Cardamom Sour-Cream Waffles

Last week, for mother's day, I decided to make my mother a special breakfast. She likes waffles, so I searched up some new waffle recipes. In the past I have made light and crispy waffles and yeasted waffles, but this year I wanted something new. The epicurious newsletter presented me with an interesting idea: Cardamom Waffles. My family really likes cardamom, the spice used in carrot cake and Indian rice pudding, so I decided to give these waffles a try.

I followed Epicurious' recipe (which was published in the magazine Gourmet) almost to the letter; I, however, ground my own cardamom instead of using pre-ground, and my father made a delicious fruit salad (mango, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries) to serve with it instead of the lingonberry preserves specified the recipe.

Here is the recipe, pretty much copied word for word from the original!

Cardamom Sour-Cream Waffles

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• Rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom (You can also use 3-4 cardamom pods and grind the inner seeds yourself with a mortar/pestle or spice grinder)
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon mild honey
• 2 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Method:

1. Preheat a waffle iron until hot.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cardamom in a large bowl.
3. Whisk together remaining ingredients in another bowl, then whisk into flour mixture until just combined.
4. Lightly brush waffle iron with oil and cook waffles according to manufacturer's instructions.

Yay for simple directions!

These waffles were delicious fresh and were still good the next day when reheated in the toaster!

A little bit of maple syrup or honey brings out the spice of the cardamom.