Chef Tim Kemp is busy balancing his Blue Apron duties, his life with his family, a global pandemic, and a glass wine. This make-ahead breakfast recipe is helping him stay sane. Here’s Tim:
In pre-COVID times, my kids often ate frozen waffles for breakfast. As an over-scheduled father of two, I didn’t think twice about it. At our home in Brooklyn it was always easy to pop into the corner store and grab their beloved Eggos. As the quarantine months crept on, our Brooklyn apartment started to feel smaller and smaller. When summer came we temporarily relocated to a family vacation home in northern Michigan. We love being here, but getting to the store is a two hour round trip. Making breakfast is suddenly easier than the store-bought option.
Working from home has been a mighty struggle for a variety of reasons. Making things in large quantities, and making them ahead of time, has been our trick to getting the kids meals they like while keeping up with emails during the day.
There’s nothing wrong with a good toaster waffle, but as a Chef I’ve come to enjoy the beauty that is the Liege waffle. This type of waffle offers a little more complexity and flavor than you’ll find in the freezer aisle. With a little experimenting I’ve created a version of the Liege waffle that is easy to make in advance. Best of all, my kids love it.
Make-Ahead Breakfast (or snack!) Waffles
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 3 Cups of milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ½ Cup maple syrup
- Pinch of salt
- 1 Tbsp barley malt or molasses
- 4 eggs
- 4 Cups AP flour
- 1 Tbsp active dry yeast
- Coarse sugar like demerara or turbinado (optional)
1. Melt the butter in a medium pot. Keep the butter over low heat until it is slightly browned. The butter will foam up and you’ll start to see little light brown flecks.
2. Add the milk, vanilla, and maple syrup to the pot along with a large pinch of salt and the barley malt or molasses. Bring this up to around 110 degrees. It should be just hot enough very hot when touched, but not hot enough to burn a finger.
3. Whisk the eggs thoroughly in a small bowl.
4. In a large bowl, combine the flour and active dry yeast (I stan SAF instant yeast). Whisk to combine. Make sure the bowl is big for the batter to rise significantly.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir. Then add the eggs to finish and whisk out all the lumps that you can.
6. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place for an hour. Then move it to the fridge to continue rising until morning. A tight cover keeps the batter from bubbling over.
7. The next morning, heat your waffle maker until it’s good and hot. Grease it with non-stick cooking spray. If you have coarse sugar, sprinkle that on the waffle iron, add the batter, and sprinkle more sugar on top. The sugar will caramelize and add a delicious crunchy exterior to the finish waffle.
8. If you’re working ahead, cool the waffles and store in the fridge or freezer. When it’s breakfast time you can reheat your waffles toaster oven, cut into dippable pieces, and serve with maple syrup on the side. A make-ahead breakfast your kids will love.
