Remember last year Carl bought me a waffle maker for Mother’s Day? It may be the best gift I’ve ever received, because, thanks to it, I’ve eaten many a delicious waffle but still don’t even know how to operate the thing. Carl took on full waffle-making responsibility when he brought home the waffle maker and the kids know exactly who to ask if they want waffles.
We’re talking about waffles because for the past couple weeks we’ve actually been out of muffins in this house. I honestly can’t remember the last time that happened because I make muffins all. the. time. I freeze them to have ready breakfast stock for when I run out of bread, which invariably happens since I decided to stop buying bread and take up eating only homemade bread right in the middle of the busiest few months ever. (PS. I’ve tried about 5 recipes and found only one I really like – if you have a good homemade bread recipe pleeease share it with me! I am terrible at bread.)
You know life is busy when we use up our freezer stock of muffins and I don’t have time to make more, because really, it only takes 20 minutes. If someone finds 20 minutes, send 5 of them my way, would you? Just when you think there might be just enough minutes in your week to complete everything you hope to, your sweet baby boy gets a fever and instead you just sit down and cuddle his hot, lethargic little body and worry about meningitis, brain damage, and crib death.
So this muffin-less crazy-mom time is the perfect time to break out the waffle maker and accompanying male model, sadly not pictured :)
I’ve told you how Carl makes a great double chocolate waffle, and these whole wheat raspberry waffles are right up there with those. We love these waffles, and Carl has gotten confident enough in his baking that he volunteered to make both these and the chocolate waffles for a volleyball team breakfast at our house a couple Saturdays ago – 60 waffles over 16 guys, I’d say that’s an impressive feat. These waffles were a hit, and I had to be quick to snag some for me and the kids!
Note that this recipe makes a lot – in our waffle maker it makes 16 waffles, enough to feed about 10 people. We like to make the whole batch and freeze some, but if you don’t want leftovers it can easily be halved for a smaller batch.
If you’re wondering what to buy your partner for Christmas this year, I can vouch for a waffle maker being well received by all involved :) What’s your favourite “unnecessary” kitchen appliance? I’m thinking an electric griddle might be my next request…
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ¾ cup (1.5 sticks) butter, melted
- 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 3½ cups low fat milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1½ cups fresh or frozen raspberries (or other berry)
- Zest of one lemon
- In large bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- In a separate large bowl, melt the butter, then whisk in the eggs, milk, and vanilla.
- Whisk wet ingredients into dry until well combined into a smooth batter.
- Fold in lemon zest and berries.
- Let batter rest 5 minutes before using, while your waffle maker heats up.
- When waffle maker is hot, pour about 2 cups of batter into the centre of the lower grid and spread it evenly around the whole waffle maker with a heatproof spatula. Close lid of waffle maker and cook until tone sounds. Make sure edges are crisp and golden. Remove carefully and repeat with remaining batter - in a 4-square waffle maker like ours, this recipe makes 16 waffles. Best served warm.
*Source: Adapted from Cuisinart Instruction Booklet
I use the same recipe above from the Hungry Mouse, by far the best bread I’ve made at home yet!
Oh, just delete the previous comment…I’m sending to you regardless.
SO…for mixing machine bread, where the machine does the kneading:
BREAD
4 c warm water, 1/2 c oil, 1 egg, 1 Tbsp salt, 1/4 c sugar
Mix together.
Add 4 c whole wheat flour
“Toggle” and mix that. (I have a button on my Bosch that is similar to turning it on and off and on and off, the length of time that determines how long it is on, kwim?)
Add 2 heaping Tbsp of instant yeast (I buy the big 1 lb vacuum-packed blocks). “Toggle”.
Add 4 c whole wheat flour. “Toggle” and then start the machine (I have a Bosch). You can add other things like flax seed, whole or ground, chia seeds, hemp seads, etc. (or raisins) at this point.
Add 1 c white flour and then mix and add enough flour a little at a time until the dough cleans the sides of the machine. Sometimes it’s 9 c of flour total, sometimes it’s 10.
You can vary the amount of whole wheat flour, from 6 – 8 cups), so that you might use up to 11 cups of total flour. Knead on #1 for up to 4 minutes. Pre-warm your oven…175F for a while and turn it off.
Put into a greased bowl. Rise for 25 min in oven. Put into 4 9×5 loaf pans. Rise for 25 min in oven. Turn on the oven to 350F and bake for 26-30 minutes until brown and ready.
Thanks Michelle! Yes, I use my dough hook on my KitchenAid so I find it usually maxes out at 2 loaves – but I need to try this, I love that you can add flax seed and chia seeds to it!
I’d love to know what waffle iron you have that makes 10 at a time. We used to make waffles all the time until it took an hour to make enough for our family…
My favourite ‘unnecessary’ kitchen appliance is my big electric griddle. I can churn out a lot of pancakes, french toast or grilled cheese on it!
I usually make my own bread. I’d give you my recipe but I’m not sure the ‘recipe’ is the trick. It took me quite a while to get into the ‘bread groove.’ And I used the same recipe every time I made it. If you have a kitchen aid mixer, use the dough hook and make sure you knead (mix) it for a good long time. Hope you find your groove soon! :-)
Oh, my waffle maker only makes 4 at a time! I have a Cuisinart – I make them in batches :)
Do you have a really good mixer? I have a Bosch; I’d think that a kitchen aid might work with dough hooks, so that if you do, I’d pass mine on. I make my bread regularly, but with my busy family (including a medical child), I buy my share too. Let me know.
Waffles are great! We picked up a cheapo $10 waffle maker years ago and it’s been well used, in fact it might be time for an upgrade. Also here is a link to the bread recipe i’ve been using for about two years now http://www.thehungrymouse.com/2010/03/25/homemade-sandwich-bread/ and I just replace three of the cups of flour with whole wheat to make it a littler healthier
Thanks Debby! I’ll be trying it next week :)