of five of the berries that I'm eating on MY waffle. Oh yeah - and I eat them three or four days a week, with vegan butter, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries, maple syrup, and veggie sausage. Breakfast is my biggest meal, and I love it. Three or four days, every week. (I eat my fruit on cereal on my work days, because I'm always in a hurry.)

Because these waffles make up about 50% of my daughters' diet for the day, I have always tried to make sure that they have the maximum amount of nutrition jammed into them. Previously, this meant buying the "fancy" waffles with protein and fiber. Then I did the math on that. For the family, this means I have been spending between $450 to $625 a year on boxed waffles. Wow. And you know, I'm not the tops when it comes to ecological worries, but how many boxes is that? I'm spending a lot of money, downing a lot of trees, and I thought the waffles could taste better, too.

I announced to my husband, "I am making all our waffles from now on." He shrugged. He's a lovely man who follows my lead on things like this. I think he was just happy to hear that there would be no more, "No, these are MY waffles, and these are the KIDS' waffles!" Now there would just be waffles.

I looked through the reviews on Amazon (from whence all things come), and I chose the Waring Pro WWM1200SA Double Belgian-Waffle Maker based on the good reviews. It's a double, so I figured I could go factory-style, and crank those mothers out. And while I swear I have not been paid a dime (though I'm happy to change that status, if anyone is paying attention), I am so happy with my choice. I have monkeyed so much with the manufacturer's waffle recipe, and I had to stray pretty far from it not to still get a perfect waffle, every time. It fills the house with cinnamon and vanilla scent, and I still enjoy making them.

The included recipe involves eggs, melted butter, and flour dough that has been risen with yeast. I swapped out some things so that the recipe is vegan, and I'm very happy with the result. I've added chickpea flour for protein, though I once used a bit too much, and it made a thinner batter that stuck to the waffle maker. Adding more all-purpose flour fixed this. Phew. (The chemistry of chickpea flour is a bit different, so it doesn't work quite the same way).

I also included whole wheat flour, applesauce, and wheat bran for fiber. (The whole wheat flour also contains more protein). My recipe includes Splenda, which also contains fiber. I know it isn't the most natural product out there - but I only use a half cup for all these waffles, and it adds a lot of sweetness without a lot of sugar. I also have brown sugar in the recipe, because both the yeast and I find it to be yummy.

My plan all along was to make a giant batch of these, and freeze them, so that we could use them throughout the week. Yes, I know that fresh waffles taste the best - so if you have time to make fresh Belgian waffles every morning, then I'm happy for you. I don't. And these still taste better out of the freezer than the boxed kind do - about eight times better. That's science talking.

I have to mention that I use the Oster TSSTTRWF4S 4-Slice Toaster, because it just might be important to the successful re-heating. This toaster has a "frozen" setting, which is so handy. I toast the waffles once on this setting, then again lightly without it. This way, the outside gets toasted and the inside doesn't stay frozen. If you don't have one of those, you could try nuking them for a few seconds in the microwave, then toasting them. Trust me, it is worth it.

So here's the recipe for the giant batch. It makes about 20-22 thick Belgian waffles that are doughy inside, and crispy outside. If you want to make fewer, just do the math and subdivide. You should keep those fraction skills sharp, anyway.

Giant Batch O' Waffles (makes 20-22 waffles)

1 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup garbanzo (chickpea) flour
1 3/4 cups wheat bran
1/2 cup Splenda
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
5 flax eggs (5 Tblesp. milled flax, mixed with just under a cup of water - combine separately)
4 1/2 cups warm tap water
3 packets of instant yeast
3 sticks vegan butter, melted and cooled
4 1/2 cups soy milk
1 cup apple sauce
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
2 tsp. butter extract (skip if you don't have)
2 Tblesp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg

Whisk the flax powder (milled flax) with the water indicated, and stick in the fridge for 5 minutes. Remove, re-whisk, and put back in the fridge for another 10 minutes. This is your "eggs."

Meanwhile, measure HALF the warm water (2 1/4 cups), mix with all the yeast in a BIG bowl, and a pinch of your brown sugar. Whisk, and allow to sit until the yeast forms a thick foam on the top.

