True Belgian Waffles

First week of February in Tulsa. Brayden is eighteen weeks old — four months and change. He has started reaching for objects this week. The board-book about farm animals from Christmas is the favorite. He reaches for the cow page and the dog page consistently. The horse page he ignores. I do not know what is happening in his developing visual cortex but I am paying attention to it.

True Belgian waffles are the yeast-raised version — the batter mixed Friday night with active dry yeast, milk, butter, and flour, refrigerated overnight, then folded with stiff-beaten egg whites Saturday morning before going onto the waffle iron. The yeast-rise gives the waffles a depth of flavor that baking-powder waffles do not have. The egg-white-fold gives them an interior airiness that approaches soufflé-territory.

The technique I had not gotten right in previous Belgian-waffle attempts was the egg-white fold. The whites need to be beaten to firm peaks but not stiff peaks. The folding needs to be done with the rubber spatula in a figure-eight motion that preserves as much air as possible. The yeast-batter needs to be at room temperature before the folding starts (so the cold yeast-batter does not deflate the whites). The waffle iron needs to be hot enough that the batter sets the moment it hits the plates.

Saturday morning I made them. Dustin was off the shop schedule Saturday (Bobby had given the team Saturday off after the long week of inventory recount) and Brayden was happy in his bouncer at six-thirty when the batter came out of the fridge. The first waffle came off the iron at seven-fifteen. Dustin ate three with maple syrup and the second cup of coffee of the morning. The leftover waffles went in the freezer for weekday-toaster breakfasts.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 8 waffles

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Mix dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until combined.
Combine wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks. Whisk in milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract.
Combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined — a few lumps are fine. Do not overmix.
Beat egg whites. In a clean bowl, beat egg whites with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form.
Fold in whites. Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the batter in two additions until just incorporated. This is what makes the waffles light and crisp.
Cook. Preheat your waffle iron and grease lightly. Pour batter according to your iron’s capacity and cook until golden and crisp, about 3—4 minutes per waffle.
Freeze for later. Allow cooked waffles to cool completely on a wire rack. Layer between sheets of parchment paper, place in a zip-top freezer bag, and freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat in a toaster or toaster oven until heated through and crisp.

Nutrition (per serving)

True Belgian Waffles