Waffles & Bacon: A love story

I’m not a big fan of sweet breakfasts. That said, if I’m going to make or eat waffles, pancakes or french toast, a breakfast meat on the side is required. Our household generally prefers bacon, but sausage links would rock too. I would not serve this with eggs or potatoes. There just won’t be enough flavor contrast and it doesn’t pair that well.

Now for the love story. John’s favorite breakfast of all time (besides cinnamon rolls, which I only make annually) are waffles. Don’t get me wrong, he’s excited when I make pancakes or french toast, but waffles are his fave. He attributes this to the built-in butter pockets, which is a strong reason.

My go-to is from Food52: Aretha Frankenstein’s Waffles of Insane Greatness. I used to make this exact breakfast every Saturday for a few years and burned out on it so now I only make it every so often.

Bentley’s Way

• I up the sugar to 2 TBS and mix it in with the dry ingredients.

• I always use the melted butter option, never the oil.

• You need to use buttermilk and not whole milk for this. It makes a big difference in taste and texture. If you’re in a pinch and are out of buttermilk, combining 1/4 cup whole milk and 3/4 cup Greek yogurt works wonderfully.

• I do a shy 1 TSP of vanilla extract because I don’t have a 3/4 TSP measuring spoon and that just sounds annoying.

• I mix the buttermilk, melted butter, egg an vanilla together before adding to the dry ingredients.

• PLEASE feel free to add blueberries or chocolate chips to this if your heart desires. Serve with bacon, maple syrup, and of course, butter.