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I’d really like to conjure up some useful information for you.  That would be nice, right?  I could tell you all about avocados.  Where they came from.  What a lovely shade of green they are.  Why they’re so expensive at the grocery store… you know, things like that.  

But you didn’t come here for boring old information… did you!?  

I didn’t think so.  

You came here  because you want me to admit to eating Pepperidge Farm Soft Bake Cookies…which is totally happening right now.  You came here because you want me to admit to rrreeeeaaaalllllyyyy wanting to watch the season finale of The Bachelor… it’s true… it’s a problem.  You came here because you want me to admit to wearing my big fluffy slipper socks.  The dreaded socks/shoes that will keep me single for eternity.  Well… I’m wearing them and I’m loving it.  

So there, friends.  It’s all out on the table.  Now can we talk about cake?  

I’ve baked with avocado before.  Remember the Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cake with Avocado Buttercream?  Yea… that was intense… and surprising… and bright green.  Amazing. 

I got my hands on another round of avocados and made some magic happen.  This recipe makes two glorious loaves of cake.  I’ve cut back on the butter and thrown in some ripe mashed avocados.  The batter is moistened with buttermilk and bakes up with a lovely golden top and faintly green center.  

Can you taste the avocado after the cake is baked?  Heck yes you can!  It’s subtle but distinct with a nice sweetness and a hint of crunch from cornmeal.  I love this pound cake.  It’s a home run.  

We served this pound cake for The Violet Hour supper brunch with  blood orange, pink grapefruit and pomelo segments and a lightly sweetened rose whipped cream.  Whoa!  Whole lotta yum. 

Avocado Pound Cake

     makes 2 9×4x3-inch loaves

     Print this Recipe!

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

3 cups sugar

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup buttermilk

flesh of 1 1/2 ripe avocados, just over a cup to a cup and a half of avocado, mashed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour two loaf pans and set aside.  

In a medium sized bowl, sift together flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder and baking soda.  Set aside.  Set the four eggs out on the counter to come to room temperature while you beat the butter and sugar.  

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter on medium speed until softened and pliable.  Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.  Add the avocado and beat another minute to incorporate.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that everything is thoroughly mixed.  

Add the eggs one at a time, beating 1 minute after the addition of each egg.  Beat in vanilla extract.  

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add half of the flour mixture, all of the buttermilk, and then the rest of the flour mixture.  Beat just until combined.  

Divide the dough between the two loaf pans and place in the oven.  Turn the oven down to 325 degrees F.   Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean.  I checked my cakes every ten minutes or so after the 30 minute mark.   Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Can I let you in on a little something?

I don’t live in the cool Los Angeles neighborhood that all my friends live in…

I have more matching spatulas than I do matching bath towels.  

I still can’t seem to commit to buying myself a couch.  

My bedroom bookcase seems to be made up of one part books and three parts dust.  

I tell you all of this to let you in on the fact that I’ve been feeling domestically restless these days.  The kind of restless that has had me daydreaming about moving into a downtown loft that I can’t afford.  The kind of restless that has had me daydreaming about decorating a downtown loft that I can’t afford with expensive furniture that I also can’t afford.  

Not being able to afford your daydreams?  Torture and motivation.  Together.   

This weekend I decided… get this… that it’s all ok! 

I took to my kitchen with my rubber gloves, bleach spray and a few rags and I scrubbed and organized like I’ve never done before.  Yes, it’s just the kitchen.  No, I couldn’t get to my whole apartment.  But the scrubbing and organizing helped me remember that my humble little apartment, in the uncool part of town, is pretty darn sweet.  I don’t need the fancy loft and the expensive furniture.  I just need to make my little spot in the world a little brighter… with bleach.  

And the pancakes this weekend helped too.  Tremendous.

I can’t seem to leave well enough alone when it comes to pancakes. 

Berries.  Meyer lemon zest.  Buttermilk. Sweetened Meyer lemon mascarpone.  Delicious breakfast treat.

