Messy and Picky

As we mentioned before, we won a Krups waffle maker from one of our favorite stores in all of Philly, Foster's Urban Homeware. Shortly after picking up the waffle maker, we decided to throw a little waffle brunch party with a few friends. We asked for some recipes and got a few responses from our fellow waffle-loving foodies. We were originally going to make three types of waffles, but after realizing how many waffles we could get out of one batch, we decided to only make two: standard buttermilk and vegan chocolate. The photo above is of e's suggestion of using the Alton Brown waffle recipe. It was the first time either of us had made waffles so the first batch weren't perfect squares, but they look nice, eh? They also tasted excellent.

The photo above is of The Urban Vegan's recipe for chocoholic waffles. We had to make a slight adjustment because we couldn't find chocolate nibs — we used chocolate chips instead. Picky also messed up the recipe a bit by adding baking soda instead of baking powder. He made up for it by adding extra cocoa and chips and you really couldn't even notice the mistake. They tasted extra chocolate-y and extra delicous!

The shot above is a partial view of the spread we had with our friends. We asked them to bring some toppings and they came through big time. We had maple syrup, pecans, bananas, butter, soy butter, cooked apples, homemade whipped cream, local honey, chocolate chips, and peanut butter cups. To drink, we had mimosas with fresh squeezed orange juice and some of the Peet's coffee from the cupping we attended. Our friend Cheri made some awesome vegan hash for a side dish — Messy couldn't stop eating it.

The recipes:
Alton Brown's basic waffle:
4 3/4 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 1 cup
4 3/4 ounces whole-wheat flour, approximately 1 cup
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
3 whole eggs, beaten
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
16 ounces buttermilk, room temperature
Vegetable spray, for waffle iron

Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturer's directions.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flours, soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In another bowl beat together eggs and melted butter, and then add the buttermilk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until combined. Allow to rest for 5 minutes.

Ladle the recommended amount of waffle batter onto the iron according to the manufacturer's recommendations. Close iron top and cook until the waffle is golden on both sides and is easily removed from iron. Serve immediately or keep warm in a 200°F oven until ready to serve.

The Urban Vegan's chocoholic waffles:
1 cup flour [I used ½ white spelt & ½ whole wheat pastry flour]
3 T Dutch process cocoa
1 T sugar
1 heaping T soy flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1¼ cup soy milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 T canola oil
3 T cacao nibs

Makes 4 large or 16 small waffles.

Mix dry ingredients, except for cacao nibs, in a medium bowl. Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl and add to dry ingredients. Mix until just combined [Do not overmix. Batter should be a bit lumpy.] Stir in the cacao nibs just before making the waffles.

Drop batter onto waffle iron and cook according to manufacturer’s instructions. [1/4 cup is the usual measure.] Try not to peek until the light tells you they are done, or they will tear apart.