Children's Sleepover Breakfast

My nephews, who are 8 and 10 years old, stayed over the other night for a sleepover. I wanted to make something special that was kid-friendly and seemed like a junk-laden treat (but it also had to be healthy). I made Faux Waffle Sundaes. Now, regular waffle sundaes would be full of fat and sugar, but I used my whole grain recipe for Overnight Waffles, froze homemade vanilla yogurt in my ice cream freezer, and offered fresh blueberry sauce, chopped, toasted walnuts, sliced almonds, chocolate sprinkles, whipped, sweetened creme fraiche (leftover from my birthday cake), and all-natural Marachino cherries (an Oregon product, available at Whole Foods) for topping options. The kids LOVED their breakfast, and it was really easy for me too!

To make ahead, I mixed up and refrigerated the waffle batter overnight. The next morning all I had to do was stir and bake on a heated waffle iron! The blueberry sauce (blueberries and a little agave) can be made up to two days in advance, and I used leftover whipped creme fraiche. Freshly whipped cream is fast and easy, however, quickly done in the time it takes to bake one waffle. I set out the other toppings in little bowls the night before as well. Each child was able to decorate his own waffle sundae as he liked, and they were a huge hit! ("Ice cream" does that, I suppose.)

For the frozen yogurt, I used my own homemade lightly sweetened vanilla yogurt. I poured the container into my ice cream freezer and it was ready in about ten minutes. Store bought will work just fine, of course, just check the sugar level before buying (or buy plain and sweeten to taste). Frozen store-bought yogurt is more of a dessert. It's not regulated like the fresh stuff in the dairy case, and it may or may not have live and active cultures (if it does, it will have a label saying so). While the fresh varieties are pure yogurt, the frozen ones might be 100% also (rarely), or they could be less than 30%!