Berry Meyer Lemon Pancakes

     8-10 pancakes, enough for two

     Print this Recipe!

1 egg

1 cup flour

1 Tablespoon sugar

zest of 1 Meyer lemon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

2 Tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly

1 cup fresh blueberries or raspberries (thawed and drained berries work well too!)

oil or butter for cooking

In a small bowl rub the lemon zest into the granulated sugar until pale yellow and fragrant.  

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk and butter.  Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Stir until just combined.  The batter may be a bit lumpy.  That’s better than overmixing the batter.  Fold in the berries with a few strokes.  Not much stirring necessary.  

Heat a griddle pan or a cast iron skillet over medium heat.  Add a teaspoon of oil or a dab of butter and heat through.  Add 2 heaping tablespoons of batter to the pan.  Heat until bubbles form and start to pop.  Carefully flip over and cook through.   Place cooked pancakes on an oven proof plate and let rest in a 200 degree F oven while you fry the rest of the pancakes.  

Top pancakes with maple syrup or mascarpone sweetened with a dash of powdered sugar and the juice of one Meyer lemon.

Let’s just close out eyes and pretend we’re sitting under an orange tree. An orange tree heavy with fruit… but with the occasional late blooming blossom. There are honey bees too. Just a few. The friendly kind. The kind of honeybees that remind you that life is full of creatures big and small… and we all have tasks to do.

Let’s just hang out under our orange tree for a while. Right here in the shade, greeted by little spots of sun as the wind spreads the leaves.

It’s nice here.

Sweet. Thanks. I’m glad you’re here.

Simple.  Big.  Bright.  Tangy.  A game changer, taking your day from overcast to bright and shiny with just a sip.  

Thank you to Tracy and Sunset Magazine for the inspiration.  

Super Citrus Smoothie

     adapted from Sunset Magazine

     Print this Recipe!

Here’s what you’ll need for one big smoothie:  

A juicer

A blender

2 Tablespoons Meyer lemon juice

the juice of 1/2 a grapefruit (save the other half for tomorrow’s smoothie?) 

1/2 cup fresh orange or tangerine juice

2 tablespoons honey

heaping 1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1 frozen banana (they blend better when frozen)

1/2 cup ice cubes

In a blender, combine juices, yogurt, and honey.  Blend for a few seconds.  Add the ice cubes and blend until smooth.  This recipe makes one giant smoothie.  Yumtown. 

What is it with me?  I’m always taking things too far.  I’m obsessed.  

Yes… so I love pancakes.  This much you know is true.  But pancakes turned into muffins?  Really?  I’m a nut job.  

Oh me.  Oh my.  

Is there some sort of support group for pancake addiction?

Essentially, with these muffins, we’re talking about a browned butter muffin with a beautiful sticky maple glaze.  

The best part about these beauties is that you can add anything you like to them… just as you would pancakes.  

Blueberry Pancake Muffins?  Milk Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins?  Cinnamon Pancake Muffins?  Crispy Bacon Pancake Muffins?  If you can dream it up, you can probably put it in this muffin.  Super yum!

Maple Syrup Pancake Muffins

     makes 12 glorious muffins

     Print this Recipe!

for the muffins:

7 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1/3 cup whole milk

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 Tablespoon maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

For the Maple Glaze: 

3/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Put a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line muffin pan with paper or foil liners

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Keep an eye on the butter.  Melt and cook down the butter until little brown bits appear in the pan.  The crackling will subside and butter will begin to brown fairly quickly after that.  Keep a close eye.  Remove from heat.

Whisk milk, egg, yolk, maple syrup, and vanilla until combined.  Add the brown butter and stir to combine.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl  Add milk and butter mixture all at one and stir gently to combine.

Divide the batter among muffin cups and spread evenly.

Bake until golden and crisp and a wooden pick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.

While the muffins are baking make the maple glaze.  

In a small saucepan simmer maple syrup and lemon juice, stirring occasionally, until reduced to a thick (thicker than maple syrup) syrup.  This will take about 15 minutes over a low flame.  

