Belgian Style Yeast Waffles
They are pretty looking
Time: 1 Hour 47 minutes + overnight (optional)
Ingredient Availability: 5/5
Difficulty: 1/5
Typically, making breakfast is kind of a spur of the moment thing. So, a recipe for waffles that asks you to wait at least an hour before cooking is certainly interesting. This recipe from King Arthur’s Baking Companion actually says you can refrigerate the batter overnight to get even more flavor. Let’s see if it’s worth the wait.
Key Ingredients & Omissions:
This is a fairly simple recipe and so are the ingredients. I don’t think there’s anything that you would have a hard time finding. The maple syrup in the batter is optional and I only had a little less than two tablespoons, which I ended up using. Nothing was left out.
Tools:
Bowl
Waffle Iron
Cooking Review:
Mix Batter: 16 minutes
The recipe calls for melted butter and lukewarm milk, so most of the time here is spent warming up the milk and melting the butter in the microwave on a lower power. In the meantime, I measured out the dry ingredients in a bowl. I added the warm milk and butter next along with the eggs and vanilla extract. I used a rubber spatula to mix the batter until no traces of flour were left (it doesn’t need to be completely smooth).
Rest & Refrigerate: 1 Hour +12 hours overnight (optional)
I let the batter sit on the counter covered for an hour before transferring it to the refrigerator overnight. You can go ahead and cook the waffles after the first hour if you don’t want to wait.
Cook Waffles: 20 minutes
After letting the waffle iron heat up, I sprayed it with cooking spray and poured just under a cup of the batter into the iron (the amount of batter you use really depends on your iron). I let it cook until the iron said they were done, about 5 minutes per waffle.
Analysis:
I think these waffles are more about the texture than the taste. The exterior has a very nice crispness to it and the interior is very soft, almost creamy. The flavor is very light, borderline bland. You can taste some of the effects of the yeast here and there adding a little tanginess. Other than that, there’s a little eggy flavor without syrup. Adding syrup makes them much better. The waffles don’t get soggy easily, so they retain their crispness pretty well with the syrup. Of course, the syrup adds some sweetness and nuttiness if you use maple syrup. I think these waffles would be a great base for just about any toppings you may want to put on them. They are sturdy, have great texture, and are able to soak up whatever flavors you throw at them. On their own, they are underwhelming, though. I’m going to give them a 6/10. If you just like waffles with syrup, I’m sure you could find a recipe that’s quicker and more flavorful.
