The Perfect Waffle Recipe

Waffles are a wonderful thing.  And I've been looking for the perfect waffles recipe for a long, long, long time.  Well...as of yesterday morning...I finally found it.  These waffles are absolutely perfect. The difference between this recipe and every other boring, non-crispy waffle recipe is beating the egg whites and adding lemon zest.  The beating of the egg whites makes the waffles wonderfully crispy, and the lemon zest ties all the flavors together and gives the result an amazing taste.  Crispy on the outside, yet soft and fluffy on the inside, with a delicious flavor even plain. But who eats waffles plain?  These taste so amazing any way you dress them up.  I had sections of mine with a little peanut butter and maple syrup, strawberries and whipped cream and maple syrup, and the magnificent maple butter.  If you've never had maple butter, you have to try it!  It's absolutely phenomenal in oatmeal, on pancakes, waffles, or toast, and I also recently tried it in a sweet potato and it was sooo incredible.  My dad and I tasted it at a food festival downtown, and we were totally blown away and bought it instantly.  You can check it out here.  Also, I froze the leftover waffles I had and popped them in the toaster a few days later and they still tasted sooo delicious!  The lemon zest was a little more pronounced, giving them an amazing flavor, and they were perfectly crispy.


Yield: about 5 Belgian waffles.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 egg whites
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups milk
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat a waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt together in a mixing bowl; set aside. Beat egg whites until foamy in a separate large glass or metal mixing bowl (not until stiff peaks form...but right before that). Whisk the egg yolks, lemon zest, and vanilla extract together in a third bowl; whisk in the milk. Stir in the flour mixture until smooth. Fold in the melted butter and then the beaten egg whites until just incorporated.
3. Cook the waffles according to manufacturer's instructions until golden brown.  Top with desired toppings and serve immediately.