Remove from heat and wait for the muffins to finish baking.  When muffins are out of the oven and cool enough to handle, poke a few holes in the muffin top with a toothpick and dip each muffin top in the maple glaze.  After dipping all twelve muffins, start with the first muffin you dipped and dip each muffin again.  

It’s Friday.  I know you weren’t expecting this, but it’s time for a Pop Quiz.  

Don’t worry.  If you’ve done the reading this should be easy… (I hated when teachers would say that to me). 

Pop Quiz

1) True or False:  The joining of chocolate and coffee is like a cosmic combination of all that is good, just, and rock and roll in the universe. 

2) Fill in the Blank:  Breakfast is the most _________________ . 

3)  Multiple Choice:  The best choice for this weekend’s breakfast treat is:

a) stale Cheerios.  

b) Gerard Butler and hot fudge sauce. 

c) breakfast sandwiches made on Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits.  

Now… here are the answers: 

1)  True….. duh!  2) Breakfast is the most important meal that ever was.  3) c… if and only if b is unavailable.  

Perfect score?  We’re best friends.  Take note. 

Breakfast.  Be still my heart.  I love you breakfast.  

The combination of cheddar with buttery biscuits is divine.  Add a little kick of black pepper and holy yum!  These biscuits are made with both all-purpose and whole wheat flour.  I like the nuttiness of whole wheat flour.  Now you know.  The combination results in a dense but buttery and delicious biscuit.  They’re the perfect holder of turkey bacon and a fried egg.  Make a sandwich.  Dooooo it!

Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits

     makes 10 to 12 biscuits

     Print this Recipe!

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup white whole wheat flour (use all-purpose if you don’t have whole wheat)

2 Tablespoons sugar

4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shortening, cold and cut into cubes

1/4 cup butter, cold and cut into cubes

1 egg, beaten

3/4 cup buttermilk, cold

3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

a touch of heavy cream and black pepper for topping the biscuits before baking

In a mixing bowl, sift together flours, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt.  Cut in shortening and butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add the cheddar and black pepper and toss to combine.  In another bowl, combine egg and milk and beat lightly with a fork.  Add to flour mixture all at once, stirring enough to make a soft dough.

Turn out onto a floured board and knead about 15 times.  Roll or pat out into a 1-inch thickness.  Cut into 2-inch rounds using a biscuit cutter or cut into 2×2-inch squares.  Reshape and roll dough to create more biscuits with excess scraps.  Brush tops with a bit of heavy cream and a sprinkle of fresh ground black pepper.  Place on an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees F for 12-15 minutes.  Serve immediately with softened butter or top with bacon and a fried egg as breakfast sandwiches.

It would seem that you can throw just about anything into an 8×4-inch loaf pan and have some sweet smellin’ magic come out of your kitchen after an hour or so.  What’s more, pulling a beautifully risen quick bread out of the oven is sure to make you feel like your a prime-time, super legit baker.  

Here’s a peek at my favorite quick bread recipes.  

Oh!  Happy Wednesday to you.  Also… you look pretty today.  I like what you did with your hair.  

Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread.  Still moist.  Still all sorts of delicious.  I even counted the Weight Watchers points on this one.  Whaaaat!?  Yea.  That happened. 

Raspberry Almond Bread.  Yes, after it’s baked the bread turns a touch blue from the raspberries.  What’s the science on that?  Can we get Bill Nye the Science Guy on this one?

Zucchini Sweet Potato Bread.  Fresh grated zucchini.  Raw grated sweet potato.  It’s unique, full of spice and delicious.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.  It’s chocolate.  It’s for breakfast.  If this offends you… I’m not sure what you’re doing here.  I mean that with love and respect.  

Lemon Drenched Lemon Cakes.  Ok… so maybe this is more of a pound cake recipe than a quick bread recipe.  This cake is too good to pass up.  Lemon plus lemon syrup plus cake.  I vote:  awesome. 

Honey Cranberry Cornmeal Quick Bread.  Have any leftover cranberries in your fridge?  Me too.  

