Man, that Mac mini looks hot, donit? Me wanty. Actually, what I really wanty is one of these– that’s what the saving account money is going towards right now.

When I first started this little feature here, I promised there would be some rocky times, and yet, I’ve been able to come up with something great tasting every single week since then. Today, I break my streak, because I’m not really sure these waffles came out exactly right.

A few months ago, I bought a Hamilton Beach Waffle Stix Maker (heh, check out the ‘Our Customers’ Advice’ recommendation on that page, too. funny.). It was a steal at $8, and it actually makes waffles really well. Usually, when I mix up the batter (I’ve alse used Jiffy Cake mix, and they’ve turned out fine that way, too) and pour it on, eight minutes later I end up with a light, fluffy, full waffle. It’s usually an easy snack, but it didn’t work out so well tonight.

Here’s what you’ll need, if you want to try and see if you can do batter than I can (that’s right, “batter!” HA! pun definitely intended!):

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1 egg
2/3 cup milk
1 teas. vanilla (I used vanilla extract)
3/4 cup flour
1 teas. baking powder
pinch of salt

It’s really easy, all you have to do is mix up the ingredients in the order listed. The only place I might have made a mistake is by not beating the egg before I mixed it in– I just broke it into the mixture and whipped it all up together.

I mixed it all up into a batter, preheated the waffle iron, and poured the mix on the iron like normal.

The only problem is that when I opened the iron, instead of fluffy waffles, I had some kind of spongey cooked up mix. They didn’t rise at all, and they seemed overly soggy– instead of lifting off the waffles with a fork, I had to basically peel them off the iron. They didn’t taste too bad (I put some strawberry jam over them– the recipe recommended fresh fruit), but they definitely didn’t seem like the right consistency.

Just in case you want to make real waffles (these have worked for me before), here’s a regular waffle recipe:

1 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg

Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients seperately, then add wet mixture to dry ingredients. Stir until just blended, then pour batter on waffle iron.

That, I know, works. Six to eight minutes later you’ll be in waffle heaven, and there’s nothing batter than that (HA! “batter” again! I kill me!).

“I Require Sustenance” runs every Wednesday on mikeschramm.com. You probably don’t, but if you’d like to suggest a recipe or even be a guest chef, email away.