Sunday, July 16, 2006

Sunday Brunch: Light and Crispy Waffles

I woke up with a craving for Belgian waffles. It probably had to do with the fact that they were giving away free samples yesterday when I was shopping at Costco. Granted, their waffles were served with "pancake syrup" (which is really just flavored corn syrup) instead of maple, but they were very tasty. Crispy, crunchy and light.
My first thought was to use a recipe for Belgian Waffles that I've made before, but I didn't have any cake flour and I make it a general rule not to run to the market before 6am - mostly because I prefer to lounge in my pjs for a while. I remembered the very catchily-named Waffles of Insane Greatness from the last round of DMBLGiT and looked up the recipe; I already knew that they would be good.
I changed the ingredients around a bit, though. I made the batter thicker and added a bit more leavening. They turned out to be fantastic: crispy, crunchy and light. The waffles were barely sweet, but this made them the perfect foil for maple syrup (not pancake syrup) and I imagine that they'd be wonderful with powdered sugar, too. The berries I added on top were from a 2.25-lb box from Costco and are now mostly gone - just like the rest of the waffles.
In my Belgian waffle iron, this only made three full waffles. It will probably make 4 in a regular iron, but double it if you want more than that.


Light and Crispy Waffles
(adapted from the Waffles of Insane Greatness)
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk (I used lowfat)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract


In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the center and pour in milk, oil, egg and vanilla. Whisk together until fully combined.
Let batter rest for 30-60 minutes at room temperature.
Preheat your waffle iron and cook according to the manufacturer's instructions (the oil in the waffles should eliminate the need to grease the iron).
Serve immediately with syrup, butter and/or berries.