Fresh Mango Bread.  I never would have thought to put fresh mango in bread until Dorie Greenspan told me it was ok.  

Vegan Pumpkin Walnut Bread.  Dense and moist.  Who says you need butter and eggs to make awesome bread!?  Whoever they are… kick ‘em in the toe.  They’re wrong. 

Persimmon Bread.  You are mighty strange persimmon bread, but I love you just the same. 

Honey Whole Wheat Pound Cake.  Dense.  Nutty.  It’ll charm your pants off.  Be prepared. 

I just stepped into my kitchen, turned on the light and was greeted by a massive amount of dirty dishes… not to mention a random stick of butter I left out this morning.  

I walked across the way to the dining room table to find all of the half addressed holiday cards I have yet to send. 

I shouldn’t even mention the atrocious pile of laundry that I’ve managed to ignore for weeks.  

But all is well.  All is juuuuust fine.  Why?  Because I’ve got my little nativity scene up.  My Christmas lights are twinkling.  I’ve hung silver snowflakes from my windows with scotch tape, and there are cranberry smells coming out of my kitchen.  At this rate, I can ignore the household atrocities well into the new year.  

Tart, fresh cranberries meet honey sweetened cornbread.  Throw in some walnuts, throw in a loaf pan or two… you’ve got one lovely, dense, lightly crunchy quick bread.  Great for breakfast.  Super for gift giving.  Wrap it up.  Freeze it up.  Butter it up.  This  bread is simple and comfortable.  

Thank you Anna for the gorgeous Wisconsin honey!  You’re a dream!

Honey Cranberry Cornmeal Quick Bread

     recipe adapted from Epucurious.com

     makes one large 9×5x3 loaf or two smaller loaves

     Print this Recipe!

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup white whole wheat flour (if you don’t have whole wheat flour, just use all-purpose flour)

1 cup medium or fine ground cornmeal (I used white cornmeal)

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup honey (or pure maple syrup if you have it on hand)

1 1/4 cup buttermilk

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup chopped walnuts (reserving a few whole walnut halves for decorating the top)

1 heaping cup to 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries

Arrange a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter and flour one 9×5x3-inch loaf pan, or two slightly smaller loaf pans.  I think mine are 8×4x3-inches and I made two smaller loaves.  Set aside the greased and floured loaf pans.  

In a large bowl, whisk together both flours, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder.  

In a smaller bowl whisk together honey, eggs, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla extract.  

Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until blended.  

Fold in the cranberries and walnuts.  

Divide batter between two smaller loaf pans or into one large loaf pan.  Spread evenly.  Add the whole walnut halves and place in preheated oven.  For smaller loaves bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes of clean.  For the larger loaf, bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool loaves in pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes.  Invert onto a plate or board.  Serve warm with butter or wrap and freeze for future you.

Eggnog Pancakes with a slight hitch.  Eggnog Pancakes without the Eggnog.  
You should know that I’m going to capitalize Eggnog in this here post. If that bothers you…. apologies.

My Grandfather is the first person to pull a carton of grocery store branded Eggnog out of the refrigerator every year about this time.  When I see him reaching for the carton on the refrigerator door, I avoid all eye contact.  There is no offering.  There are no questions.  If Papa decides to pour you a glass… and it will be a GIANT glass… then you have to sit there, and drink every last bit… unless you want to be called a goshdarm vegan hippie.  Sure.. being a hippie might not be all that bad… but…well Eggnog shouldn’t be punishment and hippie shouldn’t be a bad word.  Dang!

 So!

To avoid cartons of Eggnog coming from my fridge, I’ve created an Eggnog flavored pancake.  Not a dollop of actual Eggnog in sight.  Nothing to worry about here.  

Can I tell you something about these pancakes… you know, because you’re here and all… they are crazy/heck yes/ omg good.  Are you thinking what I’m thinking?  Weekend breakfast?  The answer is… yes!

