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We tested over 100 waffles and this is the best buttermilk recipe out there! The ultimate waffle recipe and it’s all thanks to a few simple secrets.
What Makes Waffles Soggy?
Don’t overstir the batter. It’s okay if there are a few lumps -– they will dissipate during cooking.
No peeking! Lifting the lid of the waffle iron will cause it to lose heat, leading to a collapsed waffle.
A good hint as to whether your waffle is done is to watch the steam coming out of the waffle iron.
If there’s still a good amount of steam billowing out of it, your waffle isn’t ready yet.
Once you remove the golden, crisp waffle from the iron, toss it back and forth between your hands to allow some of the steam to dissipate.
Then, rest it on a wire rack so steam can continue to escape on all sides without making the bottom soggy.
Serve as soon as possible
Everyone claims to have the ultimate waffle recipe, but we are going to be so bold as to challenge all of those recipes to a throw down. We spent way too much time pulling up every recipe we could find for buttermilk waffles and even more time testing all of the recipes. We even pulled out the Bobby Flay waffle recipe from his chicken and waffles throw down, it was good, but it was not the ultimate.
This recipe has been EXCLUSIVE to our cookbook, Our Sweet Basil Kitchen but today you get it on the blog!! Make sure you pick up your copy, which is on sale again this week, before you read the rest of the post and thank you so, so much for your continued love and support of our site!
Let’s get on with the recipe!
First, there’s the fats. Oil, butter, margarine, shortening, coconut oil and even yogurt were all tested but we definitely loved butter the most. No surprise there, except one little thing, when to add the butter. That ended up being the absolute most important thing. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
So buttermilk clearly deserves to be in waffles but in experimenting we were all over the board with how much. Almost all recipes were around the same measurements, but at one point we found ourselves just shy of the needed amount so on a whim I threw in heavy cream. Oh. Sweet. Mercy. Eureka!! The waffles turned out with a better texture and flavor than anything we had previously tried. Suddenly the batch of straight buttermilk waffles were totally out of the running. We did a side to side comparison and sure enough, the sweet cream addition led to a less eggy and better flavored waffle.
Then there’s a few small notes, sugar or no sugar, and if sugar how much? Baking powder versus baking soda and of course, the secret ingredient, corn starch. We ended up feeling that the no sugar waffles were just too plain and while the sugar didn’t necessarily make them sweet it did sweeten things up just enough to round out the flavor.
We also decided that both baking powder to give a fluffy rise and soda which is activated by the buttermilk, to give a nice texture were needed. And the cornstarch, well we learned that one from Completely Delicious and we love that it helps to create a crisp outside.
We can’t chat about waffles without mentioning that over-mixing is the devil and you should avoid it as such. Truly, stirring these babies will destroy them no matter what ingredients are added. There should still be plenty of streaks of flour after you stir in the wet ingredients.
And that butter thing is the winner for a soft inside and crisp outside. You MUST gently stir in the butter at the very end which may leave you with a lumpy batter but the flour will be gone.
Finally, the secret was leaving the batter to rest. In our final stages of testing we got distracted with kids and the batter sat for 30 minutes and holy moly it was the best batch yet! I don’t know the science but I know it works!
Can Waffle Mixture be Frozen?
You can store batter in the freezer for up to a month. When you’re ready to do some pancake making, just thaw in warm water or overnight in the refrigerator.
More Sweet Breakfast Options:
- Buttermilk Pancakes
- Apple Pie Slow Cooker Oatmeal
- Dutch Baby Pancakes
- Orange Sweet Rolls
- Classic French Toast
- Waffles
- Cinnamon Rolls
- Blueberry French Toast Bake
- Homemade Yogurt
- Cinnamon Roll Pigs in a Blanket
- Peach Coffee Cake
- Liege Waffles
- Slow Cooker Overnight Steel Cut Oats
- All our BREAKFAST RECIPES!
The Ultimate Waffle Recipe
The Ultimate Waffle Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
- 2 1/4 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
- 3 Tablespoons Sugar, plus 1 Teaspoon
- 1/2 teaspoon Fine Sea Salt
- 3 Large Eggs
- 3/4 Cup Buttermilk
- 3/4 Cup Heavy Cream
- 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, melted and cooled slightly
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, corn starch, sugar and salt.1 3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour, 2 1/4 teaspoons Baking Powder, 1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda, 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch, 3 Tablespoons Sugar, 1/2 teaspoon Fine Sea Salt
- In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk and heavy cream.3 Large Eggs, 3/4 Cup Buttermilk, 3/4 Cup Heavy Cream
- Using a wooden spoon, stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until a few streaks of flour remain, but the batter is almost mixed together.
