When this recipe came out in The Best Recipe, by the editors of Cook’s Illustrated (1999), Chris and Andy were still living at home. We love our waffles and Andy’s kitchen training included egg separation. He regularly quintupled this recipe to provide enough waffles for himself and Chris and the parents.
This recipe makes enough for two or three people of normal appetite (as opposed to the teenaged boys of 1999), so if you are making breakfast for 10, I would recommend quadrupling the recipe.
You could replace up to half the all-purpose flour with whole-wheat flour. Any more than that would change the character of the waffles, displeasing my audience.
If you are determined to have waffles in a hurry, you can skip separating the eggs and just mix the eggs, buttermilk, and melted butter together. They will still be delicious! And you can even leave out the cornmeal.
The secret to great waffles is thick batter, so don’t expect a pourable batter. The cornmeal adds a pleasant crunch to the finished waffle.
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornmeal
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 egg, separated
7/8 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Heat waffle iron. Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Whisk yolk with buttermilk and butter.
Beat egg white until it just holds a 2-inch peak.
Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients in a thin steady stream while mixing gently with a rubber spatula. (Do not add liquid faster than you can incorporate it into the batter.) Toward end of mixing, use a folding motion to incorporate ingredients. Gently fold egg whites into batter.
Spread appropriate amount of batter onto waffle iron. Cook waffles until golden brown, 2 to 5 minutes. Serve immediately.
Note: if you do not have any buttermilk, substitute regular milk and add 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder.