Perfect waffles are hard to do. Lucky for me, I have the recipe. But when I stumbled across Tim Ferriss’ Yeast Waffles’ recipe, I got curious. After all, who wouldn’t take cooking advice from the guy eating microwaved egg whites for breakfast? 😜
All jokes aside, I actually really enjoy Tim Ferriss’ 4-Hour Chef. I’ve had the book for a few years now and I enjoy picking it up from time to time. I’ll often just open it at a random page, as there are lots of random things you can learn in this book.
His waffle recipe seemed interesting because it was different from all the other waffle recipes I’ve tried. Instead of using baking powder or whipped egg whites, it relies on yeast. Let’s give it a try!
Yeast Waffles
Another Take on Waffles, but with yeast!
- Before you get started, note that this recipe calls for at least 2 hours of resting time before you can cook your waffles. I actually let the batter rest overnight in the fridge. Nothing better than waking up and only having to plug the waffle maker. :)
- I used Instant Dry Yeast because that’s what we have at home, and that’s what Tim recommends. In fact, he specifies “not active dry yeast”. I’m sure you can make it work with other types of yeast though; just make sure you use the right amount. This may help.
- Make sure to prepare your batter in a very large bowl; it tripled in size overnight!
- I let my melted butter cool down before to add it to my batter. I didn’t want a sudden raise in temperature to mess things up with the yeast. It may not change anything, but better safe than sorry!
- Some of my waffles didn’t look good; they were flat and not as crispy as the others. I quickly understood that it was really important for my waffle maker to be really hot. I ended up doing something I never do; instead of warming up the waffle maker only once and then making waffle after waffle without waiting in between, I waited between each round and made sure the waffle maker was hot again before to pour more batter.
Ingredients
- 300 g flour
- 15 g instant yeast
- 400 ml milk
- 120 g of melted butter
- 2 teaspoons of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 2 eggs
Props Tim Ferriss for this recipe!
Directions
The night before.In a large bowl, mix all your ingredients, and whisk well so there are no lumps. Then cover and let rest at least 2 hours at room temperature, or overnight in the fridge.
In the morning.
Marvel at how your batter tripled in volume overnight, and briefly wonder how you’ll be able to eat so many waffles. Then stir the batter a bit; it should come back down to a more manageable amount. Then cook your waffles as you normally would. You’ll find that your batter isn’t as liquid as with other recipes. Don’t worry about it. Just make sure not to put too much batter in the waffle maker as the waffles tend to really rise as you cook them.
Let’s talk a bit about the result. I really liked the waffles. They were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. They had a bit of a yeasty flavour that I really liked. My daughter, however, prefers when waffles have more of a sweet taste. In the future I may try that recipe again but with less salt, and with some vanilla or some rum extract to the batter to mask the yeasty taste a bit for those who are not the biggest fans. I don’t think any of this is necessary if you’re more into savory waffles.
It is also worth noting that the waffles were a bit too dry on the following day. My other waffles taste much better, they don’t get dry that quickly. I might be able to fix this by replacing some of the milk by water, beer, or apple cider. Until then I’ll stick to making smaller portions so there are no leftovers. :)
Give that recipe and let me know how it went, or if you have any tips to improve it!
