Buttermilk Belgian waffles

For my graduation, my brother got me a waffle iron. This continues the tradition of food-related gifts that are both thoughtful and self-serving. I ain't even mad, because look at the amazingness that I made:

This recipe comes from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. The only tricky part is whipping the egg whites and folding them into the batter.

After that, it's easy peasy, lemon-squeezy. The only thing that's difficult difficult, lemon difficult is stopping yourself from eating a million of these things. (Bonus points for anyone who gets the lemon reference!)

Sorry for the picspam, but they were real good. So, if you have a waffle iron, I recommend giving this a whirl!

Buttermilk Belgian waffles

(makes four waffles)

adapted from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

2-3 tbsp sugar

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 3/4 cups buttermilk

2 eggs, separated

4 tbsp butter, melted and cooled

1 tsp vanilla extract

Cooking spray (to grease the waffle iron)

Instructions

Preheat the waffle iron.

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Stir the buttermilk, yolks, vanilla, and butter together in a separate bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Stir until just combined. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold the whites gently into the batter.

Depending on the size of your waffle iron, ladle 3/4 to 1 cup of the batter onto the waffle iron. Cook the waffle for about 5-7 minutes. Five minutes gives you a softer waffle and seven minutes gives you a crispier waffle (my preference).

Serve immediately with butter and maple syrup. My brother had his waffle with ice cream and chocolate syrup. To each his own, but my way is totally better.