Waffles. Crispy, hot and slathered with fruity goodness. A kitchen filled with sweet aromas.
Oh, and some mimosas — we are drinking more these days. We love a mimosa with fresh grapefruit juice and sparkling rose wine, but orange juice works, too. Plenty of strong, black coffee for me.
We have one electric waffle iron. I hover over it as the waffle bakes into crispy, brown, cranny-filled sweet treats. We divvy up the squares as the next waffle cooks. For a larger gathering, the wait can feel excruciating. Perhaps there are advantages to cooking for two.
Waffle irons vary in size and shape. The classic waffle iron produces a crispy waffle about 1/2 -inch thick with deep crannies. A Belgian waffle maker has larger, deeper crannies that hold more syrup. Check your manufacturer’s directions for heating the iron, amount of batter to add and cooking times. My classic Black & Decker electric waffle iron bakes a generous cup of batter into four squares in about 10 minutes.
Cooking during a pandemic should be a judgment-free zone. Using a boxed waffle mix is fine — just read labels to avoid artificial ingredients.
If you have the ingredients, know that homemade batter is easy to pull together, and nearly always tastes better. The recipe that follows uses a minimum of leavening for a less metallic-tasting waffle; yogurt adds tang and lightness. I combine the dry ingredients ahead of time, then add the wet ingredients to them while the waffle iron heats.
Cornmeal adds a sweet corn flavor and nice crunch to waffle batter. A fine or medium grind cornmeal works best. (Coarse ground is too crunchy here.) Stone-ground blue cornmeal offers a delicious, earthy sweetness and subtle blue hue to the waffles. Whole wheat flour or coarse semolina are other options for yummy flavor and nutty texture.
You can use skim, 1 percent, 2 percent or whole milk in the waffle batter. Same for the Greek yogurt — zero percent or whole milk yogurt work well here. No plain Greek yogurt? Substitute sour cream or buttermilk (or reconstituted dried buttermilk).
I recommend using vegetable oil suited for high-heat cooking, such as safflower oil, sunflower oil or expeller-pressed canola oil, in the waffle batter and for coating the waffle iron. These oils can take the heat of the waffle iron without smoking, resulting in better-tasting waffles.
Serve the waffles as soon as they are baked; don’t stack them on top of each other for any length of time (unless you’re pouring on the syrup to eat), or they’ll get soggy. If not eating right away, pop them directly onto the rack of a 200-degree oven to stay crisp while you bake more. To make waffles in advance, cool them completely on a wire rack before stacking into a container for refrigeration or freezing. Reheat them to great crispness in a toaster.
Pure maple syrup and salted butter taste delicious on these crunchy waffles, so does a mixture of crushed fresh berries with a fruit syrup. Our family is partial to blueberry syrup.
Serve the waffles with an interesting flavor of chicken sausage, browned in a skillet until hot, then thinly sliced.
Crispy Cornmeal Waffles With Pineapple-Orange Compote
Prep: 30 minutes, Cook: 15 to 20 minutes, Makes: 4 servings (four 4-square waffles)
This recipe doubles nicely. Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour makes a fine substitute for all-purpose flour. Cooled, leftover waffles freeze well. Reheat in the toaster to recrisp.
1¼ cups flour
¼ cup blue, yellow or white cornmeal (or semolina flour or whole wheat flour)
3 to 4 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Safflower or expeller-pressed canola oil or nonstick cooking spray for high heat
3 large eggs
1 cup plain Greek yogurt, sour cream or buttermilk
½ cup milk
1/3 cup sunflower, safflower oil or high-heat expeller-pressed canola oil
1/3 cup melted butter
For serving:
Plain or vanilla Greek yogurt or mascarpone cheese or cottage cheese
Pineapple-orange compote, see recipe, reheated if necessary
Whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. (This can be done several days in advance and stored, covered.)
Heat oven to 200 degrees. Heat waffle iron according to manufacturer’s directions. When iron is heated, use a pastry brush to coat waffle iron with oil or spray with nonstick cooking spray. (Oil or spray waffle iron as needed between waffles.)
Whisk together eggs in a bowl. Whisk in yogurt, ½ cup milk, oil and melted butter. Gently whisk egg mixture into the flour mixture just until combined. Do not overmix. Batter should flow from a spoon, not plop; add small dollops of milk if needed to thin batter.
For each waffle, spoon a generous cup of the batter into the heated waffle iron, close the iron and bake until waffle is crisped and perfectly golden. Transfer the baked waffle to the oven directly on the oven rack while you bake the remaining waffles.
To serve, pile a couple of hot waffle squares on heated plates. Top with a dollop of yogurt. Spoon the warm compote over it all.
Nutrition information per serving: 631 calories, 41 g fat, 15 g saturated fat, 189 mg cholesterol, 52 g carbohydrates, 14 g sugar, 16 g protein, 861 mg sodium, 1 g fiber
Pineapple-Orange Compote
Prep: 20 minutes, Cook: 35 minutes. Makes: about 4 cups
In addition to serving this compote warm over waffles and pancakes, try it super-cold ladled over vanilla ice cream or plain yogurt.
2 navel oranges, scrubbed clean
2/3 cup sugar
¼ of a fresh pineapple, cut into ½-inch dice, about 2 cups (or substitute frozen)
½ cup orange marmalade or honey to taste
Pinch salt
Use a sharp paring knife to score the rind of the oranges from stem to navel at 1-inch intervals and about 1/8-inch deep. Put oranges into a deep saucepan; add water to cover. Heat to a boil and reduce heat to a low simmer. Cook, stirring often, until rind feels soft, about 15 minutes. Drain. When cool enough to handle, slice off the ends of each orange. Then cut in half. Cut each half into 5 or 6 thin wedges. Cut wedges into ½-inch pieces.
Put diced oranges, sugar and ½ cup water into a saucepan. Heat to a simmer and stir to dissolve sugar. Cook, covered, stirring often, over medium heat until oranges are tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in pineapple, orange marmalade and salt.
Refrigerate covered up to several days. Reheat to serve warm over waffles or pancakes.
Nutrition information per ¼ cup serving: 75 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 20 g carbohydrates, 18 g sugar, 0 g protein, 15 mg sodium, 1 g fiber
