Lemon Poppy Seed Circus Waffles

He may not like that I'm admitting this, but this weekend, I convinced the Monkey Scientist to watch Water for Elephants with me.  I loved the book, and I'd wanted to see the movie for a while now. I sold it as a total chick flick, so when the movie turned out to have a lot less romantic development than the book, I think he was pleasantly surprised.  I enjoyed the movie a lot.  It had been a long time since I read the book, but I do think it missed a lot of the detail, as movies always do - but it was still entertaining.



The next morning, it only seemed appropriate to pull out the circus animal waffle iron that his mom gave him for Christmas.  I had actually been asking for a waffle maker for a long time, so when he received this one I was totally excited.  Obviously he got it because of the monkey waffle shape, but the elephants and giraffes were pretty adorable too.  I wanted to make waffles that were a little something special, so I decided to try this recipe out, since Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are one of my favorite treats.



These waffles were very yummy.  They're reminiscent of lemon poppy seed muffins while still tasting distinctly like waffles.  I basically drowned them in some maple syrup (real maple syrup, none that corn syrup junk!) which made them totally delicious.  You can use any waffle maker to make these - the original recipe was for Belgian waffles - but they won't be this cute if they aren't shaped like monkeys.  I think some cousins of mine have an adorable waffle maker similar to this that my mom gave them - maybe my Auntie should pull it out for a special treat this weekend!!



Lemon Poppy Seed Waffles
From sugarcrafter

Ingredients
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
2 Tbsp poppy seeds
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp lemon zest
2 cups flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp sugar

Instructions
1. Preheat the waffle maker to medium-high heat. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees (for keeping the cooked waffles warm).
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs. Whisk in the buttermilk, butter, yogurt, poppy seeds, and lemon juice and zest.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until smooth.
5. Pour batter into each well of the waffle maker (1/3 cup for Belgian waffles, adjust accordingly for smaller waffles) and cook until golden brown and crisp. Keep the cooked waffles warm in the oven until ready to serve. When you're ready to eat, slather in real maple syrup (preferably from Vermont).