Tired of the same old waffle toppings? Think beyond breakfast-only syrup and butter. How about some chicken hash topped with almonds, poached salmon with béarnaise, fat asparagus with hollandaise, sliced tomatoes with cheese sauce, scrambled eggs and caviar or…well, you get the idea. The options are endless. To begin, make a batch of waffles and freeze what you can’t eat right away. Then just pop a few in the toaster to refresh and pile high with one of our four tasty toppings or with a concoction of your own.
BASIC WAFFLE RECIPE
Makes about 8, 7-inch light, crispy waffles
2 cups flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup dried buttermilk powder (available in most grocery stores)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups unflavored soda water
Whisk together the dry ingredients, including buttermilk powder. Combine sour cream, eggs, vanilla and oil in a separate bowl and mix well. Gently stir soda water into wet mixture. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in wet mix. Fold together with rubber spatula until barely combined. Do not over mix. Cook waffles according to waffle iron manufacturer’s directions, using about 1/3 cup batter per waffle. Freeze any leftover waffles.
Top Notch
Think beyond syrup. These recipes prove there are many tasty ways to top a waffle.
DRIZZLED GRAPEFRUIT
1 grapefruit (room temperature) per waffle
1 tsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. butter
Fresh mint garnish
Section the grapefruit into a bowl and strain off the juice. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and stir in the sugar until dissolved. Add the grapefruit juice and boil down rapidly until it’s barely syrupy. Top the waffle with the grapefruit, drizzle with the juice and sprinkle with chopped mint.
PEPPER AND EGGS
1 red pepper, sliced into thin strips
1 green pepper, sliced into thin strips
½ sweet onion, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp. butter
3 oz. fresh goat cheese
Sauté onion and peppers in olive oil until limp; set aside and keep warm. Scramble the eggs gently in the butter, place on the waffle, and top with pepper mixture and pinches of goat cheese.
*Store extra topping in covered container in refrigerator up to two days.
PROSCIUTTO AND PEAR
For each waffle:
3-4 thin slices of prosciutto or speck
About ¼ a pear, thinly sliced
Sprig of thyme
1 tsp. apricot jam
Arrange the ham on the waffle; top with a fan of pear slices. Drizzle the pear lightly with apricot jam (thinned with a bit of hot water if necessary) and garnish with a sprig of thyme.
SWEET CREAM CHEESE
3 oz. cream cheese
½ cup whipping cream
2 Tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. vanilla
Fresh fruit
Whip cream until soft peaks form. Set aside. Beat cream cheese with sugar and vanilla until soft and light. Beat in whipped cream. Plop on waffle with fresh berries or sliced peaches.
*Store extra topping in covered container in refrigerator up to three days.
Photos by Adam Finkle.
Waffles aren’t the only convertible breakfast classic; See what you can do with oranges.
