Old-Fashioned Yeasted Waffles & Cuisinart Waffle Maker Giveaway

When was the last time you made homemade waffles? I’m guessing it was way too long ago to remember. I get it. Your waffle maker is buried deep in your cupboard and you’ve got frozen waffles that please your family just fine. Well, sometimes all you need is a little inspiration and a fabulous recipe that you know will make it worthwhile. As you can probably tell, I have one for you.

But before we get to that, let me tell you about this giveaway. I’m happy to announce that I’ll be hosting some amazing cookware giveaways this year, courtesy of my new sponsors. First up is this top of the line Cuisinart waffle maker in brushed stainless steel. With a 6-slice capacity, it’s ideal for a family. For a chance to win, simply leave a comment below the post on my blog. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and notified on January 19th. (You must be a Once Upon A Chef email or feed subscriber and resident of the contiguous US to participate.)

Okay, back to the waffles. A few months ago, I got an email from one of my readers (hi Carol!) asking if I had a good waffle recipe. I didn’t. The truth is I never bothered, especially since pancakes are so easy to make instead. But Carol got me thinking: waffles are so basic, my kids love them, there’s so much junk in the frozen kind…I really should have a recipe on my site, and more importantly, I should make them! And so the search for the perfect waffle recipe began.

I experimented with at least a dozen different recipes and these old-fashioned yeasted waffles were, hands down, my favorite. The addition of yeast makes them somewhat of a cross between bread and pancakes. Despite the fact that they sound a little strange, they’re the ideal waffle: light and crisp outside, delicate and creamy inside, not overly sweet, with a slight tang that offsets your sweet topping of choice beautifully. Unlike other homemade waffles, which quickly become soggy and heavy, these stay deliciously crisp, no matter how much your children drench them with maple syrup.

You’ll be happy to know that making them is a cinch. You mix the ingredients together the day before, let the batter rest in the fridge overnight…in the morning, all you do is roll out of bed, sip your coffee, stir and pour. The only caveat is that you have to think ahead. (I don’t know about you, but I’m always thinking about my next meal so this is not a problem.)

But be forewarned: once you make homemade waffles for your family, they will start requesting them!

Comments for this post are now closed. Congrats to Beth J. who won!

Old-Fashioned Yeasted Waffles
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated
Printable Recipe

Makes 10-12 small (4×5-inch) waffles

Ingredients

1¾ cups milk (whole, low-fat, or skim)
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoons instant dry yeast (I used Red Star, just shy of one packet)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Melt the butter in small saucepan over medium-low heat; add milk and heat until warm to the touch, a few minutes. Set aside.

2. Whisk flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a large bowl to combine. Gradually whisk warm milk/butter mixture into flour mixture, and continue whisking until batter is smooth. In a small bowl, whisk eggs and vanilla until combined, then add egg mixture to batter and whisk until incorporated. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 12 and up to 24 hours.

3. Heat waffle iron according to manufacturer’s instructions. Remove waffle batter from refrigerator (batter will be foamy and doubled in size) and whisk to recombine (batter will deflate). Spray waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray and cook according to manufacturer’s instructions.  Serve waffles fresh from the iron for best results.

*If you’d rather hold the waffles and serve them all at once, place them on a wire rack set above a baking sheet, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and place the baking sheet in preheated 200 degree oven. When the final waffle is in the iron, remove the towel to allow the waffles to crisp for a few minutes. Alternatively, you can hold the waffles on a wire rack and reheat them gently in a toaster oven as you need them.

As always, be sure to measure your flour correctly. Spoon it into a dry measuring cup and continue until the cup is overflowing, then use the back edge of a knife to level off the flour even with the top edge of the measuring cup. It makes a difference!