Waffles of Really Good Greatness

Schlepped into NYC on Thursday for my semi-annual check-up (trains and automobiles, no planes, although we did have to walk almost across the entire width of Manhattan island ... with all that traffic it's faster than a bus or cab).  All my (remaining) parts were determined to be working correctly, so theHubby and I triumphantly schlepped back home to NJ.  Unfortunately, some of the junk lunch we had along the way didn't quite agree with him so I figured a little comfort food for dinner was in order.   I suggested waffles, to which theHubby said, "Why, not?" Which from him meant, "Oh, yes, PLEASE!" 

I had recently found a nice new waffle recipe called Waffles of Insane Greatness from Shine Food, and was itching to try it, mostly because of its name.  It substitutes corn starch for some of the regular ol' flour,  taking several paragraphs to explain why this makes for awesome crispness.  It also mentions that the recipe is fantastic for when your fridge "is running on empty," which by an amazing coincidence was the exact state my own fridge was in.

So I made breakfast for dinner, only slightly altering the order of ingredients, adding the sugar along with the dry ingredients instead of with the wet stuff.  A combination of butter and oil was used, since there were only 2 tablespoons of butter in the fridge. Also, since I only keep buttermilk powder on hand, the powder went in with the sugar, and the reconstituting water along with its liquid brethren.  The original says that whole milk can sub for the buttermilk, but I like the light tanginess that buttermilk normally gives to waffles and to pancakes.

The mixture was rather thin, and the resultant waffles were slightly thinner than my usual recipe, which might have been the result of using buttermilk powder rather than the real thing.  Or it could have been because it was almost 7pm and everyone was starving so I only let the mixture rest for 15 minutes instead of the full 30. But theHubby declared them to be "not bad ... make it again," which roughly translates to, "Freakin' amazing, dude!"  Because the waffles were not insanely great, I had to reluctantly downgrade the title, at least until I can try it again with real buttermilk.

Speakin' of freakin', waffles can also be served shmeared with jam.  I mention this here because when we returned home, leaning against my door was a package containing a very nice-sized jar of strawberry-vanilla jam, tucked in with a few other items, from Freakin' Flamingo, a micro-batch jam company based in South Florida .  It arrived barely 2 days after I was notified of the win, and only took 2 seconds after opening to dive in. A big shout-out to Renée and her yummy jams!  Two disclaimers:  1) I was not paid for this endorsement, unless you count the freebies I won fair and square, and 2) the label does not have a hechsher.

But I digress ...

The original waffle recipe says that it yields four servings.  That is true ... if you are serving them alongside other foods.  I barely eeked out 3 servings of 4 small waffles each.   If you are feeding true waffle-lovers, double the recipe. And use real buttermilk. 

Waffles of Really Good Greatness
 slightly adapted from Shine Food
Yield: 3 small servings

3/4 cup unbleached flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup vegetable oil or melted butter (or a combination as I did)
1 egg
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
Butter and pancake syrup (optional)

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.

Make a well in the center, then drop in buttermilk, vegetable oil and/or butter, egg and vanilla, whisking until completely incorporated, stirring up from bottom as you go.

Let batter sit for 30 minutes, 15 if you are in a hurry.  The mixture will be slightly bubbly.

Heat waffle iron as per your waffle iron's directions. Pour in amount of waffle mixture as per your waffle iron's directions.  Cook as per your waffle iron's directions or until browned to your liking.

Serve (preferably) immediately  with butter and pancake syrup.  If you'd rather serve everyone at once, place freshly cooked waffles in a single layer on a baking rack in a 200F oven.