- Add the butter and stir until just combined. Important!! Allow to rest for 15-30 minutes.1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter
- Heat a waffle iron.
- Brush butter on both sides of the waffle iron.
- Pour about 1/3 cup onto the iron and cook per instructions.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Followed recipe as written. Based on the article and comments we were disappointed. Turned out heavier than our other recipe and outside did not crisp up as well either. Given the price of dairy and eggs, it was also not the cheapest breakfast.
So sorry for the disappointment!
Looks like a good recipe, but have you seen the price of heavy cream lately?
Oh I know! The price of everything lately is making me sick! Butter. Eggs. When will it end??
To be honest, I haven’t made these waffles yet but, I know by the way the Melt In Your Mouth Buttermilk Pancakes & Buttermilk Syrup blow me away that these will as well.
I just want to point out that while I and likely most everyone who reads the recipe will just know that by “flour” you mean “all purpose flour”, inexperienced cooks may not realize the difference. I hate to imagine the fail that this recipe may be if made with self rising flour and added baking powder & baking soda. Perhaps a slight clarification is in order for beginners?
Great point! Thank you! I hope you enjoy these waffles!
Hi! I was wondering if I can make the batter the night before and leave it in the fridge overnight and then cook it in the morning?
Thank you,
Danielle
Hi Danielle! Great question! Yes, it can be made the night before. Just store it in an airtight container and let it sit out for 20-30 minutes before cooking them to take the chill off the batter.
Hands down the best waffle recipe! I tried many and keep coming back to yours! Many of my friends will enjoy your hard work in the form of morning breakfasts at our cabin! You nailed it! I will never need another waffle recipe! 😘
Thank you, Kim!! This seriously makes my day!
Hands down the best waffle recipe! I tried many and keep coming back to yours! Many of my friends will enjoy your hard work in the form of morning breakfasts at our cabin! You nailed it! I will never need another waffle recipe! 😘
Excellent, full of taste and balanced recipe! Not too light and not too heavy. Easy to put together, but mix it only barely! Swells up with time! Batter is super thick but waffle is lighter and bready with crisp exterior. I timed it and I have to cook it between 5-6 min. If some were soggy, I put them in toaster for a minute. Loved it!
Thank you so much for the feedback! So glad you enjoyed them!
These are wonderful! This recipe is a keeper! My husband and I love them. Can’t wait for this pandemic to be over so we can have company again and I can serve these to our guests.
Thank you for the feedback Gretchen! Praying the pandemic ends soon for sooooooo many reasons, especially having friends and family over again for meals! Xoxo!
Glad to be of any help! 🙂 Incidentally, I learned about your Web site from the Pancake Princess blog. Of all the waffle recipes she tested, she rated yours at the very top.
Yay! That is good to know! Thanks Sam!
I made these last night. And I made a few substitutions: I never eat white flour, so I used whole-grain sprouted spelt flour instead. I also didn’t have any cornstarch, so I substituted arrowroot. Finally, since it’s almost impossible to find heavy cream that isn’t ultrapasteurized, I replaced the cream with a mixture of about 75% full-fat coconut milk and 25% butter.
My batter ended up being really thick. Since I have a vertical waffle maker, I didn’t think I could pour the batter into it properly, so I ended up adding some water to thin it out a bit.
The waffles turned out very well! After taking them out of the waffle maker, I put them in a 250 oven for a while to crisp them up a bit. They tasted almost like cookies!
I really like your recipe—and definitely plan to make it again. Thanks so much for publishing it on the Web. 🙂
A couple of notes:
1) If you use whole-wheat (or whole-spelt) flour, you don’t have to worry about overmixing, because apparently the bran cuts the gluten.
2) I imagine that softened (instead of melted) butter would work here as well. I plan to try that next time.
Thank you so much for the all the tips! I love all your substitutes and appreciate you taking time to share your experience with us and our readers!
If I have extra buttermilk that will go bad soon, do you think I could whip up a batch of batter and store it in the freezer?
Hey Christine! Unfortunately, dairy just doesn’t do well in the freezer. It tends to separate when it thaws. I wouldn’t recommend freezing the batter.