Recipe Blueberry Buttermilk Waffles

[Mountain Cat]

Recently, I picked up a small waffle maker for $10 at my local household supply Big Box. Actually, this was last spring. I hadn’t used it until now. At first I thought that I could use a pancake recipe for waffles, but apparently not; apparently the best waffles follow a different format. Thinking about it … yes, they do have a different texture than pancakes.

I picked these blueberries at a Pick Your Own farm here in my town, late season. The egg came from one of my own hens.

The recipe I decided on came from Martha Stewart. I cut her recipe in half, and ignored her topping suggestions (which I personally wouldn’t care for) in the favor of my own simple basics. (Yes, the maple syrup was tapped from my own trees… still have to go on about my first year attempting syruping, obviously. It was fun.)

(photo above: Blueberry waffles being created. I add a little butter to the still-piping hot waffle that precedes the new one – I want that to MELT!)

Her recipe is here: Martha Stewart’s Buttermilk Waffles.

Let’s have breakfast!

Prep Time: 15 minutes.
Cook Time: 3-5 minutes per waffle.
Rest Time: Not essential.
Serves: 3-4
Cuisine: Western breakfast.
Leftovers: I’d save the excess batter and freeze. Actual waffles – no.

Blueberry Buttermilk Waffles​

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted.
• 1 whole egg.
• At least one good handful of rinsed blueberries. (Other fruit will work, too – just chop your choices up to about blueberry-size or smaller.
• Cooking oil for waffle iron.
• Toppings. *

METHOD:

To serve all at once, preheat oven to 275 F, and place a rack on a baking sheet in that oven. (Otherwise ignore this step).

Mix all the dry together in one large bowl. (Flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt.)

Mix all the wet ingredients together in a smaller bowl, minus the fruit. (Buttermilk, butter, egg.)

Add the wet to the dry and stir until combined. Having some lumps remain is fine.

Add the blueberries to the waffle batter – add more if visually you’d prefer more (I ended up using nearly two good handfuls.)

Brush top and bottom of the waffle iron innards with oil. I used olive oil. Plug in and allow to heat up, probably about five minutes (refer to your waffle maker instructions).

Add some batter, leaving approximately a 1/2 inch rim. Cook 3-5 minutes, or verify with your waffle iron instructions. (The small waffle maker I am using resulted in cooked waffles in about 2.5 minutes.)

Add the waffles to the oven as ready and as needed. This is to keep them warm if you are preparing a few batches for your family or guests. Continue on. If you notice the oil is gone from the base of the waffle maker, brush on a bit more.

For my run today with the above amounts of ingredients, I got 9 small waffles from my petite mini-waffle maker. I figure this to be three servings, or four if there are other items being served for breakfast.

Serve with your desired toppings.

My preferred toppings are room temperature butter and a splash of maple syrup. Other options: Sprinkle more blueberries on top, either whole or slightly mashed. Martha Stewart suggested frozen blueberries (thawed) mixed with sugar, and a small amount of lemon juice. If you decide to try this with fresh berries, I’d add a little water to keep the fruit from burning. Simmer, and drizzle over the waffles. Lightly sugared whipped cream would also work.

Enjoy!

 

[CookieMonster]

I have used the same (basic) batter for pancakes and waffles for the last 40 years.
as a waffle recipe heretic, I claim victory.

there are differences - here's mine:
double the sugar for waffles - that's just a taste thing
decrease the liquid about 10% - waffle batter needs to be slightly thicker.
obviously it can be argued 'that's not the same recipe!'

the melted butter thing . . . . a waffle iron needs lubrication - you can brush oil onto the plates,
or add oil/melted butter to the batter.
I highly extremely do not recommend the use of 'spray oils' on the plates - the emulsifiers in spray cans stick/bake onto even Teflon surfaces resulting in . . . uhm . . . (bad performance) insert expletive of choice....

 

[PabloLerntKochen]

In the restaurant where I'm working, we add vanilla, lemon zest and nut butter to our crepe batter, they're pretty good. If you're motivated to step up your waffle game someday, you should invest into a stronger waffle maker. The more heat they can transfer to the waffle, the more crispier they come out.
And this no joke, one day, I swear to god, we made the perfect belgian waffle and we never succeeded to make that again. Crispy outside, right sweetness and the inside did feel like biting into a cloud.

 

[Mountain Cat]

In the restaurant where I'm working, we add vanilla, lemon zest and nut butter to our crepe batter, they're pretty good. If you're motivated to step up your waffle game someday, you should invest into a stronger waffle maker. The more heat they can transfer to the waffle, the more crispier they come out.
And this no joke, one day, I swear to god, we made the perfect belgian waffle and we never succeeded to make that again. Crispy outside, right sweetness and the inside did feel like biting into a cloud.

Some great suggestions! Once I have overnight guests often enough again (post COVID) I will get a larger waffle maker. Living alone, I can't otherwise justify it.

I like the addition of vanilla and lemon zest. Unfortunately I am now sensitive to many tree nuts. Not all, and hazelnuts / filberts are so unpleasantly-tasting to me I have no desire to try them out. Ever.

 

[Mountain Cat]

I have used the same (basic) batter for pancakes and waffles for the last 40 years.
as a waffle recipe heretic, I claim victory.

there are differences - here's mine:
double the sugar for waffles - that's just a taste thing
decrease the liquid about 10% - waffle batter needs to be slightly thicker.
obviously it can be argued 'that's not the same recipe!'

the melted butter thing . . . . a waffle iron needs lubrication - you can brush oil onto the plates,
or add oil/melted butter to the batter.
I highly extremely do not recommend the use of 'spray oils' on the plates - the emulsifiers in spray cans stick/bake onto even Teflon surfaces resulting in . . . uhm . . . (bad performance) insert expletive of choice....

