Clinton St. Waffles

I have an incorrigible sweet tooth which must be appeased first thing in the morning. So it will not surprise you to learn that I always eat my French toast and waffles dripping with maple syrup–and sometimes slathered in whipped cream.  And my pancakes are liberally smooshed sprinkled with brown sugar.  This is how you know I mean business when I tell you these were the best waffles I have ever eaten–and I ate them with just a bit of lightly salted Amish butter and nothing else.

I first made the recipe when John was in Barcelona in April. A friend was visiting, and the waffles were such a revelation that they disappeared within a day or 2 (the recipe makes a lot) and we were too busy munching to ever reach for a camera.

I swore I would make them again soon (John had to try them, didn’t he?) and found an opportunity when Sammy requested one of her absolute most favorite meals in the world, “Breakfast for Dinner.”  Sammy clearly takes after her mommy in this respect, because nothing gets that girl more excited than sweet starch with salty, fattening pork on the side.  Fruit required, not optional, so I don’t feel too guilty.

As mentioned, this recipe does make a lot, but all the better to freeze or refrigerate, and then toast for an indulgent weekday breakfast. Especially if you made and reserved extra sausage as well.  Of course sometimes you do this, and when you are not looking little elves go through the kitchen calmly stealing a sausage link each time on their way through. And you are left with about 3 sausage links to last you the week! (How my kids did not explode that night I am not sure!)

These waffles are closely adapted from the recipe in Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook: Breakfast, Brunch & Beyond from New York’s Favorite Neighborhood Restaurant, and it is their idea to use a little orange extract. If you are wondering, it really contributes a certain something to the waffles, but it does not make them taste remotely orange. I suspect it is the orange extract, extra vanilla and ghee which make these waffles so tremendously yummy.

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Clinton St. Waffles

Recipe barely adapted from Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook

Course: Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine: breakfast breads

Keyword: waffles

Author: TheSpicedLife

Ingredients

• 4 cups (504 g) AP flour
• 4 t baking powder
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 t salt
• 6 large eggs separated
• 3 cups whole milk
• 3/4 cup (12 T, 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 T clarified butter melted
• 2 t pure vanilla extract
• 1 T vegetable oil I used grapeseed oil (and more for your waffle iron)
• 1 t orange extract

Instructions

1. Melt the unsalted butter and clarified butter together. Set aside to cool.
2. Brush your waffle iron with vegetable oil. Turn it on and preheat it according to its instructions. Clinton St. recommends a very hot iron, so I tried a hotter setting for these waffles and felt it worked well. (I also like to turn my oven onto its warm setting so that if some waffles are ready before people are ready they can wait on the rack in a warm oven.)
3. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Set aside.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, milk, vanilla and orange extracts. Whisk in the melted butters.
5. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients--do not overmix; the batter will be lumpy.
6. Whip the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Be careful to not whip them until they are dry (a stage past stiff). Fold them gently into the waffle batter in 2 additions. Before they are completely folded in, add the oil and fold it in as well.
7. Cook the waffles according to your iron's instructions. Let extra waffles cool on a cooling rack before storing them in the fridge or freezer.

As always, affiliate links were used in this post, but only to link to items I would be linking to anyway.