Blue Cornmeal Waffles with Bourbon Maple Syrup

I honestly can't think of anything that says fall quite like the richness of maple. Everywhere I look, people are preparing for fall and are excited about crisp apples, cornfields, harvest time, and bundling up to enjoy the cooler weather. That led me to examine two of my husband's favorite things; which are waffles and a good bourbon. I decided to combine the two into a lovely breakfast while adding the hearty cornmeal to the mix. Since my little one loves the color blue, I decided to use blue cornmeal, and she thought that was amazing! 

Above you will see a well-loved waffle iron. This belonged to my Great-Grandmother who along with my mother was an amazing inspiration to me growing up and installing a passion to love entertaining and creating food. While my great-grandmother past away almost 15 years ago, I still think of her often. In fact, my husband who loves waffles so much, breaks this bad boy out weekly. It always brings a smile to my face because I get to take that quick moment and reflect on grandma. I know she would be so happy to see the joy it brings not only my sweetie, but our little one as well. Not too mention, they really don't make things like they use too! 

I knew that this dish would need a good balance of sweet to the earthy tones of the cornmeal waffle. I also wanted to utilize another wonderful fall fruit- the Asian Pear. Such a delicate and lightly sweet flavor, that balances the soft waffle with a hearty crunch. I also wanted to add a kick up the normal maple syrup and therefore added butter and some bourbon. The combination was amazing, almost too good to limit only to breakfast.

Ingredients: 

Maple Bourbon-

1 1/4 C Maple Syrup (the real stuff)
1/4 C Salted Butter
1 T Bourbon (I used W.L. Weller) 

Bring the syrup and butter to a slow boil and then once boiling whisk in the bourbon. Serve warm 

Blue Cornmeal Waffles-

2 C Blue Cornmeal
2 C Flour (I used Cup4Cup to make it GF)
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt 
6 T sugar
6 Eggs (I used farm fresh from my local neighbor)
1/4 C melted butter
1/4 C vegetable oil
3 C buttermilk

Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Set aside. Then in a separate mixing bowl combine all wet ingredients and whisk until combined. Fold wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until absorbed. Do not overmix. Follow your recommended setting for your waffle iron, and cook until lightly brown.

Serve with diced Asian Pear for garnish and a wonderful accompaniment.