Our eldest has been experiencing conflict at her middle school.
It’s not bullying or anything like that. It’s not even the usual boy/girl drama.
No, it’s quite a bit more serious than that: it’s the age-old question of whether pancakes are better than waffles. Apparently, my daughter leans toward waffles. This is unfortunate for me because I have a really great pancake recipe that I’ve used for years.
I haven’t had such good luck with waffles. For a long time, I just bought waffle mix at the grocery store or online. But when none of the options at the grocery were compatible with our food allergies and my favorite online option grew prohibitively expensive, I took matters into my own hands. I decided to try a few recipes to see if I could find one winner like I did years ago with pancakes.
My first stop was my cookbook collection. I tried the basic recipes I found in two of my favorite cookbooks, Betty Crocker and King Arthur Flour. Then I tried one from my favorite food blog and another from allrecipes.com.
None of these were bad. But to be perfectly frank, I wanted to make something that wouldn’t be mistaken for a waffle that came from a box.
Not that I’m against waffle mixes. But I am going to the trouble of making something from scratch, I dang sure want it to taste like I made it from scratch. I may be doing it out of necessity, but I also demand that it be delicious.
Finally, I ran across this recipe in an issue of Real Simple magazine. It is basically like the other recipes I’ve tried with two important differences: one, it calls for browned butter, and two, it makes a lot at once.
I don’t know if you’ve ever cooked with browned butter, but if you haven’t yet, it’s high time you tried it. Imagine the pure unadulterated joy of butter … made better. Browning the butter makes it take on this incredibly rich, buttery, nutty flavor and scent.
Basically, if you have a recipe you like that calls for melted butter — for cookies or pie or even Rice Krispies treats — try substituting browned butter for an equal amount of regular butter. It’ll rock your whole world.
At any rate, when I saw that this recipe called for browned butter and was a “big batch” recipe, which in my family translates to enough for a whole meal plus enough leftover for a few quick breakfasts, I knew it was a potential winner.
I was not disappointed. Our family agrees.
In fact, when Julia let it slip that she had a leftover waffle for breakfast this morning, Zack exclaimed, “Oh! I forgot we had those leftover! I’ll have one tomorrow!” and Julia responded, “Shoot! I wanted them all for myself!” That, friends, is a winner.
(Amelia Plair is a mom and high school teacher in Starkville. Email reaches her at [email protected])
BIG BATCH BROWNED BUTTER WAFFLES
3/4 cup butter
4 large eggs, separated
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Oil for oiling waffle iron
Note: These freeze well if you have leftovers. Place on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer. If you need to freeze multiple layers, place a layer of parchment paper between the layers. Once waffles are frozen solid (a few hours or overnight), remove to freezer-quality ziptop bags for storage. Reheat in toaster as needed.
(Source: Real Simple magazine)
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