Special Waffles: Not So Special After All

With peach topping.

So....as you may recall, my son loved the regular waffles I made. So of course he wanted them again the next day. Thinking I'd get in another recipe, I went to Fannie Farmer in search of an alternative waffle recipe. I found the so-called "Special Waffles" and decided to make them.

At first, all went well.

I used:
1/2 c. white flour
1/2 c. wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs, separated
about 3/4 c. milk, plus 1/4 c. yogurt
1 tbsp. sugar

Combined the flour and baking soda as directed. In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks well, then added milk and yogurt. I use yogurt to activate baking soda, although I've never had anything fail to rise when I use only milk. I just like the tenderness yogurt adds, plus it does make things a bit fluffier when using baking soda. I'm not sure if this was the problem.

Anyway, I then beat the egg whites until stiff, adding sugar and continuing to beat for another minute. Then added flour mixture to yolk/milk and stirred until smooth. Then, as directed, I mixed in about 1/3 of the beaten whites, then gently folded in the rest. It looked all light and fluffy as I assume it should.

Frothy from egg whites.

Fannie says to spread 1/2 c batter into hot waffle iron, but that really depends on your waffle iron. Ours overflows if it's too full, so I usually err on the side of under filling, because I'd rather have holey waffles than a huge mess to clean off the side of the waffle iron.

In the waffle iron and ready to bake to golden perfection.

Anyhoo, I did as told and followed the directions. The book doesn't say anything about oiling the waffle iron, and the traditional waffles specifically said NOT to oil it It's nonstick, after all. The traditional waffles turned out great.  So, I slathered on the frothy batter and closed it up, waiting for it to "bake until golden," as Fannie says. 

DOES THIS LOOK GOLDEN TO YOU?

THIS is what happened when I opened it. If you think this is funny, you should try cleaning a waffle iron of this glue! It was well cooked, and a little crumbled edge piece tasted okay. But it was completely destroyed. After about 20 minutes of picking off bits and pieces from between those little squares, I gave in and ran it under the water, even though I know it's bad. But I had no other choice. After wetting the cooked waffle bits, they came off pretty easily, only leaving a few remnants. I needed a toothbrush to scrub it off well enough to use again. This time, I practically doused the thing in butter between every square, top and bottom, before warily trying again.

I may have lost my mind if it had done the same thing again, but luckily, it only stuck in a few spots and I could pry them loose. I did have to butter it again between each waffle, and even then, a few places stuck each time. So my big advice is, butter up!

Definitely a delicate texture to these. They were a bit hard to handle, as they were very soft.

After this huge fiasco, I will never ever make these again. Especially since my son said they weren't as good as the traditional ones anyway! This is what I get for trying to make fancy food!

To be fair, they did taste good, but the waffle-iron trauma scarred me for life. If you are making these, spray, grease and butter well. It makes 6 "square toaster waffle"-sized waffles.