Yesterday I was in the mood for some waffles. Mainly because I was out of bread and I didn’t feel like cereal. The kids were off to school and I thought since my husband was home that morning, a little special breakfast with strawberries, blueberries and Rocky Road ice cream would be a treat plus having some ‘us’ time. I can’t remember exactly where I got this recipe from but I think it came with the waffle iron I purchased. Hmmm…now that I am looking at this waffle picture, I realised that I forgot to take a snapshot of the waffle with strawberries which looked AWESOME! Duh!

Ingredients: (makes about 7-8 waffles)
A) Mix all the dry ingredients with a whisk.
1 3/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

B) Combine the wet ingredients together.
3 egg yolks - lightly beaten
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil

C) Whisk the 3 egg whites until soft peaks form.

Method:

1. Turn on the waffle iron.
2. Pour B into A and whisk until smooth.
3. Fold in the egg whites gently into the mixture. Don’t stir.
4. When the waffle iron is ready, pour about 3/4 cup of the mixture into the iron. Close and let it cook.
5. Serve with whipped butter, syrup, honey, fruits, ice cream, chocolate….

Tips:

• To minimise the wash up, I place the egg whites in a bowl which can be used with a hand mixer and the dry mixture in another hand mixer safe bowl.
• I use a hand mixer to beat the egg whites first. Then I can use the hand mixer without washing it when combining the wet and dry mixture together.
• Don’t over beat the wet and dry ingredients. Use a spatula and scrape the bottom. I’m sure there’s some flour around the edges that needs a little last bit of stirring with the spatula.
• Use the same spatula to fold the egg whites. Whisking the eggs whites will give a nicer look to the waffle and makes it crispy on the outside.
• You can reduce the oil to about 1/4 cup but the oil makes the waffle lighter and taste better. If you’re not health conscious, you could substitute with melted butter. But that’s a bit too decadent for me.
•  To store leftover waffles, leave the waffles to cool completely. Then place them in a clean ziploc bag and freeze. To reheat, simply place the waffles on a non stick oven, under medium heat (no need to grease) and warm both sides to desired temperature and it’s ready! Or drop them in a toaster and VOILA!
• On days when I’m running late to prepare lunch for my son’s lunch box, the waffles come in super handy! It takes only about 5 minutes to reheat, spread some butter and pack it with some fresh strawberries or spread butter and jam, fold it and it’s good to go.