Basic Waffles

No, they're not pancakes. They're the fussier, fancier cousin of pancakes. Waffles require a single-use appliance, either whipped egg whites or a yeast-based batter which has to rise overnight, and you're at the mercy of your waffle iron's cooking speed.

And while you can use pancake batter in a waffle iron and get decent results, waffles are better when they are airy on the inside and crispy on the outside. This recipe adds a little cinnamon, which I think goes beautifully with maple syrup. If you're planning an incompatible topping, you could leave the cinnamon out or substitute a different spice (dried lemon or orange zest, a small dash of almond extract, your pantry's the limit)

Basic Waffles

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 1/2 cup cooking oil
• 2 egg whites

Directions:

1. Heat your waffle iron according to the directions.
2. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl with a whisk. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Set aside.
4. In a third (and final, I swear!) bowl, whisk the egg yolks, milk, and cooking oil.
5. Add the liquids (minus the egg-white-foam) to the dry ingredients, and blend. I use a hand mixer here (since its already dirty from the egg whites), but stop just after all of the major lumps are gone. 
6. With a spatula, fold the egg whites into the batter.
7. Spray your waffle iron with cooking spray (go without if you're brave and your iron is especially new, but mine always stick if I skip this step).
8. Pour batter into the iron, close, and cook until the steaming stops and the waffles are a light golden brown.

Notes:

You don't absolutely need a hand mixer for this recipe, but I hope you have strong wrists. And if all you have is a stand mixer, good luck. My 5-qt Kitchenaid is useless at whisking less than half a dozen egg whites.

If you aren't loading cooked waffles directly onto empty plates, then you may want to let them cool in a single layer on a wire rack before stacking. If you are making a lot of them, heat your oven to 200, put the cooling rack onto a cookie sheet (or re-purpose your broiler pan), and keep your waffles warm in the oven until its time to eat.   If you let them get steamy, then you will have a plate full of soggy odd-shaped pancakes to serve.

If you have extra waffles, put them in plastic bags in the freezer. Pop one or two directly from the freeze into the toaster oven for a quick breakfast. And these are heck of a lot cheaper than the supermarket brands.

Basic Pancakes

Pancakes are our family's favorite Saturday morning breakfast. They can be changed up and topped with an infinite variety of flavors to mix things up.

But first things first. The basic recipe. The one almost every other one is built from.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 2 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled

Directions:

1. Heat a griddle or skillet. For an electric griddle, follow the instructions. I set mine to 325, or a skillet to medium heat. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients with a whisk and set aside.
3. In a second bowl, whisk all of the wet ingredients together, making sure to disperse the egg. The liquid should be pale yellow
4. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and stir with  a spatula until the batter just comes together. There will be lumps, but they shouldn't be huge. 
5. Pour batter onto your hot griddle/pan and cook until the top side looks almost dry. Then flip with a spatula and cook until the other side is a light golden brown.

Makes:
About 8 4-6" pancakes.  This recipe doubles (or triples!) easily.

Notes:

A nonstick skillet is not necessary. I made pancakes for years with a 10" stainless steel frying pan. The trick is to make sure your pan is hot before adding the batter, or the pancake will stick. Cooking spray is not entirely necessary either, assuming that pan is hot. For a non-stick pan that has seen better days, you might want the spray.  To test to see if the pan is hot enough, flick a few drops of plain water on the surface. They should sizzle and evaporate almost instantly.

If you use a thin skillet, then be prepared to adjust the stove temperature the first time or two you make these. You can always turn up the heat a tad, or take the pan off the burner if its too hot.

Canola oil can be substituted for the butter, but the butter makes it richer :).

We drink skim milk almost exclusively in our house, but I've made these with 2% and whole also, with no adjustments to the recipe.

Put leftover pancakes into the freezer and pop them directly into the toaster for a quick mid-week breakfast (or dessert!)