Adapted from the always-reliable and winning recipe collection over at King Arthur Flour, these waffles are 100% my new go-to. The recipe as written requires a rest-time of anywhere from one hour to overnight, so naturally my goal was to tackle one frequently asked question from the comment section: honestly. Does rest time even matter?

Also, I just wanted to make a crap-ton of “test” waffles for me and only me.

To say any recipe is “the best” anymore is so over-used it has completely lost meaning, so I won’t say it. But know I’m thinking it as I tell you how light, fluffy and crisp these waffles are. But since nothing in this world is perfect, when I read “rest overnight” I reacted the same way I did when I saw Harrison Ford’s mid-life earring for the first time.

Disappointed, but not surprised.

The Experiment: 3 batches of waffles, 3 different rest times, 1 waffle feast.

Batch 1: Made the night before (roughly 8 hours plus the couple of times I pressed “snooze”)
Batch 2: Made 1 hour before
Batch 3: Made 30 minutes before with a botox-esque injection of baking powder for a little extra lift, aka the “Jane Fonda” batch.
(Side note: if you’re not watching Grace & Frankie with the somehow ageless cast of Ms. Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Martin Sheen, and Sam Waterston, you are missing. out. It’s on Neflix).

*I’m realizing I also should have a done a batch with NO rest as a kind of “control” but whatever, I’ve eaten everything already anyway.*

The Results: There were some minor differences in texture and batter consistency, but thank the heavens on high, the amount of time each batch sat did not have a huge impact on flavor or overall quality.

HOWEVER I will say, the batter that sat overnight was thicker, and did cook up a little lighter, with slightly more even rise and more tender texture. Batches 2 and 3 were about the same, with much runnier batter, and slightly coarser bite.

In pastry school, most of our batters and doughs sat overnight – starches have time to fully absorb liquid (the reason for the thicker batter in batch 1), and any gluten formed while mixing has a chance to relax (produces the tender texture also found in batch 1)

Belgian Yeast-Raised Waffles
Adapted from King Arthur Flour
The following recipe is measured by weight, volume measurements can be found in the link above.

340 grams warm milk
40 grams corn syrup, honey, or maple syrup
1.5 teaspoons rapid-rise yeast
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
85 grams melted butter
241 grams all-purpose flour
0.5 teaspoons salt
**1.5 teaspoons baking powder if the batter rests 30 minutes or less

1 ) In a large bowl, whisk together warm milk, corn syrup, and yeast until yeast is mostly dissolved. Add butter, vanilla, eggs, whisking until mixture is homogenous. Add flour, salt, and baking powder, if using, mixing about 30-60 seconds until mixture is combined, but not perfectly smooth (over-mixing can allow more gluten to form, which can make your waffles tough).

2 ) Cover and let sit however long you want to. If overnight, place in refrigerator.

3 ) Cook your waffles according to manufacturer’s directions – I typically use medium heat, and since my iron is non-stick I don’t use cooking spray as it tends to make my waffles heavier (but definitely use it if you’ve had issues with sticking).