Light and crispy waffles

We love these light and crispy waffles. Our recipe is quick and easy and makes the best waffles made entirely from scratch. Switch to the Homemade Waffles recipe

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Here’s how to make our favorite waffle recipe

If you’re looking for light and crispy waffles, you’ve come to the right place. This easy waffle recipe makes waffles with the tenderest outside while being soft and fluffy on the inside.

These are the best waffles we’ve ever made at home. I often find waffles too dense and eggy, but not this one. These are light-footed.

Our recipe makes four thin waffles – as shown in the photos and video – or two to three thicker Belgian-style waffles. It’s also easy to double, so if you need to serve more people you can do so.

The recipe is quick to make and calls for ingredients that we always have in our kitchen. let me go through them. The full recipe is below.

Let me explain what you need so you can say goodbye to tasteless, fluffy waffles and hello to waffles that are light and crispy on the outside and tender in the middle.

• all purpose flour is my favorite flour for this recipe. It easily holds the waffles by their feet. Of course, you can substitute whole wheat flours like whole wheat or spelled flour, but expect them to be a bit denser.
• cornstarch is our secret ingredient for the crispiest waffles. Cornstarch guarantees that the waffles come out perfectly crispy and tender.
• baking powder and baking soda Help the waffles rise and brown. For the lightest waffles, I recommend using both.
• sugar, salt and vanilla extract Help the waffles taste great. I keep the amount of sugar low as I like to drizzle maple syrup on top, but you can increase the sugar for sweeter waffles.
• Vegetables oil is my favorite fat for these waffles. I’ve tried melted butter, and while it adds a buttery flavor, I prefer the texture with oil. You can experiment with it yourself; Just use the same amount of melted butter as the oil specified in the recipe.
• milk or buttermilk is the liquid in the dough. If I have buttermilk around the house I use it, but if I don’t have any, a combination of milk and some lemon juice or vinegar mimics buttermilk. If you don’t have lemon juice or vinegar, use plain milk. The waffles still taste great.
• An egg adds tenderness and gives structure. For the lightest, fluffiest waffles, separate the egg. Whisk the egg yolk with the milk, then beat the egg white until stiff and fold into the batter.

How to make buttermilk waffles

Many of our readers have asked if you can make the recipe with buttermilk. Of course the answer is 100% yes! In fact, we favor them with it.

Since most of us rarely have buttermilk in the fridge when the waffle craving strikes, use the trick of mixing regular milk and lemon juice (or vinegar) to mimic buttermilk. I’ve shared the ratio below in the tips section of the recipe.

Our best tips for making waffles

Don’t overwork the dough. As with pancakes or muffins, you want to be careful when mixing the wet and dry ingredients. Just beat or stir until just combined.

Set your waffle iron to the highest heat setting. In our experience, waffles turn out best when they are prepared at the highest level. But of course waffle irons vary. So if you have it set too high and feel the waffles are too dark, turn it back down a bit. We’ve tried four different waffle irons with this recipe and so far have not required any heat setting other than high.

Before preparing your waffles, preheat the oven to 200°F. To keep finished waffles crispy, place them directly on the oven rack.

Fill the waffle maker with enough batter to fill the entire bottom rack. The amount of batter you need depends on your waffle maker. For example, we add less than 1/2 cup to the waffle maker in our video and just over 3/4 cup to our thicker Belgian-style waffle maker.

For extra light and crispy waffles, separate the eggs. I know this is an extra step, but trust me, it’s worth it. If you don’t have time, you can also add the egg whole. Add it to the oil and milk mixture. The batter won’t be as thick and fluffy.

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Recipe updated originally posted February 2014. Since posting in 2014 we have tweaked the recipe to make it clearer and added a short recipe video. – Adam and Joanne

Light and crispy waffles

Makes 4 standard waffles or 2 to 3 thick waffles

Nutrition per serving: serving size 1 waffle / calories 255 / total fat 21.4g / Saturated Fatty Acids 16.3g / cholesterol 53.2 mg / sodium 161.5mg / carbohydrate 13.5g / fiber 0.1g / total sugar 6.2g / protein 3.6g

AUTHOR: Adam and Joanne Gallagher