Thursday, October 20, 2011

culinary success

I have a waffle recipe that I love.  It started out as a recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, but I tweaked it and made it even more amazing.  :)  I have a pumpkin waffle recipe that is also very good.  However, I don't make it nearly as often.  For one thing, I don't always have pumpkin on hand.  The main reason, however, is that the first recipe is an overnight yeast recipe.  I mix up the batter the night before and cook the waffles in the morning.  The pumpkin waffle recipe is a normal, quick bread-type batter.  Frankly, I am not a morning person.  I do not have any desire first thing in the morning to be mixing waffle batter.  So we usually only have the pumpkin waffles when I am doing breakfast-for-supper.

In an email conversation with my sister-in-law, I got the idea for combing the two recipes.  But then a wonderful friend gifted me with a bagful of sweet potatoes.  I remembered that Alton Brown (my Food Network hero) did a sweet potato waffle recipe.  It too was a quick bread type recipe, but I decided to do my experiment in recipe combining.

It worked!  We had sweet potato waffles this morning, and they were GOOD.  I am so pleased.

Alton Brown peels and steams his sweet potatoes to get the mash he needs.  I simply baked them at 425 until they were soft and the skin came off SO easily; I just pulled and off it came.  I really think this is way easier than Brown's method.  Plus I love when sweet potatoes bake long enough to caramelize.  I cooked up a bunch at once and stowed the orange mash in the fridge; I have plenty left for other recipes. 

So here is my sweet potato waffle recipe.  I hope you enjoy!

2 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
2 tbsp. brown sugar (I may have used a little more; I didn't measure very well)
1 package dry yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp)
A heavy shake of cinnamon (yeah, I'm terrible at measuring; sorry)
A tiny sprinkle of clove and ground ginger
A slightly heavier shake of allspice (more than the clove and ginger, less than the cinnamon)
I meant to add freshly grated nutmeg, but I forgot.  I will do it next time.
1/2 tsp. salt
1 3/4 cup buttermilk (this adds such a depth of flavor; it is fabulous)
2 eggs
1 cup mashed sweet potato

Combine your dry ingredients in one bowl.  Combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl, then mix the two thoroughly.  I did it by hand, but I really recommend an electric mixer.  Cover and refrigerate batter overnight.  In the morning, remove from the fridge and give it a stir.  Cook according to your waffle iron's directions.  I got about 10 waffles; your mileage may vary. 

This post is linked to The Nourishing Gourmet and The Grocery Cart Challenge.

4 comments:

Tara said...

Nice! It is always exciting when experiments in the kitchen turn out to be fabulous. I'm going to plan on making these whenever I buy some sweet potatoes! :)

Tara said...

Do you buy yeast and flour in bulk?

Unknown said...

I do buy yeast in bulk sometimes. Lately it's been cheaper per unit to buy the packets--not sure why that changed, but I go by the unit price.

I have heard that warehouse clubs have good prices on bulk yeast. Since you all have joined one, you might be able to score some good deals. :) You can refrigerate or freeze your bulk buy to make it last longer.

I've never bought flour in bulk though. If I found a good deal, I probably would, but storage might be a problem. I usually freeze my flour, and I don't have *that* much freezer space. :-p

Tara said...

Yeast costs almost $1 for 3 little packets here. I go through that in a week sometimes. I can get a small jar (maybe 4oz) for $4. But then I can get 2 lbs of yeast in bulk for just $9! I think I might give that a try. I just wondered what you did since you bake more yeast breads than I do. :)

I have to see how fast I go through 10 lbs of flour before I consider buying that in bulk. I don't have much freezer space either.