Light.Crispy.Effortless.Waffles

“You should eat a waffle! You can't be sad if you eat a waffle!” 

- Lauren Myrcale

I was able to sleep in this Saturday for the first time in forever!  It was so nice to wake up and not have to rush off somewhere.  I stayed in bed, watched a 30 minute show, did a nice and stretchy ballet work out, and then decided it was most definitely a a waffle kind of day.  I really don't like soggy, heavy waffles, so decided to see if I could find a "light and crispy" waffle recipe online.  Usually when I make waffles at home I take them out of the waffle iron when they are cooked and I stick them into the toaster and crisp them up real good.  Yum.  Of course most of the time I end up eating burnt waffles because I don't pay attention to the the waffle toasting and instead get distracted by bacon.  Oh bacon.

My 10 year old nice and I used to cook and bake a lot together, but we are both always so busy now we rarely cook together anymore. : (  Fortunately she was over this weekend and she helped me make the waffles.  Her favorite part is pouring the batter into the waffle iron, closing it, waiting, and then voila minutes later a waffle appears. Such fun!

Do you have a waffle iron?  We have 2.  Our old school one is one that a few of us kids all chipped in money to buy this $40 waffle iron for my parents one year for Christmas.  This was back in the day when chipping in $5 was a huge deal!  Pretty sure my $5 invest has paid off seeing as I use the waffle iron the most out of everyone.  My second waffle iron was a gift from friends in college for my 21st - pretty sure I told you about this one.

Did you know there are all kinds of cool waffle irons out there?  Check out this sweet one!

Did you also know you can make all kinds of things in a waffle iron?  Check out this buzzfeed list for some ideas!

There is also a guy who has a blog dedicated solely to things you can make in your waffle iron - it is pretty awesome - bread pudding in a waffle iron - waffled smores - yes!

• Light.Crispy.Effortless.Waffles
• adapted slightly from Fine Cooking
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• 3-1/2 oz. (3/4 cup) bleached all-purpose flour
• 1 oz. (1/4 cup) cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 cup buttermilk (If you don't have buttermilk just us milk with a little bit of lemon in it)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 6 Tbs. vegetable oil
• 1 large egg, separated
• 1 Tbs. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Heat the waffle iron. 

Mix the flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl. 

Measure the buttermilk, milk, and vegetable oil in a Pyrex measuring cup; mix in the egg yolk and set aside.

In mixer bowl, beat the egg white almost to soft peaks. Sprinkle in the sugar and continue to beat until the peaks are firm and glossy. Beat in the vanilla.

Your finished Waffle batter should look like this.  See all the clouds of egg whites that are not fully mixed in - this is what you want!

Pour the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk until just mixed. Drop the whipped egg white onto the batter in dollops and fold in with a spatula until just incorporated.  Be gentle and don't try to deflate the egg whites by fully incorporating them.

Pour the batter onto the hot waffle iron (mine took 1 cup) and cook until the waffle is crisp and nutty brown.  Repeat with the remaining batter, holding the waffles in the oven (don't stack them). When all the waffles are cooked, serve immediately.

Variations

Whole-Grain Waffles 
Add 1/4 cup wheat germ to the dry ingredients.

Chocolate Chip Waffles 
Stir 1/2 cup coarsely chopped chocolate chips into the batter.

Cornmeal WafflesSubstitute 1/2 cup cornmeal for 1/2 cup of the flour (keep the cornstarch).

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