classic waffle showdown.

For the past week or so, I made four different classic waffle recipes. Well, maybe not for the last one since I added cinnamon and nutmeg to it but let's just treat it as a standard waffle for now.

So I made Belgian Buttermilk Waffles, Light, Crisp Waffles, Marion Cunningham's Raised Waffles and Waffles of Insane Greatness. Before I announce the winner, let me give you a brief rundown.

First up, Belgian Buttermilk Waffles.

It's an easy stir-together batter with no waiting time for the batter to sit. It's also the fastest among the four. However, while they were reasonably crisp, they were too eggy for my taste.

Next, Light, Crisp Waffles.

These truly deserved that title because they were super super crispy! In fact, I may have complained a little on how they were too crisp to enjoy the custardy interior. These are less eggy than the Belgian Buttermilk Waffles and had a hint of vanilla. Extremely light as well. Preparation-wise, these require the most effort as some eggwhite-whipping action was required. It's worth it though, I promise you.

And here comes Marion Cunningham's Yeasted Waffles.

If you're the impatient sort, these may not be your thing. But if you can't stand the sight of a mixing bowl early in the morning, these are for you. The batter is prepped beforehand, specifically the night before, and the only thing you have to do is crack an egg or two depending on how much batter you're making, and stir in baking soda. I like these for their lightly toasty flavour in the background and heavenly smell of baking bread. They also scarcely have any off-putting eggy taste, which makes this recipe a great carrier for different experimental flavours. My only grouse is that they do not remain crisp for a long time.

Finally, we come to the Waffles of Insane Greatness.

These also employ a method of straightforward mixing, but with an additional rest time of 30 minutes. I added cinnamon and nutmeg, along with vanilla already called for in the original recipe, so I cannot account for any eggy taste should the original version have any because the ones I had were completely not eggy. However, I felt that they were bland behind the mini explosion of spices. This could be due to the use of oil instead of melted butter. They also didn't manage to stay crisp for long. But, I do like their cakey density, meaning light but with a bit of substance. These waffles hold the record for best texture.

I promised you a winner, and I shall give it to you. Drumroll please...

And the winner is...

Light, Crisp Waffles!

I chose this recipe because these had unparalleled crispness, which I think is the most difficult thing to get right. Any kinks in the taste department can easily be sorted out like adding more sugar for a sweeter waffle or masking the eggy taste with more vanilla, but having a waffle to remain crisp to the very last bite is quite the uphill task, and I'm proud to say that this recipe accomplished that.

With this, I've come to the end of my classic waffle series, but it's not the end of my waffling journey! I'll still be cranking out more exotic waffles (and possibly even cookies and cakes) in my waffle machine and include them in Waffle my World so I hope to see you sticking around!