Whole-Grain Waffles with Cherry Sauce...

I can't remember the last time we had a "breakfast-for-dinner" night, so I made sure to schedule one into the menu this week. After a bit of frantic searching this afternoon to find the darn waffle maker (someone hid it in a closet upstairs and forgot!), we used it to make these Whole-Grain Waffles with Cherry Sauce.

Instead of waiting until the waffles were done to create the sauce, the deeply red syrup replacement controlled the stove for the first few minutes. I didn't want to wait until fresh cherries flood the market to make this, which means I turned to the frozen department to get my fix - if you do the same, there is no need to thaw them first. If you do have fresh cherries available, just pop out their pits and use the same amount called for.

Combined with water, sticky honey, lemon juice and cornstarch, the sauce needs to come to a boil and cook for about a minute, activating the starch's thickening power, and it's good to go. For good measure, just after we took the pot off the heat, a splash of vanilla was added for a special floral note - almond extract might be nice as well, though not in the same amount since it is quite potent - add a few dribbles and taste.

The dry ingredients don't vary too much from your everyday waffle recipe, except using white-whole wheat flour (whole-wheat pastry flour would work here too) for a bump in nutrition instead of all-purpose, along with a scoop of fine cornmeal for a hint of crunch. You won't need too much sugar to sweeten the waffles either as the sauce will add plenty as soon as it's poured on, but a bit of brown sugar goes a long way for texture and lending a mild molasses depth.

Unless you have six waffle irons lined up, you'll most likely be making them in batches. To keep the first waffles warm and crisp, turn your oven to a low two hundred degrees before you start these. As soon as each waffle is ready, either lay (don't stack!) them on a wire rack placed in the oven or set them right on the oven racks so air can circulate around. Once the last of the batter is dropped onto the iron to cook, slide the pan with the cherry sauce back over low heat just to warm through.

A shallow, American-style waffle maker will work with these, but we went with a thicker Belgian-style, giving us deep pockets for the glistening sauce to wander and settle into. Using buttermilk gave these waffles a bit of fluff to the interior, while at the same time providing a delightful tangy finish. We had a bit leftover, which will work in my favor to make for a speedy breakfast sometime since waffles freeze quite well (keeping the sauce separate) - all we'll need to do to reheat the waffles is stick them in the toaster oven for a few minutes to take the chill off and re-crisp the outside, bringing them very close to a just-cooked feel.

Recipes
Whole-Grain Waffles with Cherry Sauce