Aww, Donkey- you’ve got to love him.

I remember the first time I realized that waffles were sold in boxes and not something that you ‘had’ to make. We had just moved from Ohio to Utah and I was about 9. We were staying with some family friends while we waited for our stuff or the house to close or something.  Honestly I have no idea- I wasn’t really paying attention to that sort of stuff. The important thing to note is that at the time I had one brother and 5 sisters- so there were 7 of us.  I’m pretty sure at the time these friends had 2 girls and 6 boys. I remembered thinking the girls were SO cool- because they were ‘teenagers’ and the boys were SO annoying- because they were boys.  Anyway- back to waffles.  So one night the mom announces ‘tomorrow we’re having waffles for breakfast!’ All excited.  Being 9 I was also excited.  Then the next morning the waffles were Eggos.  At first I was excited- I thought it was SO cool.  But then I tasted them… certainly not the waffles I’d grown up on.

I thought this waffle recipe was a ’standard’ in our family. One that all my siblings used because it’s the one my mom used- I was disappointed when I tried to find this recipe via phone when I was visiting my sister in law and wanted to make breakfast for the masses and my sister (KATIE!) had no idea what I was talking about.  For Katie (and myself) I’m sharing this recipe.  (Longest introduction to a recipe ever- sorry for the 10 minute explanation).

Fabulous Waffles
4 eggs, separated
3 cups milk (or 2 3/4 cups water and 1/2 cup powdered milk powder)
1 cup oil
3 1/2 cups Flour
2 Tablespoons Baking Powder
2 Tablespoons Sugar
2 teaspoons of salt

First separate your eggs:

Put your whites in your mixer bowl and I put the yolks in a mug- cause that’s what was closest.

Beat the egg whites on high until they form stiff peaks (about 3ish minutes):

Move the whites to a different bowl and set to the side. You can see even better what they should look like.

Then dump the yolks into the mixer and start beating. Don’t bother cleaning the bowl- if there are a few whites that stuck to the bowl that’s fine.

Beat them for about 2 minutes until they lighten in color and thicken.

While you’re beating the eggs mix your dry ingredients together in a bowl. I like to use powdered milk- but in order to skip a step I mix a 1/2 cup of milk powder with my flour and other dry ingredients and then add the water with the wet ingredients.

After the eggs are thick add in your water or milk and your oil. Mix well and then slowly add in your dry ingredients.

Mix it well and then add in the whites- only pulse it a couple times to incorporate- if you beat them too much they’ll deflate and defeat the purpose (which is fluffiness).

I usually finish off by spoon.

Then pour it into your waffle iron and cook! Mine uses about 1 1/2 cups (just a little less) and takes about 2 1/2 minutes to cook.

Yum!

Serve with buttermilk syrup, or peaches or applesauce or vanilla icecream….

This morning when I made this I got 9 ‘family sized’ waffles. I freeze the leftovers for ‘fast’ breakfast mornings (you know- when I get home from the gym and fall asleep rather than showering and getting dressed and then wake up at 8 and only have 20 minutes to get kids out the door? Not that it ever would happen to you….)