Yes, the recipe differences I've noted have seemed to be in concentration of ingredients, as you have seen.

I discovered the bad effects of spray oils on ordinary skillets - I no longer use them at all. Good point to make!

 

[TastyReuben]

Waffles (and pancakes) are like pizza, highly customizable.

If adding blueberries, I also add that little bit of lemon zest. Blueberries and lemon...classic combination. I'll sometimes add orange juice and a little orange zest, that's a good one, and of course, warm spices, like cinnamon and clove, end up in my batter occasionally.

I've got apple cider in the fridge, so this weekend, I'm going to make apple cider pancakes. That should go over well.

 

[Mountain Cat]

Waffles (and pancakes) are like pizza, highly customizable.

If adding blueberries, I also add that little bit of lemon zest. Blueberries and lemon...classic combination. I'll sometimes add orange juice and a little orange zest, that's a good one, and of course, warm spices, like cinnamon and clove, end up in my batter occasionally.

I've got apple cider in the fridge, so this weekend, I'm going to make apple cider pancakes. That should go over well.

Tasty and Pablo have convinced me to play more around with WAFFLES, very very soon now! (I have frozen the rest of my blueberry picking harvest... And there are fresh apples here...)

 

[PabloLerntKochen]

All kinds of food can be seen like steaks, in terms of what is the perfect steak for you. I'll be following you on the journey to your perfect waffle. Are you managing a hotel or what did you mean with overnight guests?

 

[Mountain Cat]

All kinds of food can be seen like steaks, in terms of what is the perfect steak for you. I'll be following you on the journey to your perfect waffle. Are you managing a hotel or what did you mean with overnight guests?

Nothing so fancy. I live way out from where a lot of my friends live, so this would be my friends spending the night, rather than driving a couple hours home after a few glasses of wine... or whatever.

 

[PabloLerntKochen]

Understood, waffles can be very nice on small parties with all kinds of toppings from sweet to savory or even flambeed.

 

[TastyReuben]

You can also definitely make your waffles savory as well, maybe add green onion and diced bacon, that sort of thing.

 

[Mountain Cat]

Understood, waffles can be very nice on small parties with all kinds of toppings from sweet to savory or even flambeed.

You can also definitely make your waffles savory as well, maybe add green onion and diced bacon, that sort of thing.

Several great suggestions here - and waffles need not be breakfast or brunch, either.

 

[CookieMonster]

In the restaurant where I'm working, we add vanilla, lemon zest and nut butter to our crepe batter, they're pretty good. If you're motivated to step up your waffle game someday, you should invest into a stronger waffle maker. The more heat they can transfer to the waffle, the more crispier they come out.
And this no joke, one day, I swear to god, we made the perfect belgian waffle and we never succeeded to make that again. Crispy outside, right sweetness and the inside did feel like biting into a cloud.

as noted, try experimenting with the heat/temp of the waffle maker . . . if you can - some are non-adjustable.
in my experience, very hot plates and a quick cook produce the super crisp crust and tender interior.

once upon a time I had a old fashion cast iron waffle iron that sat on a gas burner and 'rotated' to do both sides.
silly me I went modern/electric - sure wish I still had it.

I can achieve that to about 90% on my std plug in deep waffle maker _if_ I let it preheat for 20-30 minutes.
but it only works for the first waffle - if I start another right after, it does not have the same crust.
the plug in models in USA are limited to 15amps@120v ~1800 watts max.
you may get some with higher wattage on 220v.

 

[karadekoolaid]

I´ve got a Dutch friend over here who is an accomplished chocolatier. He makes his chocolates bean to bar, and produces some extraordinary combinations.
He also makes waffles. The other day he called me for some "spice" advice. His waffle batter uses mixed spice, but I suggested he might think about grinding his spices fresh , rather than buying kilos of spice powder which rapidly loses its flavour. I ground up some ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and cardamom for him. He was over the moon with the new "mixed spice" version. I don´t know what proportions he used; that´s his recipe - but the difference in flavour was evidently better.

 

[Mountain Cat]

as noted, try experimenting with the heat/temp of the waffle maker . . . if you can - some are non-adjustable.
in my experience, very hot plates and a quick cook produce the super crisp crust and tender interior.

once upon a time I had a old fashion cast iron waffle iron that sat on a gas burner and 'rotated' to do both sides.
silly me I went modern/electric - sure wish I still had it.

I can achieve that to about 90% on my std plug in deep waffle maker _if_ I let it preheat for 20-30 minutes.
but it only works for the first waffle - if I start another right after, it does not have the same crust.
the plug in models in USA are limited to 15amps@120v ~1800 watts max.
you may get some with higher wattage on 220v.

This little cheap waffle maker just does one temperature cooking. Non-adjustable, but I am sorely getting tempted to upgrade to something versatile!

I´ve got a Dutch friend over here who is an accomplished chocolatier. He makes his chocolates bean to bar, and produces some extraordinary combinations.
He also makes waffles. The other day he called me for some "spice" advice. His waffle batter uses mixed spice, but I suggested he might think about grinding his spices fresh , rather than buying kilos of spice powder which rapidly loses its flavour. I ground up some ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and cardamom for him. He was over the moon with the new "mixed spice" version. I don´t know what proportions he used; that´s his recipe - but the difference in flavour was evidently better.

This sounds great, - and I really do appreciate using freshly (home) ground spices when possible!