Belgian Waffles

Jim loves waffles so I bought a professional waffle maker for him for Christmas a few years ago.  No, I didn't make Belgian Waffles this morning, but served the frozen ones I made last weekend.  I'll give fair warning now that these are not easy to make.  As a matter of fact, they are a pain-in-the-rear, but completely worth the effort.  Plan on spending at least 2 hours preparing these and serve with only the best homemade blueberry syrup or pure maple syrup.  Personally, I like the Goodnight Waffles better than the Classic Belgian Waffles and you can find find that recipe in my blog as well.

Recipe makes 10 waffles

1 1/2 cup water
2 1/4 tsp. yeast

3 cups sifted flour (a pain...but do it)
1/4 tsp. salt
3 large eggs, separated + 1 egg white (a pain...but do it)
1/3 cup sugar
8 TBSP. unsalted butter - melted and cooled (a pain...but do it)
2 tsp. vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups whole milk

Heat 1/2 the water to lukewarm (105-110 degrees).  Dissolve yeast in water with a pinch of sugar from the recipe; let stand 5 to 10 minutes, until mixture begins to foam.

Put the sifted flour and salt in a large bowl and stir to blend.  TO THE YEAST MIXTURE:  Add the egg yolks, one of the egg whites, and remaining sugar, stir to blend then add to this:  remaining water, milk, melted butter, oil, and vanilla; stir into the flour/salt mix until smooth.

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Fold the egg whites gently into the batter.  Let the batter stand for 1 hour, stirring gently every 15 minutes.