Whole Grain Waffles with Cheddar and Maple-Apple Sauce

Wow, what a long name. Maybe Rachael Ray thinks you have to have extremely descriptive names in her recipes, instead of just saying "Waffles with Sauce." This recipe sounded so so good, even though I had to buy real maple syrup, which I almost never do, at a premium price. But I always try to do the recipe the written way, at least the first time through, and just leave out little things like mushrooms or hot sauce or whatever. But when I got to the syrup part of the recipe, I knew the fake stuff wouldn't cut it. I almost passed this recipe by a couple of times, but then I decided to just make it. We love having breakfast for supper so I figured everyone would like it. It's from Every Day with Rachael Ray Apr 2011.

Whole Grain Waffles with Cheddar and Maple-Apple Sauce
4 gala, honey crisp, or golden delicious apples
1 cup dark amber maple syrup
1/2 cup apple cider
1 cinnamon stick
2 cups whole grain pancake/waffle mix
2 eggs
2 tbsp butter, melted, plus more for brushing, if needed
1 1/2 to 2 cups reduced-fat milk
Freshly grated nutmeg
1 1/2 cups shredded extra-sharp white cheddar cheese
Cooking spray, if needed

Peel, quarter, and core the apples, then cut them into chunks. In a large saucepan, combine them with the maple syrup, cider, and cinnamon stick and bring to a bubble. Lower the heat a bit and, stirring occasionally, let rapidly reduce into a thick topping while you make the waffles.

Meanwhile, heat a waffle iron to high. Combine the waffle mix with the eggs, melted butter, 1 1/2 cups milk and lots of freshly grated nutmeg (about 1/2 tsp)(or just use it from a jar like me). Stir in the cheese. If the mixture gets too thick, stir in a little more milk.

If the waffle iron is nonstick, fill it with the batter and cook until crisp. If it's not nonstick, spray with cooking spray or brush with more melted butter, then fill and cook the waffles. Top with the maple-apple sauce.

Yay, everybody liked this!! You couldn't even tell there was cheese in the waffles. When they were cooking, I thought I could smell a hint of it, but I couldn't taste it at all. Definitely keeping this one, even though I won't make it very often due to the real syrup in it. But so so good.