Anyhoo, one of the best things I've ever eaten, to this day.
--Wag--
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Grandma's WafflesThis is the best waffle recipe I've ever encountered, bar none. My Grandmother made this recipe for us kids for as long as I can remember so that's a great track record in excess of 40 years. One of the great pleasures of going to Grandma's house was that she would spend the morning making waffles for us and she always made sure she had the stuff to do it. If we were there with all of our cousins, she really had her work cut out for her, bless her generous heart! I should mention that she had an old mixer and an old waffle iron which never changed during the entire time I knew her. They just don't make stuff like that any more and honestly, I wish I had asked her for them when she decided she was too old to stand in the kitchen that long any more. What a loss.
Back on track, though. It's a bit involved to make, however, which is why you'll never see it in a restaurant, no matter HOW good it is, On the other hand, it isn't difficult if you follow the directions. It's quite a bit of work but worth EVERY moment of eating pleasure! When you're done making this recipe, people will worship the ground you walk on!
Guaranteed.
There are some small tricks to making it work, however. The first is the Waffle Sauce that goes with it. I'll include that recipe here at the bottom of the waffle recipe. The second is that you MUST sift your flour. You may find that you have to sift it two or even three times. If you think you're going to go to the store and buy pre-sifted flour and expect the excellent results of a disciplined, devoted cook, you're sadly mistaken. The kitchen will not be your friend this morning. Another trick is that you WILL need a beater or hand-held mixer of some kind. A hand-held will work. You will NOT be able to successfully make this recipe by beating it by hand. Give it a try, though, if you like wasting time. I dare ya! It's a miserable effort and only works about half the time if you REALLY know what you're doing. Other little tricks you need will be noted in the instructions below.
Here's the stuff you'll need:
4 eggs
2 cups of SIFTED flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking SODA
1 teaspoon of baking POWDER
2 cups of buttermilk
1 cup (two sticks) of melted butter.
Okay, normally, we list things in the order of use and it's no exception here. However, note that the last item is MELTED butter so you'll want to get that melted before you start off with everything else. You'll know why in a bit. If you don't know the tricks of the trade some tricks here. First off, if the sticks of butter have been pre softened, that will aid the melting process a great deal. If not, get a knife out and cut the butter up into the saucepan and it will melt more easily. Not faster, more easily. Keep the heat on low. Butter is a fat and burns VERY easily and you don't want to have to break out the fire extinguisher. Take your time here. Immediately after it's all melted, turn off the burner. If you have an electric stove, remember to get it off the burner. It should stay liquid until you need it.
In a too-large bowl, beat the eggs until they are fluffy. More is not necessarily better but they need a thorough beating, to be sure. If you're angry with your errant children or spouse, you may get better results. :-)
In another bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients. Like I said before, you'll likely need to do this two or even three times. Gluten free flour works with this recipe but sift a minimum of three times. You'll see the difference in the flour when you're done. Also, with gluten free flour, you may wish to use a slight bit more baking soda and powder but feel free to experiment depending on the flour you are using.
This next step is critical. You want to get the mixer or hand beater going at a moderate pace in the eggs. Second or third to lowest setting works pretty well for my hand mixer. The second to lowest works best in my sister-in-law's Kitchenaid. Then, starting with some of the flour you sifted up, add the flour and buttermilk alternately to the eggs. You'll want to start AND end with the flour. I don't know why this works but it does and I don't deviate from it. Don't take all day, though. Give it four or five or six alternations before ending and you're good to go. I just don't want you to alternate with a teaspoon at a time and expect it to turn out okay a couple of hours later!
When I use a hand mixer, I get everything ready on the left side of the bowl first. That way, I can keep the mixer going with my right hand while I add flour and buttermilk with my left. It can be a bit tricky but not too difficult to manage. You'll figure it out. If it's too demanding, just shut off the mixer each time if you find it necessary. It's okay!
