Waffle Cookies - Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Walnut

Walter was put to work this past Saturday! He churned out some crispy and light EVOO waffles, delicious oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, grilled cheese, and even fried an egg. I am absolutely impressed with how versatile waffle makers are.

The EVOO waffles turned out just as tasty as my previous blogged Macadamia Oil waffles - light, crispy, and fluffy. I simply replaced macadamia oil with EVOO, used organic coconut palm sugar instead of granulated, and added 1 tbsp flax seed for added nutritional value. You won't be able to stay away from these waffles once you have a taste.

The waffle cookies were a fun experiment, as were the grilled cheese and egg. The chocolate chips that were directly in contact with the waffle maker did burn, but the taste weren't affected much. The burnt parts gave the cookies a smoky caramelized note.

Waffle Cookies - Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Walnut
recipe adapted from 12 Tomatoes
makes 10 cookies

1/4 cup (57g) unsalted butter
1/4 cup (55g) organic coconut palm sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/8 cup (48g) all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp fine sea salt
3/4 cup (60g) old fashioned oats
1/4 cup (45g) semi sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup (30g) chopped walnuts

Step 2: Add wet into dry.

Step 3: Fold in oats, chocolate chips, and nuts.

Step 4.

Cool and enjoy!

1. In large bowl, combine melted butter and brown sugar, then whisk in egg and vanilla until smooth.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to wet ingredients in increments until well combined.
3. Fold in oats, chocolate chips, and nuts to cookie batter until just incorporated.
4. Preheat waffle iron at high heat, grease with nonstick spray, and place a heaping tablespoon of cookie dough into each quadrant of waffle iron.
5. Cook for about 2 minutes depending on waffle iron's heat setting, or until golden brown and cooked through.
6. Transfer cookies to wire rack and let cool. Repeat with remaining dough, re-greasing iron as needed.

These cookies were slightly crisp when fresh and got softer overtime. Either way, they were yummy, and not to mention, super quick to make for cookie craving emergencies. The clean up for the burnt residues were a bit annoying though.

Taste: 5 stars out of 5
Buttery and not too sweet.
Texture: 4.5 stars out of 5
The oatmeal in these cookies gave them a chewy bite, and walnuts provided the perfect crunch surprise.

And in case you were wondering how my waffled egg turned out..

It worked!

Lemon Chiffon Cake

Chiffon cakes are so finicky. When I feel like I've mastered them am close to mastering them, a not so favorable one comes out. I wouldn't call this lemon chiffon cake a success nor fail. It turned out decent. Not the best flavor nor texture, but it shall be consumed anyways. Or I could be biased since my egg whites didn't whipped as expected, and it's really not that bad.

Moving forward, I will dedicate a bowl for whipping egg whites and make it a habit to wipe down the utensils with a little vinegar and salt, or rub it with a lemon wedge to ensure no oil residues remain.

A good meringue is key to that lovable fluffy texture!

I can feel my sweet tooth creeping back after NOLA, especially for chocolate..
Stay tuned for a chocolate chip waffle cookies next!

Lemon Chiffon Cake
recipe adapted from Christine's Recipes
makes one 7" tube pan

5 yolk
20g sugar*
80ml oil**
lemon zest from 1 lemon
20ml lemon juice
80ml water
100g cake flour 

5 white
2 tsp lemon juice
50g sugar*

*coconut palm sugar (note the darker color of the batter and cake)
**macadamia oil

Step 1: beat yolk with sugar.

Egg whites weren't whipping ):

The best I could get them to..

Ready for oven.

1. Preheat oven to 335F.
2. Beat yolk with 20g sugar until pale and creamy.
3. Add oil and beat to combine.
4. Add lemon zest, juice, and water. Beat to combine.
5. Sift in cake flour in three additions, folding gently between each addition.
(A whisk worked well for this step)
6. Beat white until foamy.
7. Add lemon juice. Add sugar in three additions, beating between each addition until stiff peaks.
8. Fold white into yolk mixture in three additions.
9. Bake 35-40mins. After first 15 minutes, lower temp to 320F.
10. Invert to cool completely.

So tall and fluffy out of the oven.

Invert to cool.

Taste: 3 stars out of 5

Sugar was reduced from original recipe yielding a mildly sweet cake. The flavor was a bit odd with a hint of lemon and eggy-ness.

Texture: 3.5 stars out of 5

Fluffy and moist. Could be lighter overall. Bottom of cake was more moist than top. 

Macadamia Oil Waffles

*Walter's debut*
#yesinamedmywafflemaker

After a long back and forth debate on which waffle maker and if I should get belgian or classic style, I welcomed home a very affordable Cuisinart Round Classic Waffle Maker. The Waring Double Belgian Waffle Maker was my second choice at three times the price. For the record, it was a very tough choice that took over a week long of weighing the pros and cons of each. All things including but not limited to price, counter space/storage, usage frequency, and waffles' taste/texture were taken into consideration.

I am quite pleased with Walter since these macadamia oil waffles turned out extremely crispy and light waffle! More over, Walter is super easy to operate, and the non stick plates work perfectly. I sprayed coconut oil for extra assurance on the first couple runs, but even the one or two times that I forgot, the waffles came right off with no trouble.

I found this delicious olive oil waffles recipe and simply replaced the olive oil with macadamia oil which I have on hand. This must be the simplest waffles recipe out there yielding "meltingly, crispily, fluffily perfect" results!

