Breakfast Bliss Waffles

Breakfast Bliss Waffles

It's been awhile since I've created my own recipe and I've already written about most of them here. But now I have a new recipe to share with you – an original that I made up all by myself. Google said that no one else has thought of this same recipe so I call that "out-Googling myself". That happened only once before. That was when I blended an Asian ingredient into an Italian recipe; that's called fusion cooking. I added some tamarind paste to an Italian white bean soup and it was tangy and oh so wonderful. I might make that tonight!

A friend gave me a fancy Belgian waffle iron and until now, I've made mostly sourdough waffles. I recently bought a bag of malted milk powder after reading about how malt enhances the flavor of baked goods. I also discovered that it is handy to keep a container of buttermilk powder on hand. Sometimes you just need ½ or one cup and don't want to buy a whole quart that might go to waste. To a basic waffle recipe I added some malted milk powder and switched out the milk for buttermilk made from powder. The new waffles definitely tasted richer than regular waffles. The addition of bacon crumbles and pecans added a salty taste and a crunchy texture. When the waffles are topped with maple syrup – well, just writing about this makes me want to go straight into the kitchen to make some, right now!

Bacon Pecan Waffles

2¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

3 tbsp sugar

¼ cup malted milk powder

½ tsp salt

2 eggs, beaten

½ cup vegetable oil or melted butter

2 cups buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup chopped pecans

½ cup bacon crumbles

Maple syrup

Mix the dry ingredients together, then the wet ingredients and combine the two. Stir in the pecans and the bacon crumbles. Pour onto a greased pre-heated waffle iron. When the waffle iron stops steaming, the waffles are almost done.

Buttermilk powder stored in the fridge in a swing top bale jar (a jar with a metal clamp and a rubber gasket) will probably last a couple of years. Buttermilk has a way of making baked goods very moist. Tina Adams once told me that she uses buttermilk instead of water in a cake mix. Good to know. Malted milk powder is different than malt powder; make sure you get the right one. I use half whole wheat flour in this recipe.

My next experiment will be to add malted milk powder to sourdough waffles along with a tablespoon or two of buttermilk powder. Maybe I will out-Google myself then too. Stay tuned!