Waffles always seem like one of the fanciest breakfasts to me. It’s probably because in order to make them, you have to have a waffle iron. Plus, they have the perfect nooks and crannies to hold syrup or berries. Though the ingredients are almost identical to pancakes, you usually need to dirty one more dish to whip the egg whites. Usually I prefer to dirty as few dishes as possible, but this additional bowl seems to add to this labor of love.

I doubt anyone needs another reason to love waffles, since they are already perfect and delicious. Since it's Mother’s Day I thought it might be nice to take them one step further—by making chocolate waffles!

This recipe comes from the Stonewall Kitchen Breakfast cookbook. Besides the waffles being chocolate, this recipe gilds the lily by adding chocolate maple syrup. The syrup is actually my favorite part of this recipe. It is quite versatile and could be drizzled over pancakes, scones, or bread pudding; it also tastes divine, like maple ganache.

These waffles are dense and not very sweet, which is good since I drenched mine with an obscene amount of chocolate-maple syrup. I made a few tweaks, adapting the recipe to use chocolate chips, the microwave, and by adding a dash of vanilla, which I noted in the recipe below. The next time I make these I will try whipping two egg whites to stiff peaks and folding them into the batter at the end, to see if they could be a smidge fluffier and crisper. You might also try adding some brewed coffee to bump up the chocolate flavor and thin out the batter.

Are you planning on making your mom breakfast for Mother’s Day? I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below and let me know what you’re planning to whip up.

Chocolate Waffles with Chocolate-Maple Syrup
From the Stonewall Kitchen Breakfast cookbook

Chocolate-maple syrup:
2 ounces dark chocolate (64% cacao) (I used a heaping 1/3 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips)
1/2 cup maple syrup

Waffle batter:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 ounces dark chocolate (64% cocoa) (I used a heaping 1/3 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg

Optional toppings:
Mixed fresh berries (blueberries, raspberries, and thinly sliced strawberries)
Sour cream or creme fraiche
Powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:
Chocolate maple-syrup: In a microwave safe bowl, add the maple syrup and microwave for 45 second. Add the chocolate chips and stir to mix until smooth. Microwave together if the chips aren’t thoroughly melted and combined.

Waffle batter: In a microwave safe medium sized bowl, combine butter and chocolate and microwave for 30 seconds, mix until smooth. If the chips haven’t melted, microwave an additional 15 seconds and stir to combine, repeating as necessary.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Add the buttermilk, egg, and vanilla to the butter/chocolate mixture and whisk until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and gently incorporate just until the batter is smooth. (You can make the batter several hours ahead of time.)

Heat a waffle iron until hot. Lightly grease the iron with the vegetable oil by using a pastry brush or a cooking spray.

Add a heaping 1/3 cup batter to the hot waffle iron, close the lid, and cook for about 1 minute, or until golden. Remove the waffle from the iron and serve hot with the Chocolate-Maple Sauce and the berries and sour cream.

Photos by Exit Flag Photography

The second annual Best B&B Brekafast Recipe Tournament is over, and the winning dish has been crowned! Congratulations to 1851 Historic Maple Hill Manor Bed and Breakfast in Springfield, Kentucky for winning with Lemon Soufflé Pancakes with Blueberry Compote. View the recipe and try it out for yourself! Facebook fans voted in our bracket-style competition with 16 finalist recipes, and this dish came out on top. Congrats to the innkeepers!

Forget cereal and pancakes. It's time to get creative with your breakfast! This sophisticated recipe for Cumberland Sausage Scotch Eggs with Piquant Tomato Chutney comes from Henry Whipple House Bed and Breakfast, in Bristol, New Hampshire. Get cooking! If you make it, leave a comment below and let us know what you think.

Ingredients:

• 

  4 hard-boiled eggs
• 1 lb. organic ground pork
• 1 small onion + 2 oz. onion
• 1 teaspoon fresh sage
• 1/8 teaspoon ground mace
• 1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
• 2 tablespoons flour
• Beaten egg
• Toasted breadcrumbs
• 8 oz. Roma tomatoes
• 4 oz. green apples
• 2 oz. raisins
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon chopped or groun ginger
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 4 fl. oz. apple cider vinegar or apple juice

Steps:

1. For the piquant tomato chutney: Combine chopped tomatoes, chopped and peeled green apples, chopped onions, raisins, salt, ginger, mustard seeds, cinnamon, apple cider vinegar or apple juice in a pan and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat and cover. Simmer for approximately 1 hour for a thick and chunky consistency.

2. Hard boil four eggs and set aside.

3. Mix ground pork with onion, sage, mace, pepper, salt, and flour until well mixed. Divide into four portions and mold around eggs to completely encase the eggs.

