Buttermilk
by: Merrill Stubbs
December17,2018
5
12 Ratings
- Prep time 10 minutes
- Cook time 20 minutes
- Serves 6 to 8
Jump to Recipe
Author Notes
I make waffles most weekends—and if I don’t, I feel a little regret. We have two waffle makers and our fridge is perpetually stocked with buttermilk. You can usually find a leftover waffle or two in there, ready for a quick toast whenever the urge strikes. And whenever we have people over for a meal before 1 p.m., they get waffles. This recipe is adapted from the base of Kenji Lopéz-Alt's Bacon, Cheese, and Scallion Waffles on Serious Eats (just with more butter). —Merrill Stubbs
- Test Kitchen-Approved
What You'll Need
Watch This Recipe
ButtermilkWaffles
Ingredients
- 2 cups(250 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoonbaking soda
- 1 teaspoonbaking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoonskosher salt
- 2 tablespoonssugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cupsbuttermilk (the best you can get)
- 5 tablespoons(65 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Directions
- In a large bowl (if you really want to make your life easier, use one with a pour spout), whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, and butter.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into it. Starting in the center of the well and gradually moving towards the edges of the bowl, gently and steadily whisk the wet and dry ingredients together. You don't want lumps, which you'll get if you move too quickly, but you also don't want to over-mix the batter—once you do this the first time, you'll get the hang of it.
- Heat a Belgian waffle maker according to the manufacturer's instructions (I use the medium heat setting on mine). Once it's hot, brush both the sides of the waffle iron lightly with vegetable oil). Pour about a cup of batter into the center of the iron and use a heatproof spatula to spread it gently towards the edges before closing the iron (I find the pre-spreading helps prevent overflow).
- Serve the waffles right as they come out of the iron, with butter and maple syrup. In my experience, the waffles quickly lose their soft, almost pudding-like centers if you try to keep them warm in the oven. If you’re not serving them right away, let the waffles cool and then toast them briefly (30 seconds or so) to re-crisp them. I keep leftover waffles in the fridge in a sealed container for weekday breakfasts; a minute in the toaster, and it's almost like they just came out of the iron.
Tags:
- Waffle
- American
- Buttermilk
- Brunch
- Breakfast
See what other Food52ers are saying.
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AntoniaJames
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SandraH
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keithcancook
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Lisa Bains
Popular on Food52
21 Reviews
AntoniaJames January 20, 2023
I quite successfully adapted this recipe to make it gluten free and dairy free simply by substituting buckwheat flour for the all-purpose flour (mass measure - 250 grams), oat milk for the buttermilk (adding 4 teaspoons of cider vinegar for the acidity needed), and canola oil for the melted butter. The waffles were so good, I'll be doing it again, even when our dear friend who requires DF and GF is not visiting.
For the record, I dialed back the baking soda and baking powder just bit because i live at 5,000 feet. The waffles were perfect.
Readers should keep in mind that this makes a fairly large batch. Whatever cooked waffles you don't eat can be refrigerated for up to about 5 days (based on our extensive experience - we make waffles at least twice a month, year round) or frozen for about a month. Reheat them in the waffle iron itself! It takes much less time to heat them than it does to cook them, so if your waffle iron doesn't beep after about a minute of cooking on the medium setting, check the waffles. With all that milk in the batter, they brown quickly. ;o)
Norm Y. January 9, 2023
I’ve tried a lot of waffle recipes and this is, by far, the best!!!
Merrill S. January 10, 2023
So happy to hear you're enjoying the recipe!
Veronica June 10, 2022
This has become our family’s favorite, go to waffle recipe! We all love it we have also made it with banana, which is a favorite as well. All we do is place a cut up banana in the blender and fill it up to the 2cup line with regular milk instead of using butter milk. And follow the recipe.
SandraH April 19, 2020
I made these today, a treat to have! I didn’t have buttermilk but to a two cup measure, I added two tablespoons of lemon juice then filled with 2% milk to the two cup measure and let sit a bit. Making these with actual buttermilk is best, but this substitution did the trick until I can find buttermilk again.
keithcancook February 24, 2020
Exactly like HRM buttermilk waffle recipe from my ancient McColls book
Amanda February 4, 2020
These are my go-to waffle recipe! Very, very delicious. The batter keeps great overnight too if you don’t cook them all at once. It would be great to have the recipe updated with weight measurements for the flour and butter! I have to google it every time!
Merrill S. February 22, 2020
I've never tried to keep it overnight before -- great tip! I will work on weights for the flour and butter and add them.
Yesenia G. October 14, 2019
I have tried several recipes but my husband and I agree that this one is by far the best one because is crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside. Thank you!
Merrill S. February 22, 2020
So glad you've been enjoying these!
Lisa B. August 2, 2019
Great recipe! Works perfectly: crispy outside & soft inside. I also added 1 tsp vanilla.
Merrill S. February 22, 2020
Great idea!
bekoz April 21, 2019
Have tried other recipes for my new waffle maker with mixed results but this recipe is definitely a keeper. I added a splash of vanilla to the batter.
Merrill S. February 22, 2020
So glad to hear this!
SandraH February 24, 2019
Wow! These waffles are delicious! I was inspired when reading your article yesterday about you and your daughter making these waffles and bought some buttermilk so that I could make them today. I have a Cuisinart Belgium Waffle Maker which I had received quite a while ago from using up points that were going to expire but had never used. So I brought it out, cleaned it up, and got it and the batter ready to use.
Although my macine’s instructions didn’t say to lightly brush the plates with oil the first time, I followed your recommendation to do so and both the initial and remaining sets of waffles came out easily. Using about 1 1/4 cups of batter for each set of waffles worked best for my machine and produced a baker’s dozen of beautiful golden brown waffles (three sets of 4 large square waffles plus 1 single square).
I’m buying more buttermilk and making a couple more batches of this recipe to take over to my grandsons (and their parents too!) to have as an after school snack or quick breakfast. These are so good - thank you!
Merrill S. March 2, 2019
Sandra, so happy to hear you liked the recipe! I'm making them for my kids this morning... 🙂
SandraH March 2, 2019
Thanks Merrill! They sure are good and I’m looking forward to making these again tomorrow! I also want to try freezing some and reheating per Julie’s comment below.
Julie January 2, 2019
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I have made these waffles several times now and they are just great!!! They are also truly wonderful reheated out of the freezer. My microwave has a convection oven setting so I reheat them at 350 for 10 minutes -- just as good as freshly made (maybe even better) The down side is -- leftovers are rare.
Merrill S. March 2, 2019
Love this! I haven't tried freezing them yet but with your recommendations, now I definitely will.
KitchVega December 18, 2018
I will try this recipe this weekend, however I will make sure to bring the eggs and buttermilk to room temp because every time I have done it my waffles have been off the hook.
Merrill S. December 19, 2018
Great tip, thank you!
