Chocolate Chip Waffles

Our cousin's sleepover was a success!

When everyone got up I had the kids help me make chocolate chip waffles.

As I was busy pulling out ingredients my niece cracked me up as she looked around at her 3 little cousins who were all getting into different things and talking at the same time and asked me "is it always like this?". Yes, it's always crazy.

We try new recipes for waffles usually every other weekend.  The kids love them and there are some great recipes out there that sneak in nutrition.  Pumpkin waffles in the Fall come to mind as one goodie we always enjoy.

However, because we're still on "vacation" and it was a special treat to have their cousin over we skipped the healthy and went right to chocolate.

It can be a little involved to make waffles, but it's worth the effort.

Food Network's Chocolate Chip Waffles

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon fine salt

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 large egg white, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups milk, at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted, plus more for brushing the iron

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat waffle iron according to directions.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

Separate the 2 eggs and put all the whites in a large bowl.

In a large liquid measuring cup or medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks, milk, vanilla, and 1/4 cup melted butter. Whisk the milk mixture into the flour mixture until a batter is formed. Take care not to over mix the batter.

Whip the egg whites until they just begin to hold a loose peak. Scatter the sugar over the whites and continue beating until they hold a soft peak. Fold a third of the egg whites into the batter to lighten the base, then fold in the remaining whites. Gently fold in the chocolate chips.

Brush the inside surface of the iron with butter. Pour in enough batter to barely fill each hole of the waffle iron; the amount will vary depending upon the size of the iron. (Take into consideration that the batter will spread once the lid is closed.) Close and cook until crisp and the waffle iron stops steaming, about 5 minutes. Serve as the waffles come off the iron or transfer to a rack set on a pan in preheated 200 degree F oven to keep warm. Serve with maple syrup.

Get It Done Tip: Most waffle recipes give enough batter to have plenty of extra waffles.  I let the extras cool on wire racks to stay crispy and then cut them into serving sizes.  I put the waffles in Ziploc and freeze flat.  During the week I can easily pop out as many waffles as needed and put them in my toaster for a quick breakfast for the kids.  

After breakfast I took the two little boys to check in on my grandmother quick since my parents are away. Then I came home to clean, cook and bake for a few hours while my husband took all 4 kids (my niece included) to get our big son cleats for flag football which starts next week.

Around 5:00 my husband's aunts and the rest of his family came over for dinner.  We made grilled chicken bruschetta, a great quinoa casserole which everyone loved, corn, salad.  We finished with dutch apple crumble pie and fresh whipped cream.

We had a great evening and the kids put on a "water show" in the pool for everyone.  

Everyone was gone by 8:30 and my kids were all passed out before if not soon thereafter.  They are beat. My husband ran out quick to see his friend who is up from Florida. Starting Monday we'll both do our best to be home so we can do sleep boot camp to get back in the school routine. They have 2 more days of living la vida loca!