Orange Hazelnut Waffles with Raspberry Sauce

I know, I know, we just had waffles. But I'm telling you about these anyway, because they were delicious, and breakfast is the most important meal after all, and you can really never have too many waffles! Also, this was the only meal I've made in the last two weeks, and I feel like I should honor that momentous achievement with a post!
We've been exploring Brooklyn lately, so we've had several of our meals there, all of them excellent, which will warrant their own blog entry sometime soon.

For the waffles, I made a variation of Alton Brown's pancake mix, and stored the leftovers in the fridge for the next batch (it keeps for at least 3 months). If you're not a fan of hazelnuts, these can easily be made with only AP flour. I also used ghee (clarified butter), which, I think, intensified the flavors, but regular butter would have been fine. The raspberry sauce was amazing, but almost too much of a good thing (because it added two more strong flavors, raspberries and maple syrup), so we ate the second batch with just syrup. A little tempeh bacon on the side...hooray for weekend brunch!

Waffle Mix

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups hazelnut flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

pinch of salt

Orange Hazelnut Waffles

2 eggs, separated

2 cups buttermilk (made by mixing 2 cups of milk with 2 tablespoons of vinegar)

4 tblsp. ghee or butter, melted and cooled

2-3 cups waffle mix

2 tblsp. honey

1/4 cup orange juice

peel of 2 organic oranges

a swig of orange liquor, such as cointreau (optional)

Mix the egg yolks with the melted butter. Whisk together the buttermilk and the egg whites. Combine the 2 mixtures and whisk in the waffle mix, until lumps disappear. The batter should thickly coat a spoon, so you have to eyeball the amount of dry ingredients you add. Mix in the honey, orange juice, peel and liquor (if using).

Cook in waffle iron as directed by manufacturer.

Raspberry Sauce

Melt 1-2 cups of frozen raspberries in a pot over low heat. When warm, add as much maple syrup as desired. Done.