Overnight Yeasted Carrot Waffles

A light and fluffy waffle tinged with shredded carrots for a Spring breakfast--start it the night before, then enjoy waffles without having to wake up enough to measure the batter ingredients.

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I promise you I am not that distractible . . . Squirrel! . . . I just have so. many. recipes to share and I want to share them all now.  Easter, Passover, Grilled Cheese month, Spring--ack!  But I don't want to post more than Monday/Wednesday/Friday.  What's a blogger to do?

When I started hashtagcarrotweek last month I fully intended to share 3 recipes, take a brief break from carrots and post some other seasonal recipes, then wrap it up with these waffles.

In the meantime my girl Julie has done WaffleWeek, so I'm awfully excited to point you over to Texan New Yorker if you're intrigued with waffles and want some more options, perhaps without yeast . . .

Me and yeast, we are friends--joining forces on pizza dough and bread.  Me and cutting butter or lard or shortening to make pie crust?  Not so much.

This is not my first rodeo throwing vegetables into a waffle.  I started with Butternut Squash Waffles, continued through Sweet Corn and Blueberry Waffles, and now carrots?  Carrots.  And not just carrots.  Yeasted Carrot Waffles. Overnight Yeasted Carrot Waffles, if like me you're perkier in the evening and can assemble the batter and let it hang out in the fridge, so that all you need to do in the morning is preheat the waffle iron while your tea is steeping.


Each time I incorporate vegetables into waffle batter I find the flavor of the vegetable subtly enhances the finished product.  The result is a waffle that is familiar enough for those who just want a waffle, dammit, without all this vegetable tomfoolery, but different enough to be a unique change of pace as well.  It is a versatile waffle.

The first time I made these was for a traditional weekend breakfast.  Subsequent editions got served with fried chicken [store bought--inches of oil are like me and cutting in butter].  All good, though.  This is a flexible, flavorful, unexpected way to incorporate Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share carrots into your family's meal.

For more recipes using carrots, please see my Carrot Recipes Collection. It's part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, the garden, the neighbor's garden, and great deals on ugly produce at the grocery store.

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This double batch filled up an 18 cup bowl

Yeasted Carrot Waffles (recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour)

For best results, start this the night before.  Shown is a double batch, because the kids will toast any extra waffles for weekday breakfasts. This fills the trays 3 times on my square iron (12 waffles).

Ingredients

• 12 ounces (1½ cups) milk
• 3 ounces (6 Tablespoons) butter
• 1 ounce (2 Tablespoons) maple syrup
• 2 eggs (The ladies are laying like crazy--last carton I got from my neighbor was all over the place size wise. I loved it! Use large in this recipe)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon Baking Spice (or cinnamon/nutmeg)
• ¾ teaspoon salt, I used kosher
• 6 ⅜ ounces (1½ cups) unbleached all purpose flour
• 2 ounces (½ cup) whole wheat flour
• 1½ teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 ½ cups shredded carrots (finely shredded if you can, and frozen is cool too--they'll thaw)

Instructions

1. In a large microwave safe measuring cup, combine milk and butter.  Heat for a minute or 90 seconds on 100% power until milk is lukewarm and butter is nearly melted. 
2. Pour into a large bowl (something that fits in your fridge and comes with its own lid is ideal).  
3. Add in the maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla.  Whisk to thoroughly combine.  
4. Dump the salt, flours, and yeast on top, whisk a few times to begin incorporating dry ingredients, then add carrots and whisk until thoroughly combined. 
5. Cover and place in fridge overnight (or all day long if you're doing this in the morning for dinner). It really is better with a long rest--if you don't have enough time to let it go [let it go can't hold me back anymore . . . ahem], choose a different waffle recipe, one using baking powder instead of yeast.
6. When you're ready to bake, preheat the waffle iron of your choice and spray with a vegetable oil spray.  Add the amount recommended for your iron (mine is about ⅔ cup) and bake until done.  
7. If you like to sit down all together, preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit when you plug in the waffle iron, and store each completed batch on a tray in the warm oven until you're ready to serve.
8. Serve with butter and maple syrup, serve with fried chicken and maple syrup, serve with scrambled eggs-however you like.  Like I said, they are flexible.

A behind the scenes for ya--it was awfully sunny when I fixed chicken and waffles for my daughter's lunch, so I removed the shiny cover and turned my reflector into a diffuser instead, then used a piece of foam core for reflecting.

This post is shared on Simple Supper Tuesday, Fresh Foods Wednesday, What's Cookin' Wednesday, Fiesta Friday, From the Farm Blog Hop, Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Tasty Tuesdays