Brown Sugar Bacon Waffles

Remember how I got a waffle maker? Well, turns out: I’m officially obsessed with waffles. I love ‘em! This past weekend I knew I wanted to make waffles, but I wanted to do something a little different than the basic buttermilk ones from the previous weekend. I took to the internet (as I am known to do), and I found these insane Brown Sugar Bacon Waffles (can you say irresistible?!) from Joy the Baker.
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After tweaking the recipe to make them guilt-free (as I am known to do), I set to work. Yes, you heard me, I made brown sugar bacon waffles healthy (see the end of this post for the nutrition facts comparison). And they’re still good. In fact, these waffles are dynamite! They’re delightfully fluffy buttermilk waffles, but the bacon bits just take it over the top. Sweet and savory little bits of deliciousness embedded inside a light, pillowy waffle package? Extra delightful. They’re easy too. Let’s do it.

First, I’d like to apologize for the quality (or lack thereof) of some of these pictures. I was very sick and sans tripod—not a great combination.
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Anyway, here’s your lopsided, slightly blurry cast of characters. You’ll need: center cut bacon (not pictured), white whole wheat or regular whole wheat flour, buttermilk, baking soda, baking powder, four eggs (two whole and two whites), vanilla, brown sugar, unsweetened applesauce, salt, and a little bit of canola oil. Yeah, it is more ingredients than you’d need for your typical waffle recipe, but this isn’t your typical waffle recipe, is it?

Before you do anything, preheat your oven to 375 and prepare your bacon by sprinkling 2 packed, generous tablespoons of brown sugar on top. I only used 9 slices of bacon since that’s all I had, but you should certainly use 10 if you can. Bake until crispy, about 15 minutes. I think mine took about 18.

First, combine your flour with a scant/unpacked 1/4 cup of brown sugar, as well as your baking powder, soda, and salt. Whisk to combine.

Combine your wet ingredients: buttermilk, unsweetened applesauce, two eggs and two egg whites, vanilla, and two tablespoons of oil. Lovely image, yes? Whisk it all up.

Add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients, then mix until just combined.

At this point, your wafflemaker should be preheated to 400. You’re ready to add your bacon and make your waffles.

When your bacon is all crisped up and brimming with brown sugar sweetness, chop it up into little bits.

Add the bacon bits to your waffle batter and stir in.

Make your waffles according to your wafflemaker’s instructions. This recipe made 20 4ish”x5ish” waffles in my wafflemaker—I froze most of mine, but you can certainly halve the recipe to suit your needs.

Look at that! Golden, crispy deliciousness with little bacon bits peeking out.

Love.

These are divine with just syrup. Simple and delicious.

Make these right now! I’ll wait.
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Bacon Brown Sugar Waffles
Makes approximately 20 waffles
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For the Bacon
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10 slices of center cut bacon
2 generous Tablespoons brown sugar, packed
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil, and place a wire rack on top. Arrange bacon in a single layer on wire rack. Sprinkle generously with brown sugar. Place in the upper third of the oven and bake until sugar is caramelized and bacon is brown and crispy, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Remove bacon slices using a pair of tongs. Place them on a cutting board to cool before chopping.  Once cool, chop the bacon into bite size bits and set aside.
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For the Waffles
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3 cups white whole wheat (or regular whole wheat) flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Scant 1/4 cup brown sugar, unpacked
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 Tablespoons
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups lowfat buttermilk
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Preheat your waffle iron (to 400 F if you can specify).
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In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and brown sugar. Whisk to blend. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, egg whites, applesauce, oil, buttermilk and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold. Once almost fully incorporated, add the bacon bites. Stir until just combined.
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Cook according to your waffle machine instructions.
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Nutrition Facts
20 servings (20 waffles)
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Calories 122.5
Fat 3.4g (Sat 0.7g, Poly 0.5g, Mono 1.1g)
Cholesterol 26.2mg
Sodium 290mg
Carbohydrate 17.5g
Potassium 74.1mg
Fiber 1.9g
Protein 5.8g
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Just for kicks and giggles, I compared this to the original recipe. Let’s see how it measures up.
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Nutrition Facts (Original Recipe)
20 servings (20 waffles)
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Calories 196.1
Fat 10.3g (Sat 1.4g, Poly 2.5g, Mono 5.4g)
Cholesterol 45.2mg
Sodium 257.3mg
Carbohydrate 21.7mg
Potassium 62.6mg
Fiber 0.5g
Protein 5.2g
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Verdict: More than a 70 calorie reduction per waffle, but that’s not the best part! Look at the 7 gram decrease in fat and the decrease in carbs, as well as the notable increases in fiber and protein. All because of a few simple swaps. Good stuff. Enjoy!