Persimmon Waffles

UGH!  Cold weather is here.  I'm just not a cold weather person.  And, I miss all the good stuff from the garden.  Our grocery cart will no longer look like we avoid fruits and vegetables since we'll have to once again buy them.  I'm trying here to think of the good things.  Nice comforting soups.  Fires in the fire place.  But, my feet are cold so it's tough!

Actually, one of the nice things is persimmons off our tree.  The biggest one day haul was 39.  That's a huge bowl full of goodness. 

I've been freezing most of them for persimmon pudding.  I'll make that for Thanksgiving.  But, along the way a few have found their way into drinks and salads.  Connie's made a Persimmon Smash a couple of times.  And, I made a fun salad with carrot greens, blanched Brussels sprouts, chopped apple and a persimmon dressing.  But, one of my favorites is the persimmon waffles.  I used a recipe from Cooking Light for Pumpkin Waffles and substituted.  Now, if you're looking for lovely light, fluffy waffles, look elsewhere.  These have some heft.  They also were fabulous.

Ingredients:

1 c flour
2 t baking powder
3/4 t ground cinnamon
1/8 t salt
1/8 t ground cloves
1 c 1% low fat milk
1/2 c persimmon puree (can substitute pumpkin)
1/4 c packed dark brown sugar]
1 T vegetable oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Cooking spray

Directions:

Mix flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and cloves in a medium mixing bowl.  Lightly beat the egg in a small mixing bowl.  Add the milk, brown sugar, vegetable oil and persimmon puree.  Stir to combine.  Make a well in the flour.  Pour the egg/milk mixture into the well and mix just until combined.  The original recipe called for   1/4 cup of batter per waffle.  They looked like this with 1/4 c batter. 

Much better with a full half cup.  Now, we're lucky enough to have shagbark hickory syrup available.  I took a hint from the latest cookbook from The Chew and added a bit of butter and bourbon to the syrup.  Yummy!

adapted from Cooking Light