4. Dip each covered egg in beaten egg and then roll in breadcrumbs.

5. Place on a parchment covered baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes until sausage is browned and cooked through. To serve, cut in half and serve with warm tomato chutney and a side of breakfast potatoes of your choice.

Spring is upon us, which means that it's already been in the 80s here in Austin, TX. Sometimes when it's this warm, it's nice to have meal that isn't piping hot. For everyone enjoying the low 60s, you may not feel this way yet. But, you may have a surplus of eggs to use up after decorating Easter eggs. If you hide the hollowed, not hard boiled eggs around the house, you'll have quite a few raw eggs and less chance for the imfamous forgotten-until-rotten egg.

I found this recipe in the Stonewall Kitchen Breakfast cookbook. I did liberally adapt it from the original spinach, feta, and tomato version, but variation is encouraged since a basic frittata is the perfect base for adaptation. I instead used some of my favorite vegetables, mushrooms, and zucchini; swapped out the feta and parmesan for goat cheese; and subbed the thyme for chives, since I like their light onion flavor. You could always add crumbled bacon, ham, sausage, or pancetta if you'd like to make this dish more meaty.

The most exciting part of all is that I have three Stonewall Kitchen Breakfast cookbooks to giveaway! It's filled with everything breakfast, from carrot cake muffins to breakfast pizza. To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment below with your favorite egg dish. Mine is simple over-easy eggs on buttered toast. It's my failsafe when I don't know what to eat morning, noon, or night. Comment below by March 31, and you'll be entered to win. I can't wait to see all of your responses! NOTE: This contest has ended. Congratulations to comments 12, 20, and 30!

Frittata Recipe
Adapted from the Stonewall Kitchen Breakfast cookbook

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 cup zucchini, chopped in a 1 inch dice
Salt
Pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
6 large eggs
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons goat cheese

1. Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
2. In a heavy, ovenproof 8 ½ inch skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, seasoning with salt and pepper, and stirring well. Cook until the excess liquid has been cooked off and the mushrooms have started to become golden brown, five to six minutes. Remove the mushrooms to a plate.
3. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the skillet over medium-high heat. Add zucchini, season with salt and pepper and cook for two to three minutes over until lightly golden. Add half the chives and mushrooms, combine.
4. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, the remaining chives, and 2 tablespoons of goat cheese until frothy and the goat cheese is mostly incorporated. There will still be small pieces floating around. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Add the egg mixture and dot the top with the remaining ¼ cup of goat cheese in chunks. Let cook for one minute just to set the eggs on the bottom.
6. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the frittata is beginning to puff up and the eggs look set. Then place under the broiler for about two minutes, or until the eggs are puffed slightly and look cooked. Remove and serve in wedges hot, at room temperature, or cold. Enjoy!

Photos by: Exit Flag Photography

More sweeps on HyperSweep.com , Super-Sweeps.com

I’ve always been a fan of whimsy. Puns and corny decorations are right up my alley. Being an innkeeper encouraged my whimsical creativity; the summer called for lemon meltaways, and the winter inspired gingerbread pancakes.

When February rolled around at the inn, I plastered heart garland around the entrance and made these heart-shaped peanut butter and jam cookies. These cookies are a delight in that they are both delicious and adorable. The jam is in the oven just long enough to set and become glossy, making perfect shiny little hearts. 

When I was feeling terribly lazy, I would skip making the initial heart indentions in the raw dough. You can see in the photos that the initial heart indentions are just there to give an outline on where to make your second round of indentions. If you skip the first round, you'll have to make your heart shapes blind.

This cookie dough is a little crumbly, so it doesn't hold together completely when you make the hearts. I personally like the rough, mountainous appearance of the outside of the cookies. I think it makes the hearts look more perfect. If you want smoother edges, make sure you don't get the dough too cold.

Peanut-Butter-and-Jam Heart Cookies
Adapted slightly from Martha Stewart

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 large egg
1/3 cup a jam of your choice, stirred to loosen (I used seedless strawberry)

Directions

1. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Beat butter and sugars with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in peanut butter, then egg. Reduce speed to low, and beat in flour mixture until dough forms. If dough is sticky, refrigerate for five to 10 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls (about 2 tablespoons each). Arrange on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 1 1/2 inches apart. Press into 1 3/4-inch rounds. Press hearts into centers using your fingertips. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
3. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and reshape hearts using your fingertips or the handle of a wooden spoon (My 1/4 teaspoon worked great!) Fill indentation of each with a generous 1/2 teaspoon jam to form a heart. Bake until cookies are firm, six to seven minutes more.

Photo credit: Exit Flag Photography