Raised (Overnight) Waffles

This is my favorite waffle recipe for a couple of reasons. The waffles are crisp on the outside, without having to separate your eggs, then beat and fold in the egg whites, and you mix this batter the night before so it's ready to go as soon as you walk in the kitchen the next morning. I've used this recipe the most for the past several years. I have a sourdough recipe I also like, but you have to keep up with the starter for that one, so this is a little easier. I can't remember where I first got this recipe, but I've only made a couple of small changes to the original.

Raised Waffles

1 stick butter (do not subsitute margarine in this - it won't cook the same)
1 & 3/4 c. milk
1 c. whole wheat pastry flour*
1 c. unbleached, all-purpose flour*
1 Tbls. sugar
2 & 1/2 tsp. instant yeast
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

*You can use regular whole wheat instead of whole wheat pastry flour, or if you like you can use all-purpose for both cups of flour. I use half and half because the whole wheat is better for you, but I don't like the texture of the waffles if I use whole wheat for all the flour in this recipe. Half and half is a compromise between healthy and taste, or in this case texture. I doesn't do any good to make ultra healthy food if nobody will eat it.

Whisk together the flour(s), sugar (ours is raw, so it's light brown), salt, and yeast.

Use a large bowl because it will rise overnight.

Melt your butter in a small saucepan.

In the interest of time, you can melt the butter while you're mixing the dry ingredients.

Once the butter is melted add the milk and heat just until it's warm to the touch.

Slowly pour the milk and butter into the dry mixture while whisking.

Beat together the eggs and vanilla.

To minimize dirty dishes I do this in the measuring cup I used for the milk.

Then whisk the egg mixture into the batter.

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, preheat your waffle iron and pull out your batter; it will have poofed quite a bit.

There was more batter than this - I had already started cooking before I remembered the camera.

I usually only have to spray my iron before cooking the first set of waffles. There is enough butter in the waffles to keep the iron greased during cooking.

Pour on the batter...

...and cook 'til they're a nice golden brown.

They are so good.

One of the changes I made to the original recipe was that it told you to stir the batter before cooking the next morning. The waffles still taste the same, but they are more dense when you do that, and not as crisp. Since I like my waffles to be crispy on the outside and light and airy on the inside, I try to disturb the batter as little as possible when I'm scooping it out to pour on the waffle iron, but you can do as you please.

This works well for us on Sunday mornings because I don't have to spend the time to mix anything up. I just preheat the waffle iron while I finish getting ready for church, then walk in the kitchen and start cooking. I'll heat the syrup while the first batch of waffles is cooking and call the girls to set the table. Waffles only come out a few at a time, so it works well since everyone is taking turns through the bathrooms. I know, not the kind of thing you'd normally want to talk about when sharing a recipe, but it's one of the real-life problems you have to work through in a larger-than-average familiy.

Leftover waffles can be frozen and reheated under the broiler in the oven. This will warm them and allow them get crisp again. Just keep a close eye because they will burn quickly.