Chive cornbread waffles

Spice up chili night with this family-friendly side dish!

I grew up eating – and loving – cornbread so it was a little disappointing to discover a while back that my husband and kids didn’t really enjoy it. It took a while to figure it out, but when I noticed they only cut pieces from the outer edges of the pan, I realized it was the crispy bits that they really enjoyed. The solution? Pour that cornbread batter into a waffle maker. The result: super easy and fast cornbread waffles that offer the perfect amount of those coveted crispy edges. If your family likes things spicy, you can add up to 2 tablespoons of drained, finely chopped pickled jalapenos to the batter. If you’re wondering about chili recipes, here are two of my favourite: a quick vegetarian version and a yummy Texas-style chili.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup (185 mL) all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup (185 mL) yellow cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon (5 mL) each baking powder and baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 mL) salt
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) finely minced chives or green onion tops
• 1 cup (250 mL) buttermilk*
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) butter, melted
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon (15 mL) honey or maple syrup

*Or 1 cup room-temperature milk combined with 1 teaspoon white vinegar.

Method

• Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt and chives in a mixing bowl
• In a large glass measure or a second medium-sized bowl, combine buttermilk, butter and egg until combined. Pour into dry ingredients then drizzle honey over top; stir to combine.
• Let batter rest for 10 minutes while waffle iron heats up to medium-hot (not the highest temperature). At the same time, preheat oven to 225F and place a wire cooling rack over a baking tray; set aside.
• Brush hot waffle iron with canola oil or spray with cooking spray. Use a ladle to pour waffle batter into compartments (mine takes 1/4 cup or 60 mL batter per waffle) Cook about 4 minutes, until lightly browned. Use a silicone spatula to gently ease them out of the waffle iron and place on the wire cooling rack. Transfer rack and baking tray to warmed oven.
• Once cooled, leftover waffles can be wrapped and stored in the fridge for 3 days or the freezer for 3 months. Reheat them in the toaster or oven.

Makes 8 – 10 waffles, depending upon the size of your waffle iron.