Waffles, i love you

Saturday mornings are a special day at our house. It's always a great morning since we all get to have breakfast together and we have the time to actually cook something worthy of, well, Saturday morning. My sons ask for one of two things on this day - pancakes or waffles. So long as there is syrup involved, I think they would be happy. Yesterday, I got up a little early and decided it had been too long since I made my favorite waffle recipe. It's actually pretty basic but needs about 30 minutes to rest so a little patience and bribery may be required along the way.

I think most wafffle recipes fall into 2 categories: 1) not good 2) too time consuming. I said, most recipes, people! I know, there are a lot of great recipes out there, but there are also a lot of recipes that call for letting the batter rest overnight ( I'm talking to you, yeast waffle) or requiring beaten egg whites to be folded in. I love the idea of beaten egg whites but that extra step just irks me - there has to be a recipe out there that is really good without the hassle of separating eggs, beating egg whites, then folding them in just right. Then there are the easy buttermilk waffle recipes that come out tasting blah and soggy. For me, a waffle must be crisp to withstand the gallon of syrup I'm about to drench it with and must have a hint of vanilla flavor without overwhelming. They can't be too dense, either. That is critical. Several years ago, in my search to replicate my Dad's awesome waffle recipe (he uses Bisquick, egg whites, and soda water), I found this recipe on Food Network. The title made me nervous since it sounded too good to be true- Waffles of Insane Greatness. But they didn't disappoint and this recipe got tucked carefully away in my recipe file with an "A+" at the top. I've made them exactly according to the recipe for years ( although I double it for the 5 of us), but yesterday I decided to use white whole wheat flour to lessen the guilt. I can report to you that they were *almost* just as good as using white flour, which is so awesome when a recipe can handle that alteration since adding the whole wheat increases the protein content which can really affect the texture of the final product. Oh, and they freeze great, too. Can it be Saturday yet?

Waffle of Insane Greatness

Recipe courtesy Aretha Frankensteins

Prep Time:

5 min

Inactive Prep Time:

30 min

Cook Time:

15 min

Level:

Intermediate

Serves:

4 servings

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole milk or buttermilk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Butter and syrup, for serving

Directions

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix well. Add the milk,vegetable oil, egg, sugar and vanilla and mix well. Let the batter sit for 30 minutes.

Preheat a waffle iron. Do not use non-stick spray on the waffle iron; the oil in the batter will allow the waffle to release easily. Follow the directions on your waffle iron to cook the waffles. Serve immediately with butter and syrup.