Chai Waffles with Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 7 chai tea bags
• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, divided
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Vanilla Whipped Cream: 
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• Confectioner’s sugar

1. Preheat your waffle iron, and grease it, if necessary.
2. In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer over medium heat. Add the tea bags, and remove the pan from the heat. Let the tea steep for about 5 minutes. As you remove the tea bags, squeeze the milk out of each one back into the pan. Set aside to cool.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom and salt. Set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks, oil, vanilla and chai-steeped milk. (Make sure the milk has cooled before you add it to the eggs.)
5. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and add the wet ingredients, stirring just to combine. The batter should be slightly lumpy.
6. In a separate small bowl, using a whisk or hand mixer, beat the egg white until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter, being careful not to overmix. (You should still see some unmixed egg white in the batter.)
7. Pour the recommended amount of batter onto the preheated iron, according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Close the top, and cook until the waffle is golden brown and easy to remove. Keep waffles warm in a 200 degree F oven until ready to serve.
8. For the Vanilla Whipped Cream: Pour the heavy cream into the bowl of a stand mixer, and whip on low speed. Add the confectioner’s sugar, and increase the speed to medium-high. Add the vanilla. Whip until medium-stiff peaks form, about 1 1/2 minutes.
9. Dust the waffles with confectioner’s sugar, and top with Vanilla Whipped Cream. Serve hot off the iron or warm from the oven.