Christine Cushing’s Lemon Waffles

Before I got my waffle iron/press, I considered waffles to be one of the most indulgent breakfast treats around. Zero nutritional value food that made me feel like a kid. I grew up on the kind that came from a box and even that was a huge treat to me. Making my own seemed like a dream come true. Then I tried making them, so frustrating. I even wrote a post called How NOT to Make Waffles.

So I gave up for a while but then the holidays came and I just had to try again. I changed recipes and tried Christine Cushing’s Lemon Waffles. If you are going to try making these, give yourself some time. These waffles will not be rushed!

Sift together the dry ingredients. OK, that part is no big deal.

This is where I started to get cold feet. OK, do I add the lemon zest or not? I am usually not a big fan of lemon but everyone always talks about how great it is and maybe it will be fabulous in this waffle??? I decide to add the zest but not make the blueberry sauce. I know for sure I really dislike blueberries and lemon together. I reluctantly stirred in the zest.

You need to work with room temperature eggs and milk. My “quickie” technique is to warm up the milk for 15 seconds or so in the microwave. I put the eggs in hot-ish water for a few minutes and then separate. Here you need to whisk together the milk, some melted butter and three egg yolks until smooth.

Add to the dry ingredients, making a well in the middle. Stir until just combined. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand covered for 30 minutes. Yup, it has got to sit!

While the waffle iron is preheating, whisk egg whites until you get that soft peak you see on the right. I prefer to use a hand mixer for this job.

Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter and then fold in the rest.

Now here is the trick! Almost fill a 1/3 measuring cup and add to each section of the well-oiled hot waffle iron and close. Just so you know, in this photo, I have added too much. I filled the measuring cup to the top and the batter leaked all over the sides. Cook until golden brown. This took around three minutes with my waffle iron.

See, too much batter. It’s weird, a 1/4 cup is too little and 1/3 cup is too much. I took these waffles out, trimmed them and kept them warm in a 200F oven until the rest were done.

These got super crispy, were light and airy and pretty darn perfect. The only problem? The lemon. Yup. Just that little bit of lemon zest was so strong, it bothered both me and my husband. If you love lemon, you will ADORE these! If you don’t, make them anyway and add some vanilla extract and cinnamon instead. That is what I will be doing next time!

Time intensive and a bit of work, still, these were the best waffles I have made to date or even had in a restaurant, despite the lemon zest. I give them four and a half out of five wooden spoon.

Happy weekend everyone!