Cinnamon Orange Waffles for Breakfast

Sunday mornings at our house are usually the time for bigger breakfasts, as we don't usually have the time for them during the week. After church this morning, Mr. Century Farmhouse requested waffles and bacon and eggs, so we had a full brunch, complete with real maple syrup made last year from the sap collected in our maple woods. It is almost time to make syrup again, but that's another story.

I've been playing with different flavors in waffles for a while. Cinnamon waffles are wonderful, and the addition of spice means you really don't need to add sugar to the batter. The flavored waffles taste rather sweet, and then the syrup, and maybe some powdered sugar to dust your plate add sweetness as well. There was a plate of oranges on the kitchen table so I added some orange peel and orange juice to the mix today. The flavors were subtle, but sooooo good.
Mr. Century Farmhouse requested that I post the recipe so he could find it when he wanted to make a batch himself. Here you go:

Cinnamon Orange Waffles

This recipe makes a family-sized batch - about 9-10 waffles, depending on the size of your waffle iron. Don't worry if this is too big a batch for Sunday morning, because the waffles freeze well and the extras are perfect for middle of the week breakfasts. Just pop them in the toaster!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour (I like to use bread flour, but all-purpose flour is fine).
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T. grated orange peel
3 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cup warm milk
6 T. melted butter
Juice of 1/2 orange (about 2 T.)
1 t. whiskey vanilla (or plain vanilla is fine)

Serving suggestion: dust with powdered sugar, serve with real maple syrup, and butter if you choose.

Let's make 'em:

1. In a medium/large bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, cinnamon, soda, and salt, and add the grated orange peel.

2. Gently warm the milk (not hot) on the stovetop or in the microwave and add the butter to melt, or melt the butter separately. Add the orange juice to the warmed milk (yes, it will curdle a little - the acid in the orange juice will combine with the baking soda to make the waffles a little lighter and fluffier).

3. In a small bowl, separate each egg, one at a time, and place the in a medium-sized bowl and the yolks in the warmed milk. Whisk the egg and milk mixture and pour into the dry ingredients. If you have melted the butter separately, add the butter to the dry ingredients now too.

4. With a clean whisk, whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form (about 2-3 minutes). You can use your mixer for this, but why make more clean-up work? It doesn't take much effort to whip a few egg whites!

5. Gently fold the egg whites into the waffle batter, taking care not to stir too much. You don't want to lose the puffiness of the batter!

6. Bake the waffles according to your waffle iron's instructions and serve immediately for a crispy waffle, or keep them warm on a platter in a low oven and the waffles will be soft when serving.

How to freeze your waffles:

This is a pretty big-batch recipe, so if you have waffles left after breakfast, you can freeze them for a weekday treat. Here's how:

1. Place the waffles (or break them down into sections that will fit into your toaster) onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment or waxed paper. Place in the freezer just until they are hard, perhaps an hour or so.

2. Remove from the freezer and quickly wrap in foil, placing a square of parchment between each waffle to keep them from sticking to each other. You can cut up the parchment they were frozen on to do this. Wrap them in a double layer of foil and place back into the freezer. Remove as many as you need and toast them for a quick waffle breakfast or a snack in the middle of the week. Toaster waffles also make great sandwiches; just use them as you would use bread. In our house, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are always better on a waffle!