Strawberry Cream Cheese Waffles

We don't make waffles a whole lot around here because I have always considered pancakes to be so much easier; however, after making these waffles it will be very difficult to go back to pancakes. These waffles were amazingly moist, flavorful, light and delicious. My mom and I made them (double recipe) for Sunday dinner for the family and they were a huge hit. Everyone loved them. They are really easy to make and ones that we will repeat in our house again and again!

Thanks to Real Mom Kitchen for the picture and the recipe which can be found at this site here: http://realmomkitchen.com/6388/strawberry-cream-cheese-waffles-with-strawberry-sauce/

STRAWBERRY CREAM CHEESE WAFFLES
From Real Mom Kitchen
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• 2 ½ c all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 ½ cups whole milk
• ½ cup canola oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 oz cream cheese, NOT softened
• 1 c chopped strawberries

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar.
2. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla.
3. Cut the cream cheese into slices and then cut each slice into little cubes of cream cheese. Keep them all separated on a plate. Set aside.
4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Let the batter rest for 2 minutes and then fold in the strawberries. Do not over beat.
5. Pour the batter into a preheated waffle iron. The amount of batter will depend on the size of your waffle iron. I used my regular Belgian waffle iron. Then drop a few cubes of the cream cheese into each waffle. I put about 5-6 per waffle. Bake until lightly browned.
6. Serve with strawberry sauce and sweetened whipped cream. We have a really big waffle iron so I think we got about 8 out ours. Real Mom said she got 16 out of hers.

STRAWBERRY SAUCE

• 1 1/2 lbs. strawberries, diced
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp almond extract **

1. In a large sauce pan, combine the strawberries, sugar, and extract. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer for 1 minute and remove from heat.
2. Allow the mixture to cool for a few minutes so it is just warm. Place 1 1/2 cups of the mixture from the sauce pan in a blender. This is where you need to be careful. Don’t put the lid on the top all the way. Leave it cracked or the steam from the strawberries could cause an explosion. If you have an immersion blender, feel free to use that and no chance of an explosion. Blend until smooth and stir back into the remaining strawberry mixture in the pan. Serve warm over the Strawberry Cream Cheese Waffles

**This mixture can all be blended if you prefer a smooth sauce. Vanilla extract can also be used in place of the almond extract.