Ready, Set, Weekend with Simply Beautiful Eating
I had an idea. I wanted to make carrot cake. Then I had another idea. I wanted to make waffles. Then....the ideas melded together and this happened.
Carrot Cake Waffles.
Oh and I had a third idea. I needed a cool glaze. So why not do a brown butter vanilla cinnamon one? WHY NOT!
Do you want to know something? All of these were not such bad ideas UNTIL....I ended up standing guard next to the waffle maker for what seemed like an eternity. The bottom line? When you make a full recipe batter for a carrot cake the result is a sh---tload of waffles. YA. WAAAAAAAAY TOO MANY WAFFLES!
But really? Just look at them. Are they not the cutest thing ever? I made them kinda bite size and then dipped them in that yummolicious glaze. Totally irresistible.
My husband walked into the kitchen to find me standing beside the Great Wall of Waffles I made and then asked me if there are 100 people coming for breakfast. Such a wise guy.
To be honest, he was right....what was I going to do with all these waffles besides take pictures of them?
Plan A. Take them to the office.
Great plan until I forgot to take them to work with me the next day.
Plan B. Remember to take them to work with me.
How to remember to take them to work? Stick your keys on top of the bag and then forget where you put your keys.
And what about these leaves? Here's the truth. You know what I'm like when there are flowers and leaves in abundance in my neighbourhood.
I looked outside BEFORE I made a 100 waffles and saw this↓
Then I went a little closer and saw this↓
Now. Keep in mind that these are located in the yard behind ours. So technically they DON'T belong to ME. So really, I had to steal them. Uh...borrow them. Okay steal them. I started pulling them off quickly and held them tightly in my hands. But....there wasn't enough. Greedy eh? I ran inside, found a small box and filled it with as many leaves as I could. Then I had a thought. I was actually doing my neighbour a huge favour. Why? Well. Now he doesn't have to rake them when they hit the ground in a week. G-d I'm so helpful.
I can't decide whether this looks fallish or Canadianesque. Either way, I can never LEAF anything alone.
For the Carrot Cake Waffles
1¼ cup all purpose or whole wheat flour 2½ teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon cinnamon ¼ teaspoon nutmeg ⅛ teaspoon ginger ¼ teaspoon salt 1½ cups finely shredded carrots 2 tablespoons maple syrup, honey or agave 2 tablespoons melted butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 eggs, slightly beaten 1⅓ cups low-fat plain greek yogurt For the Brown Butter Cinnamon Yogurt Glaze
6 tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 of 1 stick) 1 cup icing sugar 2 tablespoons greek yogurt (I used plain) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ½ teaspoon cinnamon INSTRUCTIONS Preheat your waffle iron. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt. In a separate large bowl, stir together carrots, maple syrup, butter, vanilla and eggs until well combined. Slowly stir in yogurt. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Spray waffle iron generously with nonstick cooking spray then about 1 cup of the batter in to the iron and spread out a bit to the sides. Cook waffles for 3 to 4 minutes or how ever long your waffle maker instructions direct. While the waffles are cooking make your glaze. Add butter to a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until butter has melted and begins to brown and brown specks appear; the process usually takes 3 to 5 minutes. Keep swirling the pan and swirling and swirling The key to brown butter is to keep it BROWN and not let the specks turn black. This means you have burnt the butter and that's not ideal. After butter is browned nicely, transfer to a heat safe dish. Whisk in the icing sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and yogurt until smooth. Add additional icing sugar if the mixture is too thin. I added another 2 - 3 tablespoons until it looked JUST right. Either dip one half of the waffles in the glaze or just simply pour over them. Serve warm.
See ya next week!