Light, Crisp Waffles

These waffles smell and taste divine! They inspired Alyssa so much she took at least 20 pictures of them. Make sure you set your waffle iron temperature high enough to get the waffles crisp. These are the lightest waffles I have ever tasted. The recipe is easy to double (or even triple). Don’t stack the waffles to make sure they don’t turn moist and limp. I served the waffles with homemade strawberry syrup. I made the syrup by combining about 1 cup strawberry puree, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 cup maple syrup in a small saucepan. I brought the syrup to a boil, then simmered it until the waffles were done.

¾ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup buttermilk
¼ cup milk
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large egg, separated
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Syrup (for serving)

Heat oven to 200°F. Mix flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Put buttermilk, milk and vegetable oil in a 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup, mix in yolk, and set aside.

Beat egg white almost to soft peaks. Sprinkle in sugar and continue to beat until whites are firm and glossy. Beat in vanilla.

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and whisk until just mixed. Add egg white to batter in dollops and fold in with a spatula until just incorporated.

Add batter to hot waffle iron and cook until crisp and nutty brown. Set waffle on oven rack for at least 5 minutes and up to 20 minutes to keep it warm and crisp. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve immediately with syrup.

• For whole grain waffles, add ¼ cup wheat germ to dry ingredients.

• For chocolate chip waffles, stir ½ cup coarsely chopped chocolate chips (or ½ cup mini chocolate chips) into batter before folding in egg white.

• For cornmeal waffles, reduce flour to ½ cup and add ½ cup cornmeal.

• For cranberry-orange waffles, stir in 2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest and ½ cup coarsely chopped dried cranberries into batter before folding in egg white.