Cinnamon Waffles with Cooked Apple Topping

We probably eat waffles once a week at our house.  They cook quickly, and everyone loves them, and it is easy to create variations with chocolate chips, fruits, spices, and fun syrups.  This week, I kept the waffles simple and made a nice apple topping to give them some life.  It was pretty simple, and only took a few minutes to do.  I see more of these fruit toppings in our breakfast future!

I used Gala apples, because frankly, that’s what was in my fridge.  I love Gala and Fuji for eating plain, but normally use something more tart like Granny Smith or Pink Cripps for cooking with.  The really lovely thing about the way I cook is that I am not that picky!  I will use what I have and make the best of it, even if it is not ideal.  I probably would not use a softer apple for this, however.  Something like Red Delicious is too sweet and soft to work well cooked.

My basic waffle recipe is not too complicated.  Today, I made just two small variations.  Since I was doubling the recipe, (I frequently do) I used it as a good excuse to make a little change to the fat content.  Instead of doubling the vegetable oil, I put in 1/2 cup vegetable oil and 1/2 cup melted butter.  I like using butter in waffles, because it makes them crispy and delicious!

I like using butter in almost everything, frankly.  My family almost won’t eat microwave popcorn anymore.  It’s air-popped with real butter, or nothing at all!

 

I also added some cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves to the waffle batter.  I didn’t actually measure these, because 6:15 am is too early for that kind of thinking.  But, I would estimate about 1 1/2 to 2 tsp. cinnamon, and about 1/2 tsp. each of nutmeg and cloves, in my doubled waffle batch.  And, just for kicks, I sprinkled some cinnamon-sugar mixture that I always keep on hand over the top of the waffles just before I closed the lid for cooking.  It gave them a nice sugary brown crust on top.

Enough about the waffles.  On to the main event… the apples!

 

I diced three apples and put them in a pot.  I added some apple juiceI was using the no-sugar-added variety of juice, because , once again, that's what I had. If you are using regular juice, you may want to reduce your sugar a little, to keep it from getting too sweet. to them.  Again, I was too lazy to measure, I just eyeballed it.  It may have been a cup of apple juice.  I used a couple tablespoons of lemon juice and a couple more of cornstarch to thicken up the sauce.  I used 1/4 cup sugar (this I did measure because a 1/4 cup makes a great sugar scoop!) to add sweetness.  I also sprinkled in some cinnamon and nutmeg, to taste. I gave these a few minutes to cook down and let the syrup thicken.  I didn’t cook them completely through, however, because I like the apples to retain a little crispness.  I would say it took about 10 minutes altogether.

The hot waffles were slathered in butter and covered in apple topping.  They were eaten very quickly, to the delight of my entire family, and me!  I even had enough leftover to serve them for breakfast again the following day.  Hooray for me!  No cooking today!