I had it all planned out this morning. We’d have waffles for breakfast and I’d take some absolutely stunning photos of them for my blog post. Then I remembered that we’re entirely out of butter. What a thing to be out of! We’ve had pounds and pounds of it in the freezer for so long, I guess we just got complacent; took our butter for granted. So, here’s my favorite waffle recipe, sans photos. Maybe I could just insert a description of the photos-that-could’ve-been. “If we all use our imaginations…”

:: Imagine photo of sparkling, golden maple syrup being drizzled onto a fresh waffle ::

Is it working?

:: Imagine photo of a sizable chunk of waffle impaled on a fork; the fork is resting on a plate; the fork is in sharp focus, the plate and remaining waffle are blurred — ::

Oh, brother. Never mind.

Whole Wheat Waffles

2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups (14 ounces) buttermilk*
1/2 cup (4 ounces) butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups (8 ounces) white whole wheat flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
2 tablespoons sucanat (or honey or granulated sugar)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Beat together the eggs, buttermilk*, melted butter and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together just until smooth.
2. Brush your waffle iron with olive oil before preheating it. Preheat the iron until the “ready” light comes on (follow the manufacturer’s directions). If you own an 8-inch round waffle iron, it’ll take approximately 1/3 cup of batter for each waffle. Experiment with how much batter to use until you find the amount that works best for your iron. Our iron is a Belgian waffler, a stove-top model; it requires one whole cup of batter to make each waffle.
3. Cook the waffles for approximately 1 minute on the first side, two minutes on the second side. This will also require some experimentation and trial-and-error, in order to discover just how long to bake the waffles. One indication of when a waffle is done is when the iron stops steaming, but I tend to judge by the color. A deep, golden brown; crisp on the outside, tender on the inside. Mmmm!
4. The waffles may be held in a 200 degree oven until you’ve finished cooking the whole batch. To keep them from getting soggy, place a wire rack on top of a baking sheet, and place the waffles on the rack. This will allow the air to circulate all around the waffles.
5. Serve the waffles with butter, maple syrup, whipped cream, fresh fruit… Whatever strikes your fancy! My personal favorite is coconut oil, peanut butter, bananas and maple syrup. 500 delicious calories.

* If you don’t have any buttermilk (we rarely do around here), substitute 1 3/4 cups of milk and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Mix the milk and lemon juice together and let them sit on the counter for five to ten minutes, allowing the milk to curdle.