The Only Waffle Recipe You Will Ever Need

It's the middle of March, which means it's time for most of us in North America to put our clocks forward one hour.  It's around this time of year I think Saskatchewan is one of the smarter provinces, since they choose not to partake in daylight savings and carry on regardless. 

The other morning I got up like I normally do on a Saturday and was having trouble of what to make for breakfast.  I eventually got something together for Saturday, but I figured since I had to get up an hour early on Sunday, due to the stupid time change, I wanted to have something a little fancier to make the getting up earlier a bit more tolerable.  To get inspiration, I walked down to market and saw all the succulent, fresh fruit that had arrived.  What better vehicle to enjoy fresh fruit on than homemade waffles!

Maple-almond waffles with fresh whipping cream and fresh berries

The waffle recipe I'm giving today is the best recipe I've been able to tweak for a waffle recipe.  It is EXTREMELY forgiving when it comes to adding ingredients at tastes great using a normal waffle iron or a Belgian waffle iron.  To the base recipe provided, you can add virtually any ingredient to give an infused flavor for savory or sweet waffles.  These waffles can be extremely crispy with soft insides, or a made a little softer all-round. 

What food stuff you will  need for the waffles:
2 cups flour (sifted flour will give give a smoother texture waffle on the inside)
4 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
1.5 cups of milk
2 large eggs (whites and yolks separated, if possible)
Small amount of vegetable oil, butter or non-stick spray for waffle iron
Optional:
For all-round softer waffles: 5-6 tablespoons of vegetable oil
For sweet waffles: 1/4-1/3 cup sugar, any other spices to taste (i.e. nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, fruit, etc.)
For savory waffles: salt and pepper to taste, any flavors you'd like to add (i.e. oregano, rosemary, shredded cheese, bacon bits, etc.)

What "equipment" you will  need for the waffles:
1 large bowl
1 medium bowl
1 fork or whisk
1 spatula
Cup measure and teaspoon measure
Waffle Iron
Electric or hand mixer (if you're opting for using the separated egg technique, which I recommend)

Directions:
1) Heat up your waffle iron so it's preheating to full heat.

2) Measure 2 cups of all purpose flour in a large bowl (if possible sift the flour; however, it's not mandatory to do so. Just realize you may have a few more lumps in your batter, making it a little less smooth and having a bit rougher texture)

3) Add in 4 teaspoons of baking powder and a pinch of salt to the mix.

4) Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly to give a homogenous mixture.

5) Add in 1.5 cups of milk and mix until the mixture is smooth throughout.

6) If you're going to add flavors to your waffles, add the ingredients in now and mix.
Some of my favorites are:
A) Maple-almond: 1-2 teaspoons almond extract, 1/4 cup sliced almonds, 3-4 tablespoons maple syrup, 1/4 cup sugar (instead of almond abstract you can use a shot of amaretto instead)
B) Apple-cinnamon: 1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce or finely chopped apple, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 cup sugar (eliminate if using sweetened apple sauce), 1 teaspoon vanilla
C) Banana chocolate chip: 1-2 mashed bananas, 1/4-1/3 cup chocolate chips, 1/4 cup sugar, 1-2 teaspoons vanilla
D) Oregano-bacon: 0.5-1 tablespoon of oregano, 3-4 strips of bacon cut into pieces, pepper to taste (after being cooked place a little shredded cheddar cheese on top).

7)  If you want softer all-round waffles, add in 5-6 tablespoons of veggie oil now and mix in.

Choose only one of 8A or 8B to do:
8A) I highly recommend you separate your eggs (it will make it very crispy on the outside and soft on the inside like at a high end restaurant, using a normal waffle iron or a Belgian waffle maker).
Take the yolks mix them into the flour and milk mixture (there is no need to beat the eggs before you mix them in).
Take the egg whites and beat them with an electric or hand mixer until soft peaks form in a medium bowl.
Once the egg whites are ready, using a spatula carefully fold in the beaten egg whites into the batter mixture.
Note: Use long, slow swoops to mix in the egg white.  Use the minimum amount of stirs/swoops to fully stir in the whites.  It should look like the picture below.

The batter fully mixed with egg whites

8B) If you choose not to separate the eggs for time and convenience, beat the eggs in a medium bowl and add to the add your eggs whole now to the mix and

9) The waffle iron should be fully heated now.  Quickly spray a light coating of veggie oil, non-stick spray or quickly wipe some butter on a piece of paper towel (careful not to get burner) on the iron.
Note: You only have to do this once, even if you're doing multiple batches.  If you have a good non-stick iron or like crispier waffles in the first place, you won't even need to do this step.

10) Add the batter to the iron and let cook.
Note: A good indication of when the waffle will be done is when it stops steaming profusely.  If you can open the iron and the waffle comes free from the iron easily, it's done.  If you notice resistance when opening the lid, just let the waffle cook a little bit more.  To add to this, if you like it crispier, leave it a little longer cooking.
If you chose to add the 5-6 more tablespoons of oil, you'll want to take it off sooner-rather than later, otherwise there was no point in adding the oil. Personally, I like to leave out the oil entirely, and I'm still incredibly happy with final product.

11) Top with syrup, berries, or whatever you desire and serve hot.  

When it comes to sweetness, feel free to add as much or as little sugar as you wish.  I find I usually don't add any sugar at all and let the sweetness come from the berries, syrup, whip cream or whatever else I add to the top of it.  To cut back on the syrup consumption, I've added some sugar to the recipes, but never go more than 1/3 cup for a full batch.  I like sweet items, but find that anymore than 1/3 cup becomes too much when adding any sweet toppings.

This is great recipe that can have spices and tastes be altered as deemed fit.   So release your inner chemist and experiment in the kitchen!

Enjoy!

The Canadian Cooking Chemist