The ultimate overnight waffles

Adapted from Mark Bittman

These are the best waffles ever, crisp on the outside, light on the inside, with distinctive yeasty flavor which I love (usually, waffle recipes are based on a baking powder, which gives OK results too, but trust me - once you try those yeasted ones, you will never go back to the ”main stream” ones)!

It doesn't really matter whether it is Sunday lazy morning or busy Monday morning. There is very little preparation involved. A perfect almost no-work breakfast as the most difficult part of this recipe is remembering to get it started the night before!

Ingredients: (4-6 servings)

5 g fresh yeast (or ½ tsp instant yeast)
280 g all-purpose flour
2 tsp sugar

½ tsp salt
450 ml milk
100 g melted butter
½ vanilla bean

2 eggs
ghee butter, cocoa fat or any other neutral oil (for brushing the waffle iron)

Method:

1. The night before you want to serve the waffles, in a large bowl dissolve the yeast in milk, add sugar, salt, flour than the cooled melted butter and vanilla. The mixture will be very loose.

2. Cover and set aside overnight at room temperature.

3. In the morning, separate the two eggs. Stir the yolks into the batter. Beat the whites and gently fold them into the batter.

4. Brush the cold waffle iron with ghee or oil. Switch it on. Make sure it is very hot, and then pour enough batter onto the waffle iron to barely cover it; bake until the waffle is done, usually 3 to 5 minutes, depending on your iron. Serve immediately while making the next batch. 

Notes:

Waffles taste heavenly served with pure maple syrup; a few stripes of fried bacon on the side won’t do the harm and certainly will make umami lovers happy.

Waffles are meant to be eaten immediately! However, if you have to keep waffles warm until you’re ready to serve them - heat the oven to 100°C and place the cooked waffles directly on the oven rack without stacking. This keeps the waffles warm and crisp, whereas stacking makes them soggy.

Sometimes, to make waffles slightly healthier, I substitute 1/3 of all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour.