Toasted Coconut Cream Waffles

Toasted Coconut Cream Waffles

· 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes

· ½ cup chopped pecans

· 1 cup all-purpose flour

· ¼ cup brown sugar

· 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

· ¼ teaspoon baking soda

· ¼ teaspoon salt

· ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

· ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

· ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

· 1 egg

· 1 ½ cups Fage Greek yogurt, divided

· 2/3 cup sweetened coconut milk or coconut cream

· 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

· ½ teaspoon pure vanilla

· ¼ teaspoon coconut extract

· 2 tablespoons honey (plus extra honey, agave nectar or syrup, for drizzling)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spread the coconut flakes and pecans on a baking sheet and toast until browned and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Watch the coconut carefully – it can go from golden to burned very quickly.

Take the coconut and pecans from the oven and set aside. Reduce the temperature to 200.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, ¾ cup of yogurt, coconut milk/cream, melted butter and vanilla.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until just combined – batter should be lumpy and very thick. Stir in the pecans and half of the toasted coconut, reserving the rest of the coconut to sprinkle on top of the finished waffles. Set the batter aside to rest for 20 minutes.

Preheat your waffle iron and cook the waffles according to your waffle iron’s instructions. I measured out 1/3 cup dollops of batter to yield 8 waffles. Keep the cooked waffles warm on a baking sheet in the 200-degree oven while you cook the remainder of the batter.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining ¾ cup of Greek yogurt with the coconut extract and 2 tablespoons honey. Serve the waffles with your choice of honey, agave nectar or syrup, topped with a dollop of the coconut honey yogurt, and sprinkled with the remaining toasted coconut.

Yields 8 waffles (2-3 waffles per person).