I’ve broken down Eggnog into a few simple elements and thrown those elements into pancake batter… not all that genuis, but outta this world delicious.  All you need to rally that spot on Eggnog flavor is a bit of brown sugar, freshly grated nutmeg, eggs, milk and whiskey or rum.  If you don’t want to use the alcohol for your pancakes… well that’s totally understandable.  A good dose of pure vanilla extract will treat you just fine.  

Egg Nog Pancakes

     This recipe make enough pancakes for two.  Double the recipe to make a family sized portion.

     Print this Recipe!

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

heaping 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of ground allspice

3 Tablespoons butter melted until browned

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk

1 Tablespoon whiskey or spiced rum or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

butter or a lightly colored oil for cooking pancakes

maple syrup for serving

In a small sauce pan, melt butter until much of the water has evaporated and little brown bits appear in the bottom of the pan.  Remove from the flame and add the nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice.  Set aside to cool a bit.

In a small bowl, beat the egg with the buttermilk.  Add the melted butter, being to sure to scrape all the browned bits and spices into the buttermilk and egg.  If the butter seizes up a bit in the cold milk, that’s ok. Add the whiskey/rum or vanilla extract and just whisk it all together. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to incorporate.  Don’t overmix.  It’s ok if there are a few lumps.  

Let the batter rest, untouched for 5 minutes while you heat a griddle or skillet.  Add a tablespoon of canola oil or butter to the hot skillet.  Dollop heaping tablespoonfuls onto heated and oiled skillet and cook until evenly browned, flipping once.  Place cooked pancakes on an oven-proof plate in a warm oven until ready to serve.

In the event of some sort of big fat natural disaster in California, I may be up a creek without a paddle.  Sure, I’ve got the canned tuna, the emergency gallons of water and a few flashlights with dying batteries.  I’ve got the walking shoes, a space blanket and pepper spray… you need those things, right?   It’s just that I’m not sure the internets or my cellphone are going to do me much good in the event of a meltdown.  Won’t all the cell towers be jammed?  How am I going to reach out to my family?  I don’t think Twitter will quite do the trick.  Clearly my only option is to jog to them… in a space blanket.  That seems to make the most sense.

My parents?  I think they’re just ahead of me in the emergency game.  They’ve got cell phones from 1993 and a telephone land line.  At least the land line will come in handy.  

My grandfather!?  He’ll fare better than all of us in an emergency.  He’s got Ham Radio.  Ham Radio is a sort of amateur radio system that allows people to talk to one another all over the world.  Don’t be fooled by the name.  Ham Radio is actually pretty badass.   Sort of like… trucker radio meets old school technology meets grandfather hobby.  In emergencies, Ham Radio is booming.  You better believe that in an emergency, my grandfather will be all over that radio.  Who he’ll be talking to?  I’m not exactly sure.  He’ll probably be saving the world.  I’ll be jogging my way to safety.  My parents will still be screening their phone calls with their answering machine.  Who is the hero?  Grandpa. 

I tell you all of this because Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins (specifically the giant ((seriously giant)) kind from Costco) are my grandfather’s favorite.  He no doubt has a 48 pack of those giant muffins in his emergency kit.  You think I’m kidding.  I’m not.

Note:  my descriptions of Ham Radio here may hinge on trite and are most certainly superficial and inadequate.  

How many of these muffins did I eat Sunday morning?  What?  You weren’t counting.  Good.  I did count and it wasn’t pretty… I ate five of these muffins with extra glaze.  I had to.  I did.

These are simple muffins.  You know these muffins.  They’re no big surprise to you.  Lemon.  Buttermilk.  A little crunch from poppy seeds. Sugary lemon glaze.  It’s a beautiful thing.  If you’d like to freeze these beauties to enjoy all week, do so without the glaze.  Success.  

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins 

     adapted from Baking

     Print this Recipe!