Add the sugar, Splenda, and your set flax "eggs" to the yeast mix and combine. Next, add all the liquid ingredients (melted butter through the extracts, and the rest of the water). Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl with a whisk, then add to the wet mix while whisking. Then allow the whole batch to stand for one hour. You need some space in the bowl, because it rises quite a bit. What I do is pour a lot of it back into the bowl I whisked the dry ingredients in, and allow both bowls to rise under a towel.

Follow the manufacturer's instructions on your waffle maker, and crank those babies out. I freeze mine with a square of parchment paper between them, in stacks of four inside a gallon freezer bag. This way, they pull apart easily as you need them.

These come out reminding me a bit of French Toast, which I like. I have also made a ginger pumpkin version, which came with my waffle maker also, and which recipe I adapted in the same way. They were great, but now I'm pretty much sticking with the standard that everyone likes.

Chocolate Amish Friendship Bread

Well, hello dere!

I am officially back from hiatus. I am a bit over four months pregnant now, and mercifully over my nausea. I can look at food, and eat food (and now I can post about food). It is wonderful. For the last two weeks I have felt blessed every day.

I have a lot of photos to catch up on. I'm going back to Christmas, here! The organization is probably going to take me most of the day today. But we've moved to another town, and first I have to find the USB cord to my camera...

Well, here's one that was already in the hopper. Are you familiar with Amish Friendship Bread? Someone makes you a live yeast starter. They give you a bag with the dough starter and the live yeast in it, plus a set of instructions. Most days, the instruction is, "Mush up." Then you add some flour and sugar: once during the proliferation phase, and once again right before you bake.



The batter will bubble up in the bag, showing you that the yeast is growing. It just sits on the counter and does its thing. At the point of baking, you are to split the starter off into several new bags. Then you have some new starters to give to other people, and one to bake with yourself (that's why it's called friendship bread.) Who knows where these things actually got started, or how many times these little yeasties have gone around the country?

My friend Kira first made me the Amish friendship starter when I lived in Peoria... And I was too broke to buy a new bag of flour and sugar to actually make the bread, so sadly my little yeasties died unfufilled. I didn't see another starter for several years. You don't have to wait for someone to hand you a starter, however. Here are directions for creating your own starter. You can do this with packaged yeast. Just remember the cardinal rule of Amish bread (which as it turns out, is probably as Amish as I am): no metal spoons! No metal bowls! And no wire hangers! EVER!

Just be ready when you get into this. I last made this when my boss and his wife went out of town, and she trusted me to perpetuate her starters. They were gone long enough that I had to turn the starters over twice. That means shucking myself of six total starters, and making four loaves for myself. Finding "homes" for the starters is not always easy. I don't have a lot of friends who are into baking. I tried to give the first set to family members, and they were all like, "Ucchhhh..." The responsibility! You don't want to let the little microbes die, and then YOU have to find three people to give the starters away to. And a lot of people, it turns out, are not into having living things on their countertops. Several people I asked in my playgroup were convinced that bacteria was growing in there. My arguments that a proliferation of yeast suppressed any blooms of bacteria fell on dead ears. Folks don't realize that there is yeast in most any bread they are eating, either. You have to eat things that were once alive, people. Rocks are not an option.

Anyway, if you are successful in giving the starters away, I think it is worth it. The bread is very good! Here is the recipe I used:

1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp.
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 large eggs
1 c. oil (I used 1 cup applesauce instead)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 large package instant pudding (any kind)
1/2 c. milk
optional: 1 c. raisins, nuts, or chocolate chips

I went for the chocolate pudding, and added chocolate chips and walnuts. I also used whole wheat flour (just at this last add: I didn't want to mess with the chemistry the other times in case there was less gluten in the wheat flour.)



You generously grease two loaf pans, combine 3 T. sugar and 1 T. of cinnamon, and dust the sides and bottom of the pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour, and you are done!



The bread was great toasted in the morning with a little light butter. I froze the second loaf until I was ready for it, and it worked very well.



My second time around, I used butterscotch pudding, and butterscotch chips instead of the chocolate version. It didn't have a butterscotch flavor, just very sweet. This one was good with pumpkin butter.



