Tasty Heart Healthy Cinnamon Waffles (No Cardboard Allowed)

Don’t you just love a delicious Belgium waffle for breakfast? Rich, crispy on the outside, soft and gooey on the inside, then slathered with butter, maple syrup and,  if you are feeling special, some whipped cream and fruit? Dusted with powered sugar, of course. Oh, and a side of salty applewood bacon on the side. Yeah, I like that too.

These are not those waffles. But they are still delicious.

Let’s be realistic. We can’t eat like that every day. It’s horrible for our heart and waistline. It doesn’t mean we can’t have waffles every day, nor must we resort to those cardboard frozen “waffles” that so many of us grew up on. We can still have delicious waffles that are good for us and not have to spend much time making them.

I personally have eggs almost every day for breakfast. I love a good scrambled egg and a piece of toast. It fills me up and keeps me going. My dear hubby likes eggs, but he doesn’t love them. Using a King Arthur Flour recipe as a base, I made this heart healthy and filling waffle to keep him going. This makes me an Awesome Wife, don’t you think?

It make 3 to 6 waffles depending on the size of your waffle iron. We throw these babies in the freezer and then just put them in the microwave for about 30 to 45 seconds. If you have a toaster oven, that would work better. Ours started on fire a few years ago (no damage done) and we decided not to replace it! But I digress…

Serious Stuff: These are full of flax seed, oats, and a good bit of cinnamon. Flax and oats are known to be heart healthy. Cinnamon is an anti-inflammatory which is good for your heart and your aches and pains!  (Please note, I am not a dietician. I just read a lot.) And the whole wheat fiber will help keep you full , as well as provide a nice nutty taste. I switched out the granulated sugar for honey because I think it tastes better and I use grape seed oil because I think it also tastes better.  I’ve never tried adding nuts but I think that would be a great addition, just make sure you chop them well. And there’s always bacon….

I had a couple of curious little noses while I was photographing the waffles. This table was just their height, so of course they though it was their breakfast!

Cinnamon Wheat Waffles

Adapted slightly from KAF

One year ago: Lavender Cookies

Yield: 3 to 6 Waffles, depending on your waffle iron

Difficulty: Easy

Time: 10 minutes or less to prepare batter; time to cook waffles will depend on your iron

Special Equipment: Waffle Iron*

*Note: We’re on our third waffle iron. The first one was super cheap, with melting plastic and kinda flimsy, but we had it for about 6 years because we loved the waffles it made! Unfortunately, they no longer make this model. We bought another one a couple years ago that just died for no apparent reason right in the middle of our waffle making. So we used the rest of the batter for pancakes. They were good but dense. Now we are on our third iron and it makes smaller waffles but still quite tasty. I don’t want to recommend a specific waffle iron because everyone has different needs and price points. I’d recommend going to Amazon and just checking out all the reviews and different irons to find one that works for you! Many great ones are fairly inexpensive and small.

Ingredients

• 6.5 oz (1 1/2 cups) white wheat or whole wheat flour
• 3 oz (1 cup) rolled oats
• 1 oz (1/4 cup) ground flax seed
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 oz  (about 2 TB) honey
• 2 oz (about 1/4 cup) oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 12 oz (1 1/2 cups) milk

Directions

1. Preheat your waffle iron according to the instruction manual.

2. In a large bowl, mix together your dry ingredients: flour, oats, flax seed, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, mix together your wet ingredients: honey (helps to warm slightly), oil, vanilla, egg, and milk. As you can see, there is very little sugar in this recipe. We like it that way but if you like yours sweeter, feel free to up the honey. Or just add more maple syrup to the finished product.

4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until barely combined. Lumps are just fine here. This is a thick batter and it will not spread much in your iron so you may want to use more than what you are accustomed to for the first one. Cook according your waffle iron manual. If you are freezing, let cool and then put into a freezer bag. Reheat to your liking.

Enjoy!

Spice Coffee Cake

The Daring Bakers’ April 2012 challenges, hosted by Jason at Daily Candor, were two Armenian standards: nazook and nutmeg cake. Nazook is a layered yeast dough pastry with a sweet filling, and nutmeg cake is a fragrant, nutty coffee style cake.

While the Nazook looked utterly amazing and mouthwatering, I had no time to make it this month due to my crazy busy schedule right now. (This is the part where you pity me, of course). Thankfully, the nutmeg cake rocked and I’m so glad Jason introduced us to it! It’s incredibly easy and quick to make and tastes delightful, especially with a cup of coffee (huh, wonder if that’s why it’s called a coffee cake?). It  has a crust like a cheesecake and texture like well, a dense cake. No icing or glaze needed but I’m sure that wouldn’t hurt things. Don’t let it’s simple exterior fool you. The flavor is quite complex.

This cake would be easy to personalize to meet your taste buds. I didn’t find the nutmeg overwhelming but I do love nutmeg. I also added a pinch of cinnamon. Nutmeg and cinnamon are just meant to be together, in my humble opinion. But if they aren’t your favorite spices, just add whatever suits you. This cake has a beautiful caramel taste. The edges get a little more done than the center but that was actually my favorite part. A little bit chewier and caramel-y.

Did I mention it was quick? Less than 20 minutes, maybe closer to 10 but I wasn’t really counting, to pull together and about 40 minutes to bake. I love quick recipes that taste awesome, don’t you?

