Psychedelic waffles, a birthday tradition
When you get married or enter into a serious relationship you discover you’re not the only one with heartwarming/cool/crazy family traditions. Sure, it’s fun to create new traditions as a family but there’s something to be said for keeping the old ones. One of my in-laws’ longstanding birthday traditions is psychedelic waffles. (Though their tie-dyed appearance is reminiscent of the 70′s, the ingredients are definitely non-habit forming and will not induce flashbacks.)
Because I never get up early to make my older girls their breakfast (that’s what Eggo waffles are for) we usually have psychedelic waffles for dinner, which works splendidly since we often have breakfast for dinner. They’re super easy to make and super fun to eat. We’ve even taken these waffles on the road and made them for my daughter’s best friend’s birthday.
Here’s how to make your own psychedelic waffles. If you already have a birthday tradition that involves food you could always use these for another special occasion like the first day of school, Easter morning or even Superbowl Sunday!
Psychedelic Waffles
- Pancake baking mix and ingredients to make waffle batter (Bisquik, Krusteaz, whatever your favorite, plus I love to throw in a tablespoon of Splenda and a teaspoon vanilla) OR your favorite from-scratch waffle recipe (from scratch? what’s that?!?!)
- Food coloring (we prefer Neon so the colors really stand out after baking)
Preheat your waffle iron. While waffle iron is heating, make your waffle batter. Divide the batter into as many bowls as you have food coloring.
Add 5 to 7 drops of food coloring per bowl and mix until thoroughly combined. Note: I used 7 and it was probably a bit much, but I say go bold or go do dishes!
Use a large spoon to drizzle the batter randomly on the waffle iron. You want a thick drizzle so you don’t have lame little waffles. You could even drizzle with a purpose. On one waffle I did the tie-dye thing and then drizzled a blue “L” in the middle for Lauren. It worked perfectly!
Close the waffle iron and bake until done (usually when the light goes off and/or the waffle stops steaming).
Remove waffle and serve immediately…on a “Celebrate” plate* topped with a candle, of course!
{Can you see the super fancy “L?” I totally missed my calling as a food artist!}
The candle-in-the-waffle thing was so much fun, the rest of the family had to have their own. Okay, it was mainly George and Livi who begged for a candle but as you can see, Nathan wasn’t far behind. Happy birthday, Lauren!
{Nathan is trying to keep George from blowing out his candle—good times!}
* The “Celebrate” plate is no longer available from Pampered Chef but you can find lots of other celebration plates perfect for any special occasion. I thought this charger on Etsy was cute and this personalized birthday plate adorable, but this personalized special occasion plate was my favorite!
What are your fun/crazy/sentimental birthday traditions?
You can read more about the inspiration for this site 
What a GREAT idea!!
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I love these, Emily! What a fun idea!
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Oh my goodness, Em! This is the cutest idea ever! When you skyped me that you were “off to make psychadelic waffles” I thought… hmm.. Em’s really happy about making waffles tonight. I had no idea it was an actual type of waffle, lol! I love this idea and we’re going to try it for sure! Love your bday pics – your family is so adorable!!!
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Fun! This would be so fun for holidays too!
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Seriously, these are so easy and the kids love them! If you have one of those heart-shaped waffle irons you could make these with pink/red/purple for Valentine’s Day breakfast! Or red and green for Christmas. Lots of options!
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Zowie! those are some bright colors! I love it! Plus, I love that you serve eggs with the waffles – I do the same thing – (it seems to justify serving sugar for a meal) :)
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Camille, like you I serve eggs (with some real bacon pieces thrown in) with waffles when I feel guilty about serving a carb- and sugar-heavy meal!
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This would be the reason why I need to invest in a waffle iron.
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Wow! These are awesome! I so need to try this!
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I love this idea! In my home, it’s chocolate chip waffles (hence, the blog name), but psychedelic is something we’ll definitely have to try!
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Evonne, yes, you must invest in a waffle iron! Those heart-shaped ones are pretty cute and affordable!
Kami, I bet you’d make beautiful psychedelic designs and quartered waffles would looks so pretty on your milk glass.
Terresa, thanks for dropping by and commenting! I almost threw in some mini chocolate chips this time around but didn’t. I bet you could do both and it would be twice as good! I just visited your blog–awesome!
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What a fun idea! My kids would love this. Thanks for sharing!
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Holy sweetness Em. These are totally groovy. They remind me of the cupcakes I made for Aiden’s bday. Super fun! Oh, and I second the chocolate chip motion!
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these are crazy cool!!!!
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Michelle, you must include your link to your cupcakes if you have pics and a recipe. I’d love to see them! Vanessa, your girls would love these–make them this week!
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Wow, Play-doh waffles!
This might be fun for our Christmas Strawberry Waffle tradition.
And yes, traditions can change, ours is actually now Raspberry waffles since my DIL is allergic to strawberries.
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Lynn, raspberry waffles sound delicious! YUM!
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Fun idea! I just might have to make some pink waffles for Valentines.
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I am LOVING these!! We love having waffles/pancakes at any time of the day around here, and my kids would think these are the BEST. :) Thanks for sharing!
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