I’ve always loved waffles. Every Sunday growing up, our after-church lunch was a weekly rotation of pancakes, waffles or French toast. At least it was supposed to be a rotation. My mom always claimed that French toast and pancakes were easier to make than waffles, so even though I lobbied for waffles every single week, we just didn’t have them as often as I liked. But now that I’m out on my own, cooking for myself (and Mike), I can have them as often as I want. 🙂

We love having breakfast for dinner a few times a month, and this is one of our favorites. It’s not the healthiest option, but I figure if we pair it with a random vegetable on the side it all works out.  If you’re not into that sort of thing, these waffles would make a spectacular weekend breakfast. They’re perfectly crispy and come from the tried and true recipe my mom made for all those years. While French toast might be a little simpler to throw together, these waffles are not complicated at all and any extra work is totally worth it.  Plus, now that you know you can freeze buttermilk, you have no excuse not to make these! 🙂

Buttermilk Waffles

Ingredients:

2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp shortening

Directions:

Heat waffle iron. Beat eggs; beat in remaining ingredients until smooth. Pour batter from cup or pitcher onto center of hot waffle iron. Bake until the waffle maker indicates it the waffle is cooked through. Remove waffle carefully. Serve with butter and syrup.

from the 1972 Betty Crocker Cookbook

This is a great little tip I learned a few years ago. I’m sure a lot of you already know this, but as I’ve come across a few people recently who hadn’t heard this before, and because I’ve found it so useful, I figured I’d share it. 🙂

I used to never keep buttermilk on hand. Instead, I always used one of the quick tricks* to fake it. Those worked fine for the most part, but I really preferred the consistency and creaminess of real buttermilk. After one too many times of buying buttermilk for a recipe and letting the rest of the carton go bad in the refrigerator (why can you never buy a small enough carton of buttermilk??), I learned this valuable tip.

Buttermilk Waffles – recipe coming soon!

You can freeze buttermilk! How did I not know that before? Now, when I buy buttermilk, I use what I need for my recipe, then portion the rest out into one cup increments to store in the freezer. Then, when I need some in the future, I just thaw my pre-measured portions and use them. This is what works for me.

*If you run out of buttermilk (and don’t have any frozen) and need it for a recipe, the following will work to substitute for 1 cup of buttermilk:

• Put 1 Tbsp vinegar into a measuring cup and add milk until you reach 1 cup. Let sit for five minutes
• Put 1 Tbsp lemon juice into a measuring cup and add milk until you reach 1 cup. Let sit for five minutes.
• Stir together 1/2 cup plain yogurt and 1/2 cup of whole milk.  (You may have to adjust your proportions depending on the thickeness of your yogurt or if you use skim or 2% milk)

How good do these vanilla chai cupcakes look?? They are so perfect for fall. They are full of cinnamon and spice and have the wonderful taste of chai tea – in cupcake form! They are light and cake-like, and the frosting is perfectly sweet and creamy. I made these cupcakes to celebrate the engagement of Mike’s sister Jess, and her fiance Brett. Aren’t they a cute couple?

They shared their celebratory cupcakes with some of our friends, and everyone loved them. Mike kept saying “the frosting to cupcake ratio is perfect!” (He’s an accountant, he thinks in ratios). Our other friend, Kevin, said (with his mouth full) “you need to rename these ‘Octoberfest Cupcakes’ because they taste like Fall!”. Suffice it to say the cupcakes were pretty much devoured, and I can’t wait to make them again.

Vanilla Chai Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cupcakes
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 quantity chai spice mix (recipe to follow)
1 1/4 cups plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Chai Spice Mix
1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 ts cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Vanilla Chai Buttercream
2 sticks (1 cup) butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 quantity chai spice mix
1-2 tbs cold milk, if needed

Directions:

For the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a cupcake tin or line with cupcake wrappers. Mix spices together in small bowl and set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla and beat in one egg at a time. Stir in half the quantity of chai spice mix. Sift together the flour and salt into a separate bow. Fold in the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately and stir until combined. Be careful not to over mix. Mix together the baking soda and vinegar and stir into the batter.

Spoon into prepared cupcake tin until 3/4 full and bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in a center cupcake comes out clean.

For the icing: In a stand mixer, beat the butter until it is creamy. On low, mix in the vanilla and the rest of the chai spice mix. Carefully beat in the icing sugar about ½ cup at a time. If the buttercream is too thick add 1-2 tbs of cold milk until the desired consistency is reached.Then pipe onto cooled cupcakes with your favorite frosting tip.

adapted from Some More Please, seen on The Novice Chef