Ultimate Crispy and Fluffy Waffles

This is my go-to recipe for waffles, and it’s breakfast in this house every Sunday morning. Waffles can be tough to get right; sometimes they’re soggy, sometimes they’re rock hard. They can lack flavor or sweetness, or be way over seasoned. To me though, the most important thing is the texture. I need my waffles to be fluffy on the inside, and crispy on the outside. Second to that, they need to be able to hold up to maple syrup and not become a soggy mess on the plate.

These are, hands down, the best waffles I’ve ever eaten. They have the perfect amount of flavor and sweetness, and they stand up to any amount of syrup that I throw at them.

The step pictures are a little lacking this time around, things were crazy. Sorry. Also, this is a recipe that I adapted from The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, which I highly recommend. It’s my go-to cookbook for everything!

Get all your stuff out: buttermilk, flour, salt, ground cornmeal, brown sugar, baking soda, two eggs (separated), melted butter, cream of tartar.

Add the pinch of cream of tartar to the egg whites.

Beat to stiff peaks.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cornmeal, and brown sugar.

Mix the egg yolks into the buttermilk, then add to the flour mixture.

Mix in the melted butter. (I usually use my hand mixer for all of this, but Oliver wanted to help and he likes the whisk).

Fold in the whipped egg whites. You have to fold these in, don’t use a mixer. It’s the egg whites that keep the waffles fluffy.

Here’s the finished batter.

Just use your spatula to spread it out across your waffle maker.

Voila! Perfect, crispy, fluffy waffles full of just the right amount of flavor and chew! Enjoy!

Here’s the printable:

Ultimate Crispy and Fluffy Waffles

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

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Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tbsp fine-ground cornmeal
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 2 large eggs, separated
• Pinch cream of tartar
• 4 tbsp butter, melted
• 1¾ cups buttermilk

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, brown sugar, salt, and baking soda.
2. In a medium (metal or glass) bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tarter until stiff peaks form, set aside.
3. In a two cup measuring cup, stir together the egg yolks and buttermilk. Beat the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture. Mix in the melted butter.
4. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter.
5. Pour batter into your pre-heated waffle iron and cook to desired doneness (I prefer well done).