The recipe below will yield 4 waffles

Cloud Belgian waffles

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbsp Sugar

1 egg

4 Tbsp butter (unsalted)

1 1/4 cup buttermilk (or 2 Tbsp plain yogurt and 1 cup whole milk or 1 cup milk and juice from half a lemon) *1 1/2 cup milk for desert or elevation

Turn on your waffle iron. Mix the first four ingredients together in a bowl.

Melt butter (30 seconds in the microwaves should suffice). Whisk butter and sugar together. Add your egg and whisk until smooth. Add your buttermilk to the egg mix and whisk smooth.

Combine your liquid and dry ingredients. Be sure to whisk as little as possible. Clumps are alright but large lumps need to be broken up.

Pour 2/3 of a cup (or 1/3 cup two times) of batter into the waffle iron and gently spread to the edge then close the iron. Pouring just in the middle and closing makes the waffle more dense and doesn’t really spread as far. Also be careful to not disturb the batter after you’ve mixed. The leaveners (baking soda and powder) will have been activated and will create bubbles. If you disturb these bubbles you lose fluff in the waffles and they will become more dense.

Dust with a little powdered sugar for a proper Belgian waffle, or Americanize it with syrup. I add some sprinkles for my kids. I do not think there is a way to mess this guy up! Enjoy!

Couple of tips!

The biggest reason to spend little time blending with the flour mix is when liquid is added to flour, it causes gluten to form. That would be great if you’re making bread or pizza but in the case of waffles or even pancakes, typically a softer crumb is desired. It is a matter of frequency not time, so don’t whisk as quickly as you can in a minute or anything. Also, I’ve seen recipes with whipped egg whites rather than more baking powder. I’ve tried this and waffles had a tougher texture. It seems the additional protein from the eggs did not taste like taking a bite of a cloud. It was good but I feel this is closer to what I had in Bruges. Also! if you don’t have buttermilk or yogurt, you can just use milk but the acid in those will help tenderize the flour. You can add a tsp of distilled vinegar in a pinch.