Classic Belgian Waffles

David and I bought the most amazing All-Clad 4 waffle maker over the holidays.  It's already more than paid for itself.  We make waffles every weekend.

I found a few recipes and a friend gave me a recipe from Belgium, and we've settled on this one.  It makes perfect waffles every time and it's easy to whip up.

You will need:

2 c. all-purpose flour
2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
4 large eggs, separated
2 T. sugar
1/2 t. vanilla extract
4 T. butter, half a stick, melted
2 c. buttermilk (or 2 T lemon juice and the rest of the 2 c filled with milk and left to sit 5-10 minutes)
non stick cooking spray

Grade B maple syrup
butter for dressing

Get out a batter bowl and 2 other larger bowls.  In the batter bowl, sift together the flour, powder and salt.  I add a pinch of cinnamon, but you don't have to.  Set aside.

In the other two bowls, separate the egg yolks and whites, yolks in one and whites in the other.  Set the whites aside. 

In the yolk bowl, add the sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves.  Melt the butter (30 seconds on defrost in our house) and then slowly drizzle in the butter so it doesn't cook your eggs, and add the milk and vanilla.  Mix until incorporated well. 

Pour the egg, milk mixture into the flour mixture in the batter bowl.  Mix until it just comes together.  Do not over mix.  Set aside.

Using a hand mixer, beat the egg whites until they form medium peaks.  Then fold them into the batter bowl turning it in one direction while using a spatula to gently fold in the whites.  This will create an airy and fluffy waffle.

Spray your waffle iron with non-stick spray.  We use crisco spray because it wipes off and doesn't ruin the iron.  Then heat your waffle iron to desired heat.  Ours gets set on 5 and lights up green and beeps when it's ready.  

Fill the iron with the right amount of waffle batter for yours and let it cook until golden brown.  Our iron beeps when the waffle is done, but I like it slightly less done, so I take it out after 5ish minutes.  David likes them very done and crunchy, so I let his go until it beeps.

I enjoy mine with either a little butter and a drizzle of pure maple syrup, or I sometimes put a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some berries on top.  David likes powdered sugar sometimes.  Every once in a while we toss some nuts in the batter.  Pecans taste great.  

This recipe yields 8 large square waffles.