Gingerbread Waffles

There are certain seasons that I associate with specific tastes and flavors, and it is so ingrained in me, that during those specific seasons, those flavors actually appeal to me more than any other, and more than any other time of year. During the summer, I will pick any recipe involving fresh fruit, no matter what other recipes are lined up next to them. During October and November, I will try any recipe calling for pumpkin. And in December, I will always choose gingerbread.

So it should be no shock that, while foodgawking recently, I was really drawn to several gingerbread themed recipes. The most intriguing to me, though, were these gingerbread waffles.

Today being Sunday (and my birthday...), I decided to have these as a special breakfast (well, brunch) treat. And, being the weekend, daddy and little miss were on hand to help out, which was a good thing, because this recipe called for lots of bowls and lots of steps - there was definitely plenty for everyone to do!

Little miss started out by mixing the wet ingredients - egg yolks, brown sugar, buttermilk (or my usual substitution of milk "soured" with vinegar) and molasses. Then, with a little help from daddy, she mixed in some melted butter.

While daddy and little miss worked on the wet ingredients, I pulled together the dry ones - flour, baking powder, baking soda and a whole assortment of the yummy spices that make gingerbread as flavorful as it is. I always love the look of all of the different shades of spices sitting together, not to mention how the whole mixture smells - YUM!

Anyway, once I whisked together the dry ingredients and daddy and little miss were done mixing the wet ingredients, it was time to mix the two together. As you can see, little seems to think that, when pouring from one bowl into another, the liquid being poured requires a helping step from the spoon... I haven't figured out if this does anything other than make the liquid being poured splash a bit, but she seems to think that is a vital part of the process...

Anyway, as the wet ingredients were being incorporated into the dry, there was one last ingredient to prepare (read: one more dish to dirty). The egg whites associated with those previously mentioned yolks were whipped up into stiff peaks, and then folded gently into the rest of the batter.

Now it was time for the waffle iron to do its job, and it definitely earned its stripes this morning!! Every other time I have made waffles, due to the size of my iron, the batter winds up making three or four waffles, maybe five if I am lucky... This batter made eight beautiful, soft, and fluffy waffles, and made the whole house smell absolutely scrumptious.

The only question left was how to serve these up. I wasn't sure if maple syrup was the way to go, since the waffles themselves were already chock full of delicious flavors already. So I opted to stay simple, and merely gave my waffle a dusting of powdered sugar and let the gingerbread flavor speak for itself. YUM.

Daddy and little miss, on the other hand, went a little fancier. You know, since it was a celebration... They busted out the whipped cream and cinnamon, and daddy even added some banana slices, and made some absolutely amazing looking delicacies.

These got rave reviews all around, and the leftovers will absolutely be enjoyed for breakfast tomorrow... or maybe even for dessert with a scoop of ice cream. With all of the steps and the resulting mountain of dishes, I will keep these for special occasions, but they will definitely be made again.

Gingerbread Waffles

(from One Lovely Life)

1/2 - 2/3 cup brown sugar (depending on how sweet you want them)

2 eggs, separated

1 1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup molasses

6 tablespoons butter, melted

2 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar and egg yolks until creamy. Stir in buttermilk, molasses and butter.

Into a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices.

In a clean glass or metal bowl, whip the egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.

Add the liquid mixture in to the sifted dry ingredients and stir together. Carefully fold in the egg whites.

Cook according to the manufacturer's instructions for your waffle iron.

Enjoy!