The Perfect Waffle

It has been a long road to finding the perfect waffle...we tried many recipes and many variations until we got it just right and then we modified it more to fit our families nutritional needs :) TWEAK! (apology now, the only picture that is mine is above of our final product, sadly I lost all my others)

So we ended with this Milk's Favorite Waffle from Dine & Dish. It was a perfect base to grow from producing a thick batter that created fluffy waffles that crisped just enough around the edges. I really think it has to do with the beaten egg whites! But even with this almost perfect recipe my kids were crying for Eggo waffles, gross!

So with a little tweak here and a little tweak there...I might have finally converted them!

Final Recipe For the Perfect Waffle:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour 
• 1/2 cup all purpose
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 4 tbl heaped brown sugar
• 2 beaten egg yolks
• 1 cup greek yogurt
• 3 tbl melted butter
• 1tsp vanilla extract 
• milk for consistency
• 2 stiff beaten egg whites

First pull your eggs out of the fridge, never underestimate the power of a room temperature egg when beating egg whites! Also go ahead and plug in your waffle iron so it can preheat.

Mix together your flours, baking powder and sugar in a large bowl, make sure you break up those sugar clumps. Nuke the butter in the microwave for about 10 seconds or so, you don't want to put it in hot so give it time to cool. Separate your egg yolks and whites. Place the whites into a separate bowl and lightly beat the yolks in a measuring cup and pour into your flour, adding your yogurt, butter, and vanilla, mix well. If it feels too thick add a little milk but you don't want it to be thin, think of paint in a bucket, just a touch thicker than that.

Now comes the fun part, beat those egg whites!! Here is a great tutorial for beating egg white if you are new to this process.  You are looking for stiff peaks, see below. You will fold this light and fluffy perfection into your batter. And by fold I mean add 1/3 of the egg whites at a time to your batter and rather than mixing in a stirring motion you will scrape under the batter to the top rolling it in the bowl until all your whites are JUST folded in.

Perfect Peaks image from A Lump of Sugar

These egg whites are going to thicken up your batter, leaving it more like the paste you used in school. Also those egg whites are where the fluffy waffles will come from :)

Plop some batter in your waffle maker and voila, perfect delicious waffles! Each waffle maker works a little bit different so your first waffle might come out wonky if it wasn't preheated enough, or you didn't spray a little pam in there to grease it up, or it didn't cook long enough. Mine has a light to tell me when the waffle is done.

These waffles are gobbled up in our house but on the off chance we have left overs I let them cool and throw them in a freezer bag, then they are just like frozen waffles! Pop them in the toaster and you have breakfast to go on a busy school morning.

Enjoy!

Linked at:
http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/
http://www.thecraftedsparrow.com/ 
http://www.bunsinmyoven.com

Homemade Waffle Challenge

Why didn't the tops cook?

How do I replace Eggo waffles with Nutella for breakfast?!

Borrowing my mother in laws waffle maker and using this recipe to make my own. Batter is chilling in the fridge so I can wake up and make them in the morning :)

Also I am not making us give up peanut butter and Nutella. I am sure I could make them all myself at home and maybe we will give them a try, they seem simple enough. But I have to give myself a few staples to keep around so that I can continue to run this house. I will share my results in the morning...

The morning of...waffle semi fail

Not quite Eggo

The recipe was too thin or something? Just wasn't what we were looking for; will keep researching. I am looking for a waffle that is crisp on the outside but fluffy on the inside. How do I get that? Also while I think we like store bought buttermilk flavored items, in reality they tasted to...curdled? Pina complained that they needed more sugar or something to balance that "rotten milk" flavor (her quote). The kids did eat them and opted for using real maple syrup instead of store bought or the nutella (wanted to stay true to the Lenten promise, love them). Pina complained a bit as she doesn't love the flavor of maple syrup but melt in some butter with the syrup and she was sold! I mean really who doesn't like REAL maple syrup.

I will perfect waffles though before these 40 days are over!