That one was tasty, but I think I preferred the chocolate. Good luck with your bread, and if you start a starter, you can always give one to me! Next time I get one of these, I may make all eight loaves, freeze them, and just share THOSE with my friends ("Or eat them myself," said the Little Red Hen...)

Mimi's Pumpkin Cookies

You all know how much I dislike baking. I dislike the powdery mess, the multiple dishes and bowls covered in the sticky mess, and most of all I dislike the measuring -- which I normally do not do any of in my cooking. I also dislike the subsequent weight gain. If I'm gonna gain weight, I'd typically like it to be from the consumption of deep fried cheeses. I get a lot more of a thrill from those items. That's just my bent.

But now, hello Diane, take a look at these cookies!



Aren't those beautiful cookies? Yeah, and you won't see me cranking out a product like that. And I didn't. Chris made these cookies. ALL BY HIMSELF.

If you haven't been reading very long, or if you don't know us personally, you may not be dropping your jaw to the appropriate level at this moment. I'm not trying to be condescending or rude to Chris. He's one fart smeller, and downright brilliant in a lot of areas. In one or two areas, he is actually Rain Man. But he's not so much with the cooking. So when he found a recipe in the Tribune for "Mimi's Pumpkin Cookies," I had my doubts. (UPDATE: scroll down for recipe). These cookies had FROSTING on them, for crying out loud. Oh, sure! And let's just turn the sofa into a rocket and fly our fat asses to the frigging moon while we're at it!



We had a bit of the "blind leading the blind" situation at first. It isn't that I refused to help, it was just that I wasn't much help. "Is pumpkin purée the same as pumpkin pie filling?" he asked when calling from the store. I had no idea. A call to his mom confirmed that the "pie filling" variety was probably seasoned, or had other things added. Ah. I should have thought of that, owing to my years of experience with canned puréed tomatoes, vs. "tomato sauce."

He came home and got to work, and there was only one further bump in the road. And it wasn't even his fault. The printed recipe had listed an egg, but didn't actually say when to add the egg. So once Chris realized this, he scooped up the dough he had already parceled out onto the cookie sheet and blended in the egg. Then he redistributed them. The only thing I added to the process was that I suggested adding a little ginger.



I'm not usually a fan of non-chocolate items, but these cookies were just about perfect. They were lightly spicy, crunchy and delicate. Chris was generous enough to bring over half of them to work, and he was more than a little insulted when they didn't vanish right away. "Don't they know how GOOD these COOKIES ARE??" he said when he got home.

Well, I do babe. And believe me, I won't forget it! In our house, the baker's crown is officially yours. "You complete me."

P.S. I should also mention that Chris took all the photos in this entry, too! My baby is all growns up and a food blogger...

UPDATE: I totally found it. I cannot believe I located this recipe, which I had clipped out but tucked into the pages of Saveur magazine, which I then took to my in-laws to make with the mac-and-cheese recipe in the magazine. Then promptly packed away and just UNpacked a year later. Anyway, here it is, out-of-print from the Chicago Tribune, and I hope they don't mind me reprinting it by popular demand! (And btw, Mimi is the name of someone's grandmother). My additions are in italics:

For cookies:
1 cup each: granulated sugar, vegetable shortening, pumpkin puree
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 tsp each: baking soda, baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

For icing:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 Tblesp. butter, milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup confectioner's sugar

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Sift (or whisk) the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl; stir in the vanilla and cinnamon. Set aside.

2. Beat sugar (and egg) and shortening with a mixer on medium speed until creamy; add the pumpkin puree. Beat until just mixed together; reduce mixer speed to low. Add 1/4 cup of the flour mixture, beating until combined. Repeat with remaining mixture, beating after each addition.

3. Drop by generous teaspoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Bake until barely brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

4. For icing, combine the brown sugar, butter, milk, and vanilla in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Heat on high (100% power) until brown sugar melts, about 1 and 1/2 minutes. Remove from microwave. Stir in confectioner's sugar until icing is smooth, adding a bit more milk if needed to desired consistency. Spoon icing over each cookie.