Strawberries and Cream Waffles

1. For the waffles:
2. Add all of the waffle ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth and well combined. Set aside.
3. For the cream sauce:
4. In a very large, glass (see note *) microwave safe bowl, cook 3 cups of the milk until it just begins to boil, about 5-10 minutes on high.
5. While you boil the milk, in a separate medium bowl, whisk together the 1/2 cup of waffle batter, whole wheat flour, granulated sugar and the remaining 1/2 cup of milk. Make sure you whisk in the flour slowly, to avoid lumps.
6. Once the milk is just about to boil, quickly whisk in the rest of the sauce mixture and continue microwaving, stirring every few minutes until the sauce just begins to boil. It does not need to boil a long time, you want to stop cooking it when it just starts to boil. This will take at least 15 minutes in a microwave.
7. This is what I did: My milk took 10 minutes to boil. Then I added the rest of the sauce mixture and cooked 5 minutes, then I stirred it. Then I heated for another 5 minutes, then stirred. I repeated this process once more for a total of 25 minutes, including cooking the plain milk (see note **).
8. Take the cream sauce out of the microwave, and let it stand to thicken while you cook the waffles, being sure to stir every few minutes so that the top does not develop a skin over the top.
9. To cook the waffles:
10. Heat your waffle iron according to manufacturer’s instructions (I set mine on setting #5). Pour about ½ cup of the waffle batter (amount depends on how large your waffle iron is—refer to manufacturer’s instructions) into it. Cook until crisp and golden brown (see note ***). Remove cooked waffle to a plate and finish cooking the rest of the batter in a similar manner.
11. Top the waffles with the cream sauce and fresh strawberries and serve!

Notes:
* A large, glass bowl is key as the cream sauce rises and doubles in size during the cooking process. So you want a large bowl to allow for that. The glass also allows you to see if the sauce is going to bubble over.
** The cream sauce can also be made in the top of a double boiler if you prefer to not use the microwave. Just make sure you do not burn the sauce. Even just a little bit of a burn will ruin the taste of the sauce.
*** You can store the cooked waffles in a 200 F oven until they are all cooked.

Waffles and sauce freeze great for quick breakfasts. Just pop the waffle in the toaster to get it nice and crispy. The sauce does take some time to get used to the right amount of time to cook it, but once you get the hang of it, it’s super easy and very worth it.