This recipe was handed down to me from my mom, and it came from her mom – my Grandma Clara.  I have tweaked it a bit, but it is basically her recipe.  It comes from a time before chemical leaveners’ were as cheap and as readily available, so while it does use baking powder much of the lift comes from whipping the egg whites to stiff peaks separately and folding them in.  It is an extra step, but it works really well to lighten the batter and give the waffles great lift and tenderness.

4 cups                   Flour

8 tsp                      Baking powder

2 tsp                      Salt

¼ cup                    Sugar

4 cups                Buttermilk (whole milk works as well) – at room temp

8                              Eggs, whites and yolks separated

12 tbsp                Butter, melted and cooled

2 tsp                      Vanilla

 

Combine Flour, baking powder and salt in large bowl – Whisk well to combine and aerate

Combine Buttermilk, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla in bowl – Whisk to mix well

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks

Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just enough to fully combine

Add melted butter to batter and stir just enough to fully incorporate

Add one third of the whipped egg whites and stir in gently until combined

Add ½ of the whipped egg whites to batter, fold gently to combine

Add other ½ of the whipped eggs whites, fold gently to combine

Add batter to waffle iron following manufactures instructions

 

I find that I like the waffles done to a nice medium gold colour.  This gives a nice soft texture to the waffle.  If you like a crisper outer with a soft and tender interior, then cook them a bit longer to a nice toasted brown.  This makes a lot of waffles, but they freeze well and toast up nicely for another day.