Tall Man's Waffles

I need to clear something up here. In my last post I didn't specify how tall I am. Some of you might have assumed Me + Heels = Towering Over Date because I'm an Amazon. No, I'm 5'4". My date was maybe 5'5".

It's my daughter that's 5'9". (That's me, my sister, and my daughter.) How did I end up with such a tall girl? Easy - I married a man I could look up to. Literally. He's 6'2". I ended up with ginormous babies and someone who could easily reach the upper shelves of the tall cupboards. That is a plus, unless he's being a sweetheart and tidying up the kitchen for me. Then I end up cursing, I mean blessing him for putting away things where I can't even see them, let alone reach them.

I don't fret too much if it's paper plates or boxes of pasta that get shoved to the back of the upper cupboards, but my husband has learned that I'm far happier if I can see my chocolate stash. If I wasn't able to eyeball it, how would I know what's on hand? And how would I be able to make these fabulous waffles?

The recipe came in my inbox from King Arthur Flour. My husband wanted it so much, we had it for dinner. They were soooooo good! It's not the height of healthy eating, but it's got whole wheat flour, sourdough starter, and homemade chocolate ice cream, so as a very once in a while splurge, it works for me. Really, really well.

Chocolate Malt Waffles
- from King Arthur Flour

Starter

1 cup ripe, bubbly sourdough starter (made with equal weights water and flour)
1 1/4 cups cool water
1 1/2 cups King Arthur 100% White Whole Wheat Flour

Batter

1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa
1/2 cup malted milk powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup chocolate chips, semisweet or bittersweet; mini chips work especially well


1) To make the starter: Measure 1 cup "fed" sourdough starter into a medium bowl.

2) Stir in the water and whole wheat flour, and mix until thoroughly combined.

3) Cover the bowl and set it aside for several hours, or up to overnight.

4) To make the batter: When you're ready to make the waffles, whisk the dry ingredients in a small bowl; you may need to sift the mixture if your cocoa is lumpy.

5) Add the dry ingredients, plus the eggs, melted butter, vanilla, and chocolate chips to the sourdough batter, stirring to combine.

6) To bake the waffles: Drop about ½ cup batter onto a greased, preheated waffle iron. Bake the waffle until steam stops coming out the sides of the iron. The waffles will feel soft and tender coming out of the iron, but will crisp up on standing.

7) Serve with ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce, if desired. (Well, duh, of course you desire!)