After the last of the flour is added, blend it up fairly well and scrape any flour down from the sides of the bowl and blend that in too. The mixer is mandatory in my opinion because it gets all the lumpiness of the flour out very fast.
Last, while the mixer is still going, gradually pour in the melted butter. Make sure the butter is not too hot. If you forgot to melt it up first and you're just now taking it off the stove, give it a few minutes to cool off but obviously, don't let it solidify again. Blend the butter into the mixture thoroughly. It should only take a minute give or take.
Here's a thought. The first waffle you bake is never as good as the last and I think it's because the batter has time to sit for a while. For this reason, I always let the batter rest for a few minutes after blending while I make the waffle sauce recipe below. It only takes about three or four minutes. But if I let the batter sit, the first waffles come out a bit better. Go figure. Something to do with the baking powder and baking soda having time to fizz in the batter. Fluffies them up somehow.
Follow the instructions on using your waffle iron. You'll have to adjust temperature and time in order to get it right but when you get it right, the waffles will come out just a tad crispy but not too crispy. You still want them to be fluffy and if you followed the instructions above, they will be, I assure you.
I always slather on some butter, in spite of the huge content of butter which has already gone into this, just because I love butter. I'm sure I'll be paying for a condo for a cardiologist some day but I'm the one who will have had all the fun first, not him! Top it off with some waffle sauce or your favorite syrup or fruit sauce and you're in hog heaven!!!
I've had it suggested that the above recipe is a good base and you could easily add some stuff to it. I've never tried to do so but I have no reason to think you couldn't add some blueberries or pecans or other tasties. My recommendation, however, is to make sure they are completely dry and that you don't overblend them into the batter. You want to keep the batter and the berry juice or whatever separate as much as possible, my opinion, of course. Experiment to your heart's content. I suggest, though, that you make a batch, then separate it into portions then experiment with each one all at the same time. It's just a lot of work to make a whole batch for each experiment.
These waffles should toast up just fine, too. If you let the leftover waffles cool on the counter without being stacked atop one another, they should freeze up nicely. My belgian waffle maker makes about eight full waffles and we can only eat about three of them between the wiff and I.
Okay, now for the coup de grace, the Waffle Sauce!
Grandma's Waffle Sauce
This is where you really will slay 'em. It's great for waffles but also good on french toast or pancakes. I'm sure you can find other places where it will work for you. If you use it in the bedroom, send me photos. :-)
The ingredients:
1 stick of butter
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of buttermilk
1 tablespoon of light Karo syrup
Note: You can use dark Karo syrup if you don't have light. Works just as well.
Heat the above in a too-large sauce pan on the stove until it's boiling. It will be a bit foamy.
IMPORTANT STEP: REMOVE FROM THE HEAT!
Add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and stir like crazy! This is going to cause it to foam up quite excessively and if you used a pan that's too small, it will go right up over the side and onto the stove in the blink of an eye. Especially if you still have it on the heat! It can be quite entertaining, actually, to watch a newbie do this! The first time you make this recipe, do this step over the sink so you can get an idea of how much it foams. And make the cleanup a lot easier. You can adjust the size of the pan accordingly for future attempts. Note the stir like crazy comment. This will help control the foaming action as well as blend the soda into the sauce.
When it's done foaming up, clean up any mess and spread it over the waffles! If you want, add 1/2 teaspoon of maple flavoring or almond flavoring or just leave it as is. This should be a good base to use for whatever flavors you may wish to have. I've been wanting to try adding a tad bit of orange flavoring or even some mango, just to see what it does. Careful with fresh citrus, however. It may do strange things to the sauce. Use a flavoring rather than the fresh juice.
Also, I recommend doubling up on this recipe or halving the waffle recipe. The sauce gets used up pretty quickly!
If you have leftover sauce (highly unlikely) put it in the fridge. It will separate out but you can stir it up and microwave it but remember, it will foam up in the microwave so keep an eye on it while it's heating up.
Enjoy!
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