Spiced Buttermilk Waffles with Cranberry Maple Syrup
Yield: 16 waffles (varies according to your waffle maker)
Ingredients
Cranberry Maple Syrup:
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 3 ½ cups (12 oz) fresh cranberries
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
Spiced Buttermilk Waffles:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup grape seed oil, or other neutral oil
- 3 large eggs, separated
Instructions
Cranberry Maple Syrup:
- In a small sauce pot, combine maple syrup, cranberries, and brown sugar. Bring mixture to a boil. Stir often. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 6-8 minutes until cranberries have softened. Do not be alarmed; most of the cranberries will pop and burst open.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool. Cranberry maple syrup will thicken as it cools. Serve warm, room temperature, or chilled.
Spiced Buttermilk Waffles:
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Set metal cooling rack over baking sheet. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In another bowl, whisk together well shaken buttermilk, melted butter, oil, and egg yolks until smooth.
- Slowly add wet ingredients to dry ingredients in two additions. Use a spatula to combine ingredients together until just combined. The batter will be a little lumpy.
- In a clean bowl, whip egg whites to stiff peaks. Add egg whites to batter in three additions. Fold gently to combine. The batter will loosen up as you add egg whites.
- Allow batter to rest at room temperature for 5 minutes while you heat waffle iron or waffle maker. Waffle iron temperature or setting with vary based on your machine.*
- I use this stovetop waffle iron. Once waffle iron hot, lightly brush the top and bottom of iron with fat of choice (clarified butter, melted butter, or oil). Scoop 1 cup of batter into waffle iron. Cook for 2 minutes on each side over medium-high heat until crisp and golden brown. If needed, cook for another 30-45 seconds on each side.
- Transfer cooked waffles to prepared rack and keep warm in preheated oven while you cook remaining batter.
- Serve waffles immediately with cranberry maple syrup and salted butter.
Notes
- I use this stovetop Belgian waffle iron.
- Scoop batter size according to your waffle iron manufacturer's instructions. This will range from 1/3 cup for single waffle to 1 1/4 cup for a 4-set waffle.
- Store leftover cranberry maple syrup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- The cooked waffles will continue to crisp up in the oven. The metal cooling rack will allow heat to circular around the waffle.
- Freezing Waffles: Allow leftover waffles to cool to room temperature. Spread out of a single layer in a sheet tray and freeze for 10 minutes until cold. Transfer to airtight container and keep frozen for up to 3 months. Reheat in the toaster (or toaster oven) until warm.