Raised Waffles

I love these waffles.  The perfect ratio of crispy and tender.

I have a Calphalon No Peek Round Waffle Maker which is a classic waffle maker. It’s a lot more expensive on Amazon now than when I paid for it 2 years ago.  I have no idea why.  There are plenty of others like it.  But if you already have a Belgian waffle maker use that first with this recipe and see how you like it.  It’s really a personal preference.

Using yeast  makes this an incredibly light waffle.  If you have never used yeast before do not fear.  It is super simple.  Just make sure you check the expiration date on the yeast package.

Because you have to make this the night before and usually it’s done over the weekend, it can be a little daunting even though the recipe is simple.   So I decided to try and make it easier.  Here’s how I did it:

Lay out all the ingredients early,  see picture below.  This means putting the flour, salt and sugar in a medium bowl.  Placing the butter in a microwave safe bowl, and placing the package of yeast and the 1/2 cup measure cup next to the empty large bowl.  Then right before you go to bed, place the butter in the microwave 30 seconds, place the warm water (between 90 and 110 degrees) in the large bowl, sprinkle the yeast on top, wait 5 minutes.  By then the butter has melted and slightly cooled.  Add the butter and flour mixture to the large bowl with the yeast/water mixture and stir together thoroughly.   Ha!  you did it 🙂

Raised Waffles from Marion Cunningham September 1998 The Fannie Farmer Cookbook

1/2 cup warm water (between 90 and *110 degrees)

1 package active dry yeast (1/4 oz. package)

2 cups warm milk (2% or whole)

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

2 cups all purpose flour (preferably King Arthur Flour)

2 eggs

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Use a rather large mixing bowl – the batter will rise to double its original volume.  I have an almost straight sided bowl from my old mixer that I use for this and bread too.  It works perfectly.

Put the water in the mixing bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top.  Let stand for 5 minutes.  Add the milk, butter, salt, sugar, and flour to the yeast mixture and beat until smooth and blended. (Using a hand rotary beater to get rid of the lumps is useful here.)

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand overnight at room temperature.

Just before cooking the waffles, beat in the eggs, add the baking soda, and stir until well mixed.  The batter will be very thin.  Pour about 1/3 to 3/4 cup batter into a very hot waffle iron.  The bigger the waffle maker the more batter, the smaller the waffle maker the less batter you need. Bake the waffles until they are golden and crisp.  This batter will keep well for several days in the refrigerator.

I did just that and kept the batter that I used Sunday morning.  I made waffles Monday and Tuesday and have enough I think for Wednesday. They are still absolutely delicious!!

*Warm water for yeasted products is between 90 and 110 degrees.  If it’s hotter than 110 degrees you are killing the yeast.  No rising then.

so here is the set up for the waffles, that you do early:

then right before going to bed, sprinkle the yeast on the warm water:

add flour mixture and melted butter:

stir really well and/or use your hand mixer until smooth and no lumps:

cover with plastic:

all ready for the morning:

the next morning the batter looks like this, all bubbly and puffy:

plug in your waffle maker so it gets nice and hot:

add the eggs and baking soda and stir with a whisk until smooth:

pour some batter onto the hot waffle maker and cook:

first waffle:

my husbands breakfast:

my sons (yes, that’s 3 waffles there):

and mine, yum!: