Waffle heaven part 3: Yeasted Waffles with Cheese and Bacon. Or without.

So you’ve already heard about my love affair with waffles, and my foray into fluffy French waffles, and chewy doughy liege waffles.

But just when I thought I had my two waffle recipes all sorted, something else happened. A recipe for yeasted waffles with bacon and cheddar came up on Pinterest. I made them with aged cumin seed gouda and smoky bacon and took them round to my restauranteur friends at Hercules Morse. Because they were waffles, Ash thought it was a good idea to tip maple syrup on them. Boy – I thought they were good by themselves, but with some dark amber maple syrup, they were unbelievable.

Bacon Cheddar Waffles

I also made them without the savoury additions on a campfire in the Flinders Ranges, South Australia whilst 4WDing with my big sis, her husband and their friends. We ate them with Rum and Raisin chocolate ganache and roasted marshmallows. They were awesome.

They are also awesome without the savoury bits:

Yeasted Waffles

I mean look closer…

Yeasted Waffles

Closer…….

Yeasted Waffles

Sighs.

 Yeasted Waffles – Bacon Cheddar or Sweet

ingredients

1 package of dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups milk, room temperature
2 cups flour
2 tbsp sugar (if making sweet waffles, use 4 tbsp, and add a little vanilla essence if you like)
1 tsp salt
125g unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup grated cheese (eg cheddar or use cumin gouda like I did!) (omit if making sweet waffles)
5 rashers bacon, diced and cooked until crisp (omit if making sweet waffles – or don’t – I bet bacon inside would be delish!)

mixing

The night before (or at least 2 hours before), dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a large bowl. Add the milk, sugar and salt. Add the flour and whisk the mixture together. The batter will be a bit lumpy at this stage. Add the melted butter and whisk the batter until smooth – I have no idea how the butter makes things smooth!  Cover with cling wrap and let it rest on the bench overnight or for at least 2 hours.

Yeasted Waffles

After the resting period the batter will be bubbly and have a strong yeast smell.

Yeasted Waffles

Add the eggs and baking soda to the batter, whisking until just combined.

If using, fold the cheese and bacon into the batter.

Bacon Cheddar Waffles

Heat your waffle iron and grease if necessary (I don’t grease mine). I have a 7 inch round waffle iron and it takes a scant 1/2 cup of batter per waffle – you’ll have to experiment with yours! (ps, there will be overspills until you get the portions just right – this mixture likes to volcano!) Cook according to your waffle iron instructions.

Yeasted Waffles

Serve with an excess of maple syrup. Even the bacon cheese ones. It’s genius.

Yeasted Waffles