2/3 cup granulated sugar

zest and juice of 1 lemon

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup buttermilk or sour cream

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 stick (8 Tablespoons) butter, melted until browned and cooled

2 Tablespoons poppy seeds

2 Tablespoons granulated sugar (for topping the batter before baking)

For the Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar whisked together with 2 or 3 Tablespoons of lemon juice

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line a 12 mold, regular sized muffin tray with paper muffin liners, place the muffin pan on a baking sheet and set aside.  

In a large bowl, rub the granulated sugar with the lemon zest until the sugar is lightly colored and scented with lemon.  Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  In a medium sized bowl whisk together the eggs, buttermilk (or sour cream) vanilla extract, melted butter and lemon juice.  

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold together.  When almost thoroughly mixed, add the poppy seeds.  Divide batter between muffin cups.  Sprinkle each would be muffing with granulated sugar.  

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until the tops are golden and a skewer inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.  

Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before glazing.  If you’re freezing the cupcakes for future eating, skip the glaze.  It doesn’t freeze well.

I’m going to need you to do a little something for me this weekend.  

Yes.  It’s Wednesday.  We’re planning ahead.  This is important.  

I think you and I should make it a point to seriously relax this coming weekend.  See… it might be our last chance to really take it easy before the new year.  Before we know it we’ll be swept away by Thanksgiving, festive flavored lattes, contemporary holiday music, visiting relatives, cranberry cocktails and company parties.  

This weekend though… this weekend we can take it easy.  

To help us with our plan, I’ve come up with the perfect weekend breakfast:  yeast risen waffles with maple and black pepper bacon.  

We’re taking it slow this weekend.  Are you in?

**But wait!  You don’t have a  waffle iron?  It’s ok.  These Milk Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Pancakes with a side of Maple Black Pepper Bacon should put  you in an equally great food coma.  Not to worry.

Yeast risen, overnight waffles are pretty stellar.  

Make the batter Saturday afternoon, let it rise on the counter for an hours or so.  Cover and refrigerate until you’re ready for breakfast on Sunday morning.  

On Sunday I stirred my batter a bit and let it to rest on the counter for an hour to come to room temperature and rise a bit.

The batter will be goopy, but don’t let that deter you.  These beauties bake up crisp and full of yeasty, maple sugar, nutty flavor.  Adding white whole wheat flour adds a touch of nuttiness to compliment the brown butter.  Yes… these waffles are full of character.  

Don’t even get me started on the bacon.  It sweet and spicy and… bacon.  It’s inherently perfect.  

Weekend Waffles

     adapted from King Arthur

     makes 2 big square (four sectioned) waffles, enough for 2 and a half people.

     Print this Recipe!

1 1/2 cups whole milk

7 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted until browned bits appear

3 Tablespoons maple syrup (the real stuff or simply use brown sugar)

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup white whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

Heat the milk until it is hot but not boiling.  Place it in a large bowl (you’ll need the room for expansion) and mix in the browned butter, maple syrup (or brown sugar) salt and vanilla extract.  Stir until the mixture has cooled to lukewarm.  Add the eggs, flour, salt and yeast and stir all together.  If there are a few lumps, that’s fine!

Cover mixture with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel and leave to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  The mixture will begin to bubble.  

You can cook the waffles at this point, or place the batter in the refrigerator to rest and develop flavor overnight.  

Remove the batter from the fridge about an hour before you’d like to eat breakfast.  Stir the batter and let it come to room temperature.  When ready to cook, preheat the waffle iron and spray with nonstick cooking spray.  Add 1 1/2 cups of batter (depending on the size of your waffle iron) and cook until golden brown.  

Top with butter and syrup and anything good. 

Maple Black Pepper Bacon

     this couldn’t be easier!  thanks for the recipe Rachel!

as much bacon as you’d like

maple syrup (the real stuff)

black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.  Place bacon strips on sheet, close but not overlapping.  Drizzle with maple syrup, about 2 or 3 Tablespoons per 10 bacon strips.  Sprinkle with as much black pepper as you like. Bake for 10 minutes then remove pan from the oven and carefully flip bacon strips over.  Bake for another 5 to 10 minutes or until the bacon reaches your happy point of doneness.