In The Morning, We're Making Waffles!

Hello again everyone! For most folks, the process of making waffles involves adapting pancake batter to the "waffle" instructions on the side of the box. We're not excluded from that generalization - for the longest time our waffle making process was simply adjusting the quantity of liquid to the pre-packaged mix.

The results aren't bad - we're not here to rag on the boxed pancake mix - but they're not all that waffles could be. You see, waffles from pancake mix are typically thicker which makes for a dense little waffle that is heavy in the stomach and that doesn't take well to a lot of toppings or other culinary uses. True waffle batter should yield a flavorful waffle (that can shine on it's own accord, without toppings if necessary) that is also light and fluffy.

Enter, Alton Brown. Who has crafted a basic waffle recipe that achieves all of these goals - best of all it contains only things you'll typically find in your pantry and it doesn't take any longer than the pre-package pancake batter does. Given that, why would you make waffles any other way? (You wouldn't...or shouldn't!)

The Recipe: Waffles...REALLY Good Waffles
Original Recipe By: Alton Brown

What You'll Need:

1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1 Cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/2 Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Salt
3 Tablespoons Sugar
3 Whole Eggs (Beaten)
2 Ounces Unsalted Butter (Melted)
16 Ounces Milk (Buttermilk is the original requirement, we used almond milk)

Coat your waffle iron with non-stick spray and heat according to its instructions.

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir to incorporate. In a separate bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients (eggs, milk, butter) and whisk until combined. Finally, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until a majority of the lumps have been removed. DO NOT stir until all the lumps are gone - this will over toughen the batter and make things a bit too thick. After a few stirs to makes sure all of the dry and wet ingredients have melded nicely, simply walk away. You'll want to keep stirring. Don't! Just put the whisk down, and walk away.

Allow the batter to rest for 5 minutes before adding it to the waffle iron and cooking until you reach the desired doneness.

Top with syrup for a traditional flare, or use them for any variety of uses such as bread pudding, ice cream sandwiches, or whatever you can craft up (Seriously, the realm of uses for waffles is vast - start checking your recipe books, they're used EVERYWHERE).

The Results:

These simple little waffles truly outshine their boxed counterparts in every way. They're light, fluffy, flavorful and much more versatile than the thicker, heavier product that comes from pancake batter. In short, when it comes to waffles, if you want to do it right, you'll want to follow this recipe!

(By the way, this recipe will likely cook up more waffles than you can handle in one sitting. The great part is, they freeze beautifully. Simple slide them into a zip top bag and store in the freezer. To reheat, simply pop them in the toaster, just like their big box frozen cousins, they work nicely as a quick and easy breakfast meal right out of the freezer).

That's all we have for you today - but we're back next week with another brand new recipe, followed by a tasty treat utilizing the versatile little blueberry - look out for that next Sunday. Until then,

~Cheers