I love kitchen gadgets! I got the Griddler Five for Christmas – it’s so cool! It can be an open grill, a full contact grill, a panini press, a griddle, OR 1/2 grill 1/2 griddle. AND there are optional waffle plates – which I also got! What’s the first thing I made?? These babies.

I used the recipe for waffles from scratch that was in the Giddler recipe booklet that came with the device, but you could do the apples on the stovetop & add them to any waffle mix & get the same results.  UHMAZE-ING. Perfectly apple-y & cinnamony in every bite. The first step was to melt butter over low heat in a saucepan. Add diced apples. I used a medium sized Gala apple. In hindsight, I could’ve diced the pieces even smaller for a more uniformed spreading of the apples, but the waffles came out really great anyway.  Side note: Be sure the apples are diced before the heat is turned on to melt the butter. Butter burns REALLY easily. It’s important to not go over med-low temp & have the apples ready so that you’re not dicing away and the butter is burning because you’re distracted. Add a tablespoon of cinnamon sugar to the apples & stir.  Keep stirring on a semi-regular basis. It takes about 12-15 minutes to get the apples slightly browned & caramelized. You’ll know they’re done when the sauce is a little thick, its reduced down, & the apples look like this:

Once the apples are done, set them to the side to cool down a bit.  Then just mix the waffle batter of your choice & fold in the apples.  Heat your waffle maker & POOF! You have some amazing waffles that your family will think came from a 5-star breakfast joint. If you’re making waffles from scratch, mix dry ingredients first.  Side note, using a wire whisk to incorporate the dry things is easiest & best way to make sure everything is mixed thoroughly.

Then mix the wet ingredients & add them (slowly) to the dry ingredients.  Anytime you’re using a flour component, be sure to NOT OVERMIX. Flour will get tougher the more it’s been stirred.  You’re done stirring when the mixture looks fairly even. It’s okay to have lumps, especially when making pancakes or waffles.  Lumps will work themselves out, trust me.

Once the mix is done, just pour some batter into the preheated waffle maker.  The waffle maker will tell you how much mix is recommended. This particular one said 1 1/4 cups of batter.  I didn’t have a 1 1/4 cup measuring spoon so I had to add the batter to the waffle maker in two scoops and then ended up getting a little more than was supposed to on a couple of the passes.  But that’s okay because eating the outsides was such delightful treat that I may do it on purpose next time.

Finished product:  Beautiful Belgian-ish Apple Cinnamon Waffles. The funny thing is, I told the girls I was making waffles for breakfast.  We ended up eating breakfast at 1pm in the afternoon because the whole process from beginning to end was a little time consuming. So just know that you may need an hour for the whole thing, and plan accordingly.  It will be worth every minute when you get to the mouthwatering end. 🙂