Bust Out the Waffle Iron—It’s National Waffle Day!

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Patty Pinner is spreading the love for waffles with this recipe from her cookbook Sweet Mornings: 125 Sweet and Savory Breakfast and Brunch Recipes that made her feel like royalty as a child. Pinner includes personal anecdotes like the following excerpt to accompany some of the recipes in her book so you can read while you eat.

If these chocolate-macadamia waffles leave you craving more, be sure to invest in a copy of Sweet Mornings to enjoy other waffles recipes such as “Old Fashioned Gingerbread Waffles,” “Banana Nut Waffles,” and the hearty “Big Mama’s Chicken and Waffles.”

Happy waffle making!


My paternal grandfather’s sister Frances had a Martha Stewart–type personality. She cooked, crafted, and gardened like a goddess, and her front porch was always crowded with potted plants that looked as though they could have won ribbons. Whenever we traveled to Paris, Tennessee, to visit Daddy’s family, Mama and I always tried to spend a night or two (without Daddy) at her house. There was so much girly stuff to see and do, and she was always working on something new—a quilt, crocheted doilies for her tabletops, tatting for the hem of an apron, her side yard flower bed, a stenciling project. A measly hour or two didn’t give us the time we needed to take it all in. The women on Daddy’s side of the family were much better at crafts than the women on Mama’s side, who were much better cooks. Aunt Frances’s feminine artisanship appealed to my emerging inner domestic goddess.

At the end of each visit, Aunt Frances would section off pieces of the projects that she was working on to help get us started on our own projects. We would leave with a large brown grocery bag crammed with blocks of quilt starters, scraps of fabric from old dresses, hand-sketched quilt patterns, small pieces of crochet, and at least seven or eight plant clippings wrapped in wet newspaper.

Aunt Frances was also a great Southern cook. During our visits, she’d serve decadent, old-fashioned country breakfasts replete with dishes like country-fried chicken and onion gravy, homemade yeast rolls, sautéed potatoes, smoked ham slices, egg pie, blackberry dumplings, and sometimes her delicious Chocolate–Macadamia Waffles. To me, these brownie-like waffles were king. She always used to say that she reserved these waffles for special occasions, so when she included them in her breakfast offerings to us, she made us feel royal.

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Chocolate–Macadamia Waffles

Nonstick cooking spray, for greasing

2 large egg whites, room temperature

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup granulated sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

2 large egg yolks, room temperature

1 cup whole milk, room temperature

½ cup vegetable oil

2 squares semisweet chocolate, melted

¼ cup heavy cream, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

½ cup finely chopped macadamia nuts

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)

1. Preheat a lightly greased waffle iron according to the manufacturer’s directions.

2. Using a hand mixer set at medium speed, beat the egg whites in a small mixing bowl until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

3. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients: the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the mixture and set aside.

4. In a separate medium mixing bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks. Add the milk, vegetable oil, melted chocolate, heavy cream, and vanilla extract and stir until combined.

5. Add the chocolate mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just moistened. (Do not overmix; the batter should be lumpy.) Add the nuts and stir until evenly blended.

6. Fold the beaten egg whites into the batter and set aside to rest for at least
5 minutes.

7. Pour a ladleful of the batter on the prepared waffle iron and cook according to the manufacturer’s directions. Once the waffle is properly cooked, use the tines of a fork to lift it off the iron and place on a serving platter.

8. Repeat step 7 until all the batter has been used.

9. Serve warm, with a dusting of the confectioners’ sugar, if desired.

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