Waffles

Since it's my birthday, I wanted to treat myself. I don't usually have big, elaborate breakfasts (especially on a Wednesday), but I do love breakfast food. Whether it's pancakes, bacon, bagels, hash browns, muffins, scones, waffles, or all of the above, I'm happy to indulge in the most important meal of the day.

On this special occasion, I decided on waffles. My mom got a waffle iron a few years ago, and I'll admit it hasn't been used often since then. However, ever since I perfected this waffle recipe, I've been making them almost every week. They are light, fluffy, and subtly sweet, which lets you pile on berries, whipped cream, chocolate chips, or any other toppings without going into a sugar coma.

As with many of my recipes, my secret ingredient is buttermilk. I'm still not sure exactly why it makes everything so good, but I'll keep cooking with it until I figure it out. Like pancake batter, you whisk the buttermilk together with the wet ingredients and then pour it into your sifted dry ingredients. I use oil instead of butter (which is probably a big no-no if you ask your local waffle expert), but I've found that if you use butter to grease your waffle iron you don't notice the difference. The oil just improves the consistency of the waffle, and why mess with a good recipe? Other than that, it's a pretty standard recipe. Just scoop it into your waffle iron--remember, it will spread a lot, so go easy on the batter--and cook until golden brown. One of my family secrets is waiting until it stops steaming; it's usually the perfect color, and that way you don't have to check it every 30 seconds.

Here in the south, it's tough to compete with Waffle House waffles, especially since they're cheap and require no cleanup. And have you tried their hash browns? Still, these waffles are amazing and totally worth the mess, though not if you decide to put blueberries in your batter. I learned the hard way that blueberries and waffle irons are a bad combination; the blueberries burn and stick and ruin your remaining waffles. Instead, just sprinkle them on top when your waffle is done. Better yet, set up a build your own waffle station with stacks of hot waffles and all the toppings you can think of. Personally, I plan on eating piles of chocolate chip waffles smothered in powdered sugar in whipped cream.

2 Eggs
1 ¾ Cups Buttermilk
½ Cup Oil
¾ tsp Vanilla
2 Cups Flour
3 T Sugar
4 tsp Baking Powder
¼ tsp Salt

Heat a waffle iron.

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together. Whisk the eggs until foamy. Add the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, then gently fold into the flour mixture.

Grease the waffle iron. Add a few spoonfuls of batter, close, and cook until golden brown.

Makes 6-8
Recipe Adapted from www.allrecipes.com