Nutmeg Cake

• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups (280 gm/10 oz) AP Flour
• 2 tsp  baking powder
• 2 cups  (400 gm/14 oz) brown sugar, firmly packed
• 3/4 cup (170 gm/6 oz) butter, unsalted, cubed
• 1/2 cup walnut pieces, or any nut of your choosing. I used pecans.
• 1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 egg

1. Preheat your oven 350°F.
2. Mix the baking soda (not baking powder) into the milk. Set aside.
3. Put the flour, baking powder, and the brown sugar into your food processor (mixer will work too). Pulse until uniformly mixed.
4. Toss in the cubed butter. Pulse until uniformly mixed into tan colored crumbs.
5. Pour HALF of the crumbs into your springform (9”/23cm) pan. Press out a crust using your fingers and knuckles.
6. Mix in the nutmeg and cinnamon
7.  Add the egg, mix until combined.
8. Pour in the milk and baking soda mixture. Continue to mix until a slightly lumpy tan batter is formed.
9. Pour the batter over the crust in the springform pan.
10. Gently sprinkle the nut pieces over the batter.
11. Bake in a preheated oven for 30-40 minutes. It’s ready when the top is golden brown, and when a toothpick comes out clean. It took 40 minutes in my oven, but I started checking at 30 minutes.
12. Let cool for a minute or two, then run a knife around the pan. Remove the outer part and let cool. If you let it cool in the pan it may stick. Make coffee and enjoy!

It’s the Great Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll, Charlie Brown

It’s pumpkin season. Need I say more? This time of year I love to make Pumpkin Brioche. It can be sweet or savory, it makes the best french toast, and it is just darn tasty. And for a long time now I’ve been suspecting that it would also make excellent cinnamon rolls.

I was right. It is so sweet being right. Literally.

These are better than traditional cinnamon rolls. And I’m not just saying that because I made them.  The hint of pumpkin really adds to the whole cinnamon roll experience.  You still get the cinnamon roll flavor and the cream cheese icing. Add in the pumpkin and it is a match made in tummy heaven.

Now for the slightly bad news. Something that tastes this good does not happen quickly. The brioche requires an overnight starter, then a rise for an hour or two, depending on how warm your house is, then the cinnamon rolls need to rise for another hour. Then bake, then eat. So, if you want these for breakfast, make them the day before, which actually means starting two nights before. I know. I know! But after all your hard work will be the best cinnamon roll you have ever tasted. I promise.

You can find the full pumpkin brioche instructions here. I’m just going to do the basic below. You will have enough brioche to make two 10 inch round pans of rolls, and then leftovers. I just shaped mine into rolls. They are tasty like that too.

Yield: 2 10 inch pans of cinnamon rolls plus six plain rolls

Difficulty: Advanced

One year ago: French Four Spiced Cake with Browned Butter Frosting

Pumpkin Brioche

Biga

• 312 g bread flour
• 190 g milk
• pinch of instant yeast

Mix all together and knead until smooth. Let rest for 12 to 24 hours.

Pumpkin Brioche

• 500 g bread flour
• 1 whole egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 7.5 g instant yeast
• 25 g milk
• 11.5 g salt
• 375 g pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp clove
• 65 g sugar
• 50 g honey
• Biga
• 125 g butter

Warm liquids to 68F. Cut up your biga into small pieces. Add everything except the butter into the mixer. Mix on speed one for 5 minutes with a dough hook. Scrape the sides if necessary. While it is mixing, make your butter pliable. After the 5 minutes, increase to speed 2 or 3, depending on what your mixer can handle. Add the butter a small amount at a time, fully incorporating before adding more. After all is added, mix until a gluten window is formed. This part will take 10 to 15 minutes.   Let rest in lightly oiled bowl for about 90 minutes. Do one set of stretch and fold after 45 minutes. After doubled, move on to cinnamon rolls.

Cinnamon Rolls

Filling (enough for two pans of rolls)

• 6 oz unsalted butter (soft)
• 4 oz brown sugar
• 4 oz sugar
• 1 TB cinnamon

Make sure butter is very soft, but not melted. Mix all ingredients together.

Cream Cheese Icing (enough for two pans)

• 4 oz cream cheese, room temp
• 4 oz butter, room temp
• 7 oz powdered sugar
• 6 oz water

Cream together the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar. Mix until combined. Slowly add water until a thin, but not watery, consistency is achieved. This may take more or less water. Do this step  a few minutes before the cinnamon rolls are finished.

Making the rolls

Lightly butter your pans, including the sides, so they remove from the pan easier.

Scale out two 20 ounce balls of brioche. Set remaining brioche aside for another use.  Roll out each ball into a rectangle. Spread filling leaving about one inch on the edges.

Gently roll the edge (long way) into a long roll. Cut the ends off to make it neat. Still bake the ends though, they are good.  Cut the roll in half using either a sharp knife, a dough cutter, or floss. Floss takes a long time, but gives you a nice cut. I used a dough cutter. After you cut it in half, cut each half in half, and then repeat. You should have eight rolls. Place into a 10 inch pan (or whatever size you decide to use will work fine) nice side down. Press down lightly.

Cover loosely with either a towel or plastic wrap and let rise about one hour. Repeat with the second dough ball.

Meanwhile, heat your oven to 350F. Once rolls are puffy, bake until golden, 20 to 30 minutes. Let cool for about 5 minutes, then flip over onto a plate, platter, a sheet pan, whatever will hold the rolls. Pour half the icing on each pan. Let cool long enough so you don’t burn your tongue, grab a cup of coffee or milk, and eat.

These will keep for several days, but may dry out a bit. Just pop in the microwave for about 30 seconds and you are good to go again. Yum. Worth the effort, right?