Moon waffles are Homer's own recipe from "Homer the Heretic" (Season 4, Episode 3). He skips church, has the house to himself and announces his plan out loud:
"The perfect chance to make my patented space-age out-of-this-world moon waffles."
Then he narrates the method as he tips it into the waffle iron: "Caramels... waffle batter... liquid smoke..." When the iron overflows, he notes the "waffle runoff". The finished waffle gets wrapped around a whole stick of butter.
So the caramels go in the iron with the batter, not on top. This recipe does the same.
If you came here for waffle-adjacent clothing, the Simpsons t-shirts are this way.
Caramels in the iron
Use soft chewy caramels, the kind that come individually wrapped, and cut them into quarters. Hard toffee won't melt in the time the batter takes to cook.
Scatter the pieces over the bottom plate, pour the batter on top and close the lid. The caramel melts into the underside of the waffle and some of it escapes out the sides. That's the runoff. Put a tray under the iron and let it happen.
Clean the plates while they're still warm. Set caramel is much harder to shift.
The liquid smoke question
It goes in the batter, about half a teaspoon for the whole lot. That's enough to taste smoky against the caramel without making the kitchen smell like a barbecue. Liquid smoke is strong, so measure it rather than pouring from the bottle.
The butter
Homer uses a full stick, and that's what the recipe calls for. Keep it in the fridge until the waffle comes out. Cold butter softens against the hot waffle without collapsing into a puddle, which gives you a few minutes to eat it.
In Australia, butter comes in 250g blocks rather than sticks. Cut a block lengthways into two long bars of about 110g each. That's close to a US stick.
Tips
Cook the waffles a shade softer than you would for stacking. A crisp waffle cracks when you fold it.
Make one test waffle first to check the iron temperature with caramel in it.
Eat each one as it comes off the iron. These don't sit well on a plate.
The episode
"Homer the Heretic" aired on 8 October 1992. George Meyer wrote it and Jim Reardon directed. Homer splits his pants on Sunday morning and stays home while the family goes to church. He dances around in his underwear to "Short Shorts", makes the moon waffles and watches football. Then he gives up church for good and makes up his own religion. The next week he falls asleep on the couch with a lit cigar and the house catches fire. Ned Flanders pulls him out.
More breakfast: the Good Morning Burger is 18 ounces of beef from a TV ad Homer watches, or try a pink frosted donut. Everything else is in the Simpsons recipes index.
