We love waffles at our house. There are some great waffle recipes out there, but a lot of them require you to whip egg whites or prepare the batter the night before, and sometimes you just want an easy waffle.
Enter Light and Crispy Waffles, also known at our house as the Waffles of Insane Greatness. I made them for the first time a few months ago after discovering them on the Food Network site and they have become a weekly deal for us. I mean, we pretty much always have the ingredients, they take a few minutes and a few dishes to whip up, and everyone’s happy with breakfast. Airy, crispy-tender, insanely great waffles. What more could you ask for?
Ingredients and Equipment Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour
- Cornstarch
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Table salt
- Buttermilk
- Vegetable oil
- Egg
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
Equipment
- Waffle iron – Waffle irons can vary a lot in size and capacity. Using a Belgian waffle iron (the round kind), this recipe will yield 7-8 4-inch Belgian waffles, or about 4 7-inch Belgian waffles. Does it have to be a Belgian waffle iron? Nope! Any waffle iron will do, your yield will just vary based on how much batter it needs.
How to Make Light and Airy Waffles
- These waffles are so simple! Whisk together the dry ingredients and then whisk in the wet ingredients. If you have time, you let the batter rest for a few minutes to allow the flour to fully absorb the wet ingredients, but you can also just cook it right away.
- Preheat your waffle iron. When hot add your batter and cook until golden brown. Serve immediately with chopped fresh fruit, whipped cream, maple syrup, or buttermilk syrup.
Storing and Other Tips
- Store finished, cooled waffles in an airtight container in the refrigerator and enjoy within 3-4 days for best results.
- You can make this batter smoother than you make pancake batter–don’t worry too much about over-mixing the ingredients!
- If possible, allow the batter to stand for 30 minutes. This allows the flour to fully hydrate, relaxes gluten, and allows air bubbles to form. All of these things help give the waffles their delicious light, airy texture.
- You can also refrigerate the batter overnight if you need to.
Frequently Asked Questions
To reheat from the fridge you can pop these in a toaster, or bake at 350°F for 5-8 minutes.
To reheat from frozen, you can toast straight from frozen or bake at 375° for 8-12 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 200°F with a baking sheet inside and transfer waffles to the baking sheet as you take them out of the waffle iron. If you want to keep them extra crispy, place them directly on the oven rack and do not stack. You can keep them in there for 30-45 minutes before serving this way.
Yep. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack then freeze in a single layer on a baking sheet until firm (about an hour). Transfer to a freezer-safe bag and enjoy within 2 months for best results.
I can’t guarantee exactly how these waffles would turn out with substitutions but, in theory, you should be able to replace the flour with a good 1:1 gluten-free flour blend and the buttermilk with a dairy-free milk or yogurt. If you need to substitute both, you may need an extra egg to help with structure.
Light & Crispy Waffles
Equipment
- waffle iron – Waffle irons can vary a lot in size and capacity. Using a Belgian waffle iron (the round kind), this recipe will yield 7-8 4-inch Belgian waffles, or about 4 7-inch Belgian waffles. Any waffle iron will do, your yield will just vary based on how much batter it needs.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ teaspoons sugar
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Whisk together the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and whisk until combined. Allow to stand for 30 minutes, if possible.
- Heat a Belgian waffle iron. Make waffles by ladling a generous ⅓ cup of batter into the waffle iron and cooking until golden brown, about 3-5 minutes per waffle. Serve with desired topping (Buttermilk Syrup is our favorite!)
Notes
- Store finished, cooled waffles in an airtight container in the refrigerator and enjoy within 3-4 days for best results.
- You can make this batter smoother than you make pancake batter–don’t worry too much about over-mixing the ingredients!
- If possible, allow the batter to stand for 30 minutes. This allows the flour to fully hydrate, relaxes gluten, and allows air bubbles to form. All of these things help give the waffles their delicious light, airy texture.
- You can also refrigerate the batter overnight if you need to.
Questions & Reviews
These are amazing, just made them for my 5 & 6 year old kiddos and they loved them! Made my own buttermilk also. These were easy, fast and delicious!!! I will be making these again and again!
I forgot to say that I used a regular waffle maker – that’s all that I have – and they were great!
I tried these for our Saturday morning breakfast. They were a big hit with my boys. This is my new go-to waffle recipe!
These were delicious! My husband got a belgium waffle maker for Christmas and I’ve been playing around with it most weekends. He said these were so light it was hard to keep them on the plate! I subbed homemade buttermilk, made with 1% milk (just what I have). Scant cup of milk with 1 Tbl. lemon juice.
Thanks for sharing…can’t wait to try the buttermilk syrup out on him, but going to wait until I have real buttermilk.
Anyone tried subbing arrowroot powder for the cornstarch?
So… I definitely want to try this Monday morning to surprise my husband… does it have to be made in a “Belgian waffle maker”? We have a cheapy normal waffle maker we got when we were married, will that work as well?
I don’t know for sure…I haven’t tried, but I imagine it would be okay. 🙂
Also, so I know you can replace oil with applesauce in stuff like brownies… do you think it would work here? On WW and trying to minimize the points 😉
I get it! 🙂 The first time around, I’d use oil so you can get a feel for what it’s supposed to be like, so then if you make it with applesauce and if it’s gross, you’ll know that that’s the culprit… 🙂
Good idea, thanks!
Hi! I just made these for dinner tonight and they were AWESOME! Super easy an way better than a mix! I even made the Buttermilk Caramel Syrup too….sooooo YUMMY! I didn’t have any buttermilk, so I made my own using vinegar and milk and they still turned out fantastic. Now I do wonder, I made my waffles with low fat milk, egg beaters, etc.; but do you think that I could have used applesauce for the oil? Or would that be going too far? Although…why do I even bother? The syrup probably had a bazillion calories in it because it was so delicious!
YAY! I’m so glad they turned out great! You could try subbing oil and see how it works–you might want to start with half oil half applesauce and then go from there. Let us know how it works out! 🙂
I will confess that I’ve always used a store bought dry mix for waffles and pancakes. But, I ran out a few weeks ago and convinced myself that I could make my own. I have tried a couple different recipes. Blah! Worse than the store bought mixes! This is the first recipe I’ve seen with cornstarch. Yes, we had waffles tonight for dinner so I could try these out…definitely a keeper: light, fluffy and crispy (and didn’t stick to the waffle iron)…just the way we like them! My kids didn’t even put syrup on them they were so good! So, I always top my waffles (and french toast) with pie filling and whipped topping. Seriously, I alway have an opened can of pie filling in my fridge just for that. Got any recipes for making our own “pie filling”?
AWESOME. I’m so happy they were a success!! 🙂
In the first picture, I thought the red bowl had cottage cheese in it!
Ha!! That would have been an interesting waffle, lol.
Actually, I have a delicious waffle recipe that calls for cottage cheese and you mix it all in the blender. Surprising, but good!
2 questions for you:
1. Have you tried it with whole wheat flour?
2. Have you ever used powdered buttermilk in a recipe like this?
1. I’ve tried it with 1/2 white and 1/2 whole wheat, but I’ve never taken te completely whole wheat plunge. If you try it, let us know how it goes!! 🙂
2. Never tried powdered buttermilk, but I HAVE tried it using regular milk with a teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar and it works great. I’ve also used regular milk and they come out fine.
I used powdered buttermilk this morning and thought they turned out great! I haven’t made them using real buttermilk, so I have nothing to compare them to, but I know I will be making this recipe again 🙂
Also, I used a regular waffle iron because that’s all I have and it seemed to work fine. Thanks again for the great recipe!