Comfort food. These two words evoke rich memories of tastes and smells, warmth and safety, beloved people and places. In our family, Norwegian waffles equal comfort food. They’re softer and richer than their Belgian cousins and are heart-shaped, an uncharacteristically Norwegian nod to immigrant homesickness (although they’re served everywhere in Norway, too).
After almost 60 years, I know the recipe by heart, but still use the tattered and splotched card hand-written by my husband’s grandmother. I never alter it, although some recipes add spices, usually cinnamon or cardamom. The table is always full of toppings: yogurt, a variety of jams, cinnamon and sugar, maple syrup, and sometimes homemade applesauce.
My twin grandsons have loved them since they were toddlers. Once, grandson Charlie, 2½ and feverish, spent the day with us. After napping in my arms all morning, he woke up about noon. When asked what he’d like for lunch he said, “Waffles would be nice.” Comfort food!
Last summer I invited Charlie and his brother Sam, now 14, to my house for lunch. They said, “Waffles, please,” and biked over. As we ate, we talked about the source of the recipe, and they quickly calculated that their kids will be at least the fifth generation of Norwegian waffle lovers in our family.
It’s true! Norwegian waffles are comfort food for the generations!
Norwegian Buttermilk Waffles
Serves 4 adults or 2 teenagers
- 2 beaten eggs
- ⅓ c sugar
- 1 pint buttermilk
- 2 c flour
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 Tbsp melted butter
- Beat the eggs, add the sugar, then buttermilk, then dry ingredients, and melted butter last.
- For authenticity, these are baked in a Five-of-Hearts waffle iron.
Myrna Sheie is this newsletter’s copy editor. She’s a former English teacher and church body executive. Now happily retired to NE Portland, she loves finding new walking routes, hanging out with her 14-year-old twin grandsons, and keeping the Portland Water Bureau solvent by obsessively watering her gardens.