Macadamia Oil Waffles
recipe adapted from The Sugar Hit's olive oil waffles
serves 2-3

1 cup (150g) plain flour
1½ tsp baking powder
4 tsp sugar
pinch of salt
1 egg
1 cup (250ml) milk
½ cup (125ml) macadamia oil

Pour wet into dry mixture.

Crack in egg.

And stir.

A fork will do the job.

Make sure to break up the egg.

Mix until large lumps disappear. Small lumps are ok!

1. In a bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
2. Add in egg, milk and oil, and stir together with a wooden spoon. Don't worry if batter is lumpy - do not overmix!
3. Bake waffles according to waffle maker instructions on medium-high setting.
4. Waffles should be nice and dark golden brown. Cool slightly on wire rack for waffles to get crispy.
5. Eat as is or serve with fruits or ice cream!

First run- Walter vs Belinda's belgian waffles on the right.

As you can see from the irregular shaped waffles, I was just eyeballing how much batter to pour in at first. Walter holds about 1/2 cup batter, and the following photo shows exactly that! Also, the Fatty and I discovered a neglected Salton's belgian waffle maker in his parent's kitchen and decided to play with that as well. The belgian waffle maker a.k.a. Belinda didn't have a heat setting and needed more time for the waffles to get crispy. The end results were equally tasty.

Set at highest heat level for extra golden brown waffles!

Enjoy these waffles anyway you want. We topped ours with strawberries, flaxseed meal, and a drizzle of honey along with a cup of acai smoothie on the side.

Weekends are for waffles and acai now!

What's next? Mochi waffles? Belgian? Liege? Savory? Buttermilk? Grains? Oats? Waffle cookies?

Taste: 5 stars out of 5

Mild flavors, versatile and can pair with anything.

Texture: 5 stars out of 5
Crisp, light, fluffy, melt in your mouth.

Green Monster Banana Bread

Rawrr! Green Monster Banana Bread?!?! YES (but no)!

I am always down to make a sweet treat more nutritious. Making the batter for this is like the beginning of making a smoothie. I will confess that I did taste the batter after the egg was added.. It was yummy. I didn't have greek yogurt at hand, so I subbed with a similar texture ingredient- tofu with a little bit of lemon juice to bring back the acidity to react with the baking soda.

Sadly, the texture was still off. The batter was way too loose and liquid-y.  It baked for 60 minutes with toothpick still coming out with a few moist crumbs. The loaf collapsed as soon as the oven was off. It sunk in more as it cooled. Once sliced, the interior was dense and extremely moist.


Green Monster Banana Bread
recipe adapted from The First Year
makes 1 loaf

3 bananas
1 & 1/2 cups (45g) fresh spinach *50g organic baby kale, baby chard & baby spinach
6 tbsp (126g) honey *70g honey + 30g maple syrup
1/4 cup greek yogurt *subbed with 1/4 cup (63g) tofu + 1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp (16g) creamy peanut butter *18g used
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup (120g) all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt *fine sea salt
*sunflower seeds, optional topping

Batter was lumpy so mixed some more in pan.

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Line or lightly spray a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.
3. In blender, puree bananas, spinach, honey, greek yogurt, and peanut butter until smooth.
4. Pour blended mixture into a mixing bowl and stir in egg and vanilla extract.
5. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Mix well.
6. Transfer batter to loaf pan.
7. Bake for 48-58 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Sunken :/

I like the idea of adding greens in my banana bread. I would try it with a trusty banana bread recipe next time!

Taste: 4 stars out of 5
Prominent banana flavor. Could be a little less sweet.

Texture: 2 stars out of 5
A chewy browned exterior layer with a souffle like texture inside when warm.

Double Lemon Bars

Pucker up because these double lemon bars pack a punch with lemon zest infused shortbread base and half a cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice in the topping.

A perfect balance of just right sweetness and ultra zesty-ness!

Double Lemon Bars
recipe adapted from PopSugar
makes one 8x8" square (16 squares)

shortbread base:
3/4 cup (96g) all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp organic coconut palm sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Zest of 2 lemons, finely grated (about 2 tsp)
6 Tbsp (85g) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
lemon topping:
3 large eggs
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice (from about 3 lemons)
1/4 cup (32g) all-purpose flour, sifted

Sifted powdered sugar, for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. SHORTBREAD: In food processor, pulse together flour, sugar, salt, and lemon zest. Add butter and pulse until butter becomes pea sized pieces. Transfer loose shaggy dough to a lined 8" square baking dish. Spread it out evenly and press firmly. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until light golden brown and fragrant.
3. TOPPING: In mixing bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar until smooth and streak free. Whisk in lemon juice. Sift in flour and whisk till frothy and completely smooth. Pour over shortbread base as soon as it is taken out of oven, and return to oven. Reduce temperature to 300°F, and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until top has just set.
4. Allow to cool completely before cutting. For a neater appearance, trim away the edges before cutting into 16 squares. Generously sift powdered sugar on top just before serving.

Press loose and coarse crumbs evenly across pan.

Bake till lightly golden brown.

Whisk ingredients for lemon topping until smooth and lump free.

Bake until top has set.

Cut into squares after cooling.

Taste: Tangy, bright, unmistakably lemon. Shortbread could be more buttery.

4 stars out of 5

Texture: Lemon topping a bit gummy; could like a more creamy mouth feel. Shortbread could be less crumbly and more crisp and firm. Love how the lemon zest was incorporated into the base instead of the topping to keep the topping super smooth.
2 stars out of 5

The crumbly dough of the shortbread didn't look like it would set, but it sorta did. Next time, I would probably go for a more solid shortbread base using melted butter and have more of it.