Eggnog Belgian Waffles

Eggnog is one of the things about the holiday season that I always look forward to. Granted, there are quite a lot of things that fall into this category for me, but eggnog is the one that really remains tied to the Christmas and New Years holiday seasons and doesn’t usually come out before Thanksgiving. When I have eggnog, or when I make it myself, I often use it in baking, as well as simply pouring it into a glass. These homemade Eggnog Belgian Waffles are a delicious way to incorporate classic holiday eggnog into a festive, seasonal breakfast or brunch!

The waffle batter is extremely easy to make and can be whipped up in less than a minute using a blender. The blender is, hands down, my favorite tool for making waffle batter. If you don’t have a blender, you can also use a food processor or simply a hand mixer and still get good results. The batter uses quite a bit of prepared eggnog, which I cut with some milk because of the thickness of the ‘nog. It is flavored with vanilla extract and freshly ground nutmeg, both of which are common flavoring elements for eggnog. The waffle batter is fairly thick and that translates into fluffy Belgian waffles that have a crisp, golden exterior.

The waffles have a nice nutmeg and vanilla flavor do them, which definitely highlights the eggnog that went into the batter. They don’t taste as sweet as prepared eggnog does on its own, however, because I assume that you’ll be topping these off with confectioners’ sugar or maple syrup. I recommend serving each with a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream, a dusting a freshly grated nutmeg and a generous drizzle of maple syrup.

I used my Presto Belgian waffle iron to make these and got four large waffles from one batch of batter. Keep extra waffles warm in the oven (250-300F) until you are ready to serve them as you work your way through the batter. If you are using a different waffle maker, you may get slightly more or less waffles, so keep that in mind when you are figuring out how many waffles you will need to serve your hungry crowd.

Eggnog Belgian Waffles
1 cup prepared eggnog
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4-1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

Combine eggnog, milk, eggs and melted butter in a blender and blend until very smooth. Add in flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, vanilla and nutmeg, then blend until batter is smooth. Scrape down the sides of the blender with a spatula if necessary to ensure that no flour sticks to the walls of the blender.
Preheat waffle iron.
Pour batter onto waffle iron and cook as directed by the manufacturer.

Makes 4 Belgian waffles; serves 4-6.