Freezer waffles

My children love waffles. I don't know what it is that makes them better than pancakes, but in my children's eyes waffles are always the better choice. Since I have 5 children to feed I can go through some waffles! In the past we have bought the prepackaged frozen waffles because well I am lazy and not a morning person. The prepackaged ones just seemed simpler so that is the way we went. Since we are now trying to cut out all prepackaged foods from our diets I decided to give homemade waffles a chance and was surprised how easy they were to make. The bonus is that they are SO much better than the frozen waffles from the store. The homemade ones are softer and twice as thick...gotta love that! I add all the ingredients to my kitchenaid mixer and let it do all the work for me while I put everything away. Then I keep my waffle maker going while I clean the kitchen, do laundry, etc. Much easier than pancakes that you have to stand there the entire time to watch and flip.

Since we go through them quickly I don't even bother freezing them when I make them. I just put them in a bag in the fridge and they are usually gone pretty quickly. If you wanted to freeze them I would suggest flash freezing them on a baking sheet and then adding them to a bag for storage. If you lay all of them together in a bag to freeze you will find you have a block of frozen waffles and need to defrost them all before you can eat one. Another tip I have learned is to put a piece of tinfoil under my waffle maker in case of batter oozing out the sides. Makes clean up much simpler.

I did some price comparisons the last time I was at that grocery store comparing the box mixes, the frozen waffles and homemade waffles and this is what I found:

Box of mix for 10 waffles $2.10 + eggs and oil
Box of 10 frozen waffles $2.70
10 Homemade waffles $2.34

• All-purpose Flour .18
• Baking Soda .01
• Baking Powder .04
• Granulated Sugar .06
• Salt .01
• Eggs  .18
• Buttermilk  .30
• Butter, Melted .30

 Total savings for 10 waffles made at home is $0.36

Okay so it isn't a ton per batch, but honestly the fact that the homemade ones taste so much better and are so much softer would have sold me even if they were more expensive to make. I also love being able to control the ingredients. I like knowing that I am  feeding my children something with ingredients I can actually name.