Raised Waffles

Happy Father's Day! My dad was the one who coached me through the kitchen when I first started wanting to make Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies, then offering tips along the way all through cinnamon rolls and Sacher-Torte.

He was a stay-at-home dad, which is pretty unique and cool! My mom was also home a lot though, so I saw both of them more than most of my friends saw their parents.

So thanks, Dad, for all you've done to help me learn things about life, and about cooking! These waffles are for you...

Raised waffles are a really excellent and simple way to do yeast. I've only ever done cinnamon rolls and these, and I can say that these are infinitely easier than cinnamon rolls, but still. Yeast has never let me down, no matter how little I trust it (I mean, it's alive. Won't the bacteria all commit mutiny and not raise the dough or something?? But they invariably do! #moderntechnology #consistency).

Just whip up the yeast/water/milk/butter/sugar/salt and leave it on the counter overnight. Yes, it looks a little funny in the morning after being unrefrigerated, but you get better flavor that way, or so Deb says. I only tried the unrefrigerated version.

Then you mix in two eggs and a bit of baking soda and go! So this recipe is also nice because there's not a lot of work in the morning...I'm pretty sure I could make these without having had any caffeine, 10 minutes after waking up, in that still drowsy fog of sleepiness. Just whisk and go!

Great with a side of bacon, tea, a sudoku, and a sharpened pencil.

Raised Waffles

Yield: a LOT. like, 16 thin, 5x6 inch ish waffles (the batter is thin, so a traditional waffle iron works better than a belgian one)

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup warm water (about 105 to 110 degrees, not too hot)
• 1 packet (1/4 ounce, 7 grams or 2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
• 2 cups milk, warmed slightly
• 1 stick (4 ounces or 115 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until lukewarm
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• Oil or melted butter for waffle iron (though ours is nonstick, and I found the waffles had a more uniform color if I left it ungreased)

Method:

1. The night before: Pour warm water in the bottom of a large (larger than you think you’ll need, because the batter will more than double--I used an 8 cup measuring cup, as you can see in the picture above) bowl. Sprinkle yeast on top and let it dissolve and foam ever-so-slightly for 15 minutes. Stir in milk, butter, salt, sugar and flour, a little bit of wet ingredients then a little bit of dry, back and forth, so there are fewer lumps. 
2. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set out on counter (see or in the fridge if that freaks you out) overnight.
3. The next morning: whisk in eggs and baking soda until smooth. Heat waffle iron and coat lightly with butter or oil (or not, if yours is nonstick...there's so much butter in these already!). Ladle in 1/2 to 3/4-cup batter per waffle batch. The batter will be very thin and will spread a lot in the pan, so err on the side of underfilled until you figure out the right amount. Repeat with remaining batter.
4. Waffles can be kept crisp in a warm oven until needed. If you only want to make a few at a time, the batter keeps well in the fridge for several days, apparently, though I haven't tried it. At our house, we make waffles from all of the batter and freeze the ones we don't eat for easy toaster waffles later on in the week!

Recipe from Smitten Kitchen, who got it from Marion Cunningham’s Breakfast Book, who adapted it from a Fanny Farmer cookbook. An old recipe, to be sure.