Waffles

When I married Capt'n Awesomepants, he was a proud cereal killer. After a few years I knew I had a problem on my hands and it was time for an intervention. That intervention came in a fluffy, moist, yummy package called 'waffles'. Now, I make a batch of waffles once a week to help the Capt'n keep his desire to kill all the helpless cereals under control.

I have gained a lot of respect for waffles, they have always been the snotty kid sister to pancakes in my eyes. Since the great waffle intervention they have become so much more to me. With a good base recipe for waffles you can go crazy, get creative and make something really yummy. It also helps when you forget to buy extra stuff to make waffles, which I never do.

Banana Nut, Raspberry, Pumpkin, Apple, Zucchini, Chocolate Chip, Carrots etc. Waffles can be very versatile.

Let's start with a good base.

This normally makes 10-12 waffles (depending on your ingrediants), using a waffle maker.

3 cups Pamela's Baking and Pancake Mix

1 cup Almond milk

3 eggs

3 Tbsp Oil

1/2 cup Sour Cream

I add a tsp of cinnamon when I use banana, pumpkin, apples or zucchini.

To make Raspberry Waffles (which were a huge hit, there made the whole house smell amazing).

Add 1 cup fresh Raspberries to the base mix, as well as 3 Tbsp Honey or Maple Syrup (100%, no yucky Egg-o junk)

Mix Raspberries, eggs, almond milk, oil and sour cream together until blended well, slowly add the Pamela's mix. Add cinnamon, and a little salt if you like.

Follow your waffle maker's directions as you normally would.

If you make a large batch like this and want to freeze them. Cool the waffles on a wire rack then Layl them out on a cookie sheet and place them in the freezer. Once they are frozen move then to a freezer bag and remove the air.

Pretzel Bites

I regret that I didn't eat 'normal' soft pretzels before I found out I need to be gluten free, I don't have a flavor in my memory to rate these off of. Gluten-y memories aside, these were amazing. I made a cinnamon roll dipping sauce and a honey mustard one. The texture was perfect, fluffy, moist, and easy to bite into.

I have attempted soft pretzels before, and things didn't go so hot. The dough won, I was left covered in flour and cursing the day I found the recipe. The wonderful blog I acquired the recipe for these from (Dine & Dish), had a neat idea! Use your bread maker's dough setting. I have had my bread maker for 5 years, my first thought was “Ha! Well that doesn't work, my bread maker doesn't have that setting!” 5 minutes later, I discovered that it does, in fact, have that setting...in bold font...on the front of the machine.

Not being the type of girl to let something like that get me down, or cause me to tell the bread maker it is 'stupid and mean', I followed the recipe with a few tweaks to make it gluten free. Enjoy!

Pretzel Bites

1 1/8 cups water (70 to 80 degrees F)

3 cups Gluten Free Flour (As always, I use Gluten Free Mama Almond Flour)

1 teaspoons Xanthan Gum

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 quarts water

1/2 cup baking soda

coarse salt

melted butter – for dipping, prior to baking. I used 1/2 a stick.

In bread machine pan, place the first four ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer. Select dough setting (*grumble*) (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 tablespoons water or flour if needed).

When cycle is completed, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into eight balls. Roll each into a 20-in. rope; form into pretzel shape. In a saucepan, bring water and baking soda to a boil. Drop pretzels into boiling water, two at a time; boil for 10-15 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon; drain on paper towels.

Place pretzels on greased baking sheets. Bake at 425 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with salt.

Now, for dipping sauce. You can be creative here! Ranch, spicy mayo, honey mustard, or sweet sauces (Like the cinnamon roll sauce).

Cinnamon Roll Dipping Sauce (Because it was just plain awesome sauce. Pun intended)

4 oz of Cream Cheese

1/2 cup Powdered Sugar (most icing recipes call for more, but I dislike overly sweet sauces)

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1-3 teaspoons Milk (I used Almond milk, this is only to dilute the mix and take it from a frosting to a sauce)

Mix the cream cheese and sugar before adding cinnamon and milk.