Getting Familiar with Puffed Pastry

Apparently, Puff Pastry and Croissant Dough are two slightly different things. 😲

Who knew?

After watching both of these being made at different times on The Great British Baking Show, it all looked so simple and straightforward. I had to give it a try. One of them, at least. I opted for Croissant Pastry. So, what's the difference?

While both these pastries rely heavily on the proper encasement of the butter rolled and folded multiple times, creating steam while baking to make the pastry rise, Paul Hollywood's recipes indicate that Croissant Pastry uses sugar and a little yeast, while Puff Pastry uses eggs, but no sugar and no yeast, relying on the  lamination of butter, properly folded to create the lovely rise we expect from this type of pastry dough.
 

Croissants using Paul's Recipe

That said, I tried Paul's Croissant Pastry (click on the link for his recipe) as my first attempt. For one, I really wanted to try a homemade all-butter croissant, and for another, I wanted to be pretty sure my efforts would not be wasted, so I used croissant pastry with its little bit of yeast to give the rise a boost, just in case I should not be able to execute all that rolling and folding quite expertly enough. Either dough gains its beautifully puffed layers from properly rolling and folding the butter within the dough. And so, I call my recipe "Puffed Pastry."

A (Very) Young and Intrepid Baker

As of this writing, I am more than halfway through my 68th year of life. I state this to give some perspective. I attempted making a puff pastry a very, very long time ago. When I was in Guatemala, and still in my 20s, I was an intrepid baker. Not everything came out well, for sure. Still, I had no one to say to me that something was a difficult thing to do, or that I should be fearful of outcomes. I had my trusty Joy of Cooking, and armed with that book and its well-explained, instructional recipes, I forged ahead and made things like Choux Paste, with never a thought to anything other than a belief that I could follow directions with the best of them.

When it came to trying out a Puff Pastry recipe, well, I will say it did not have a great outcome. Looking back on that time, I am pretty sure that I would have used margarine in the recipe, and that would certainly be mistake number one! I can still recall to this day how much difficulty I had with the rolling and folding, and most particularly with keeping the margarine encased in the dough. I can still see, in my mind's eye, how it leaked at the edges or worked its way through the dough to spurt out in spots. These are definitely no-no's, when making a puffed pastry. The most important rule, outside of using a really high-quality butter, is to keep that butter well chilled and encased in the pastry at all times. 

Back to Current Day

I attempted to make Paul Hollywood's Croissants back in February of this year. I felt that at this time in my life, I certainly have had a lot more experience under my belt and surely I should be able to make this pastry turn out. I certainly know better than to use margarine! As it happens, it worked wonderfully well. 

Masking Tape and Rolling Pins

I will say up front, getting the pastry rolled into a fairly strict rectangular shape took a whole lot more work than initially anticipated. Lots more. This is of utmost importance, because it makes the folding come out neat and tidy, and getting all those flaky layers later on depends on this neat, tidy rolling and folding, a process called "lamination." What I did was to measure out the size on my countertop using masking tape at the corners of the rectangle sized areas (one for the butter and one for the pastry itself). This gave me the guide I needed; just keep rolling, neatening and tugging until it reached those corners I had marked out. Having those marks on the counter helped immensely.

I had also invested in a good maple wood, straight, 19-inch long rolling pin. I had never used any rolling pin but the one with handles on the ends, given me by my Mom for my Bridal Shower back in 1970. Getting used to a rolling pin without handles was interesting, for sure. The one really good thing was having a pin long enough so I didn't leave marks in the dough, as would have happened with my golden-oldie of a rolling pin. I will not say it would be impossible to make puffed pastry dough without that 19-inch straight rolling pin, but it wouldn't have been quite as neat. Maybe. I think. 

My Pastry, Second Time Around😚

My Croissant Pastry and Rolling Pin

When I opted to try out Paul's Croissant dough, I did so because I really wanted to try making croissants first. I had never had, outside of buying some at a local "patisserie," croissants made with butter. I had rolled some Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry into croissant shapes, and used that commercial puff pastry dough for innumerable applications. But that being the ONLY puff pastry available where I live, and it being made with shortening or some such, while delicious, I wanted to know what the "real thing" might be like. 

I will say it right now. THERE IS NO COMPARISON. The butter makes such a huge difference in flavor, it's hard to credit. 

I used a couple of Paul's suggestions for making filled croissants, half of them using bacon and cheese and half using almond paste. Both of these were excellent. Would I use fillings again? Maybe. Not sure. They tasted most wonderful. But, I think in the end, I am just a purist. I would have preferred to have just the croissant to eat.

That said, Paul's recipe called for a fair amount of sugar in the dough itself. I wondered about that at the time, but just went with his recipe. The time for experimentation would likely come, but not at my first attempt. As it turned out, I felt that the croissants were just too sweet. I had never eaten a croissant whose pastry was sweet on its own. I cannot say I have such widespread experience of croissants to say that they should not be sweet like these, but to me (and me with a serious sweet tooth, mind), they were just too sweet. Duly noted, for next time.

I haven't yet gotten around to trying Paul's Puff Pastry recipe. But, in the meantime, my sister-in-law and I were watching Paul Hollywood in "City Bakes." In the episode where he is in St. Petersburg, Russia, he goes to a little pastry shop where they have an amazing assortment of savory pies, made free-form with a puffed-pastry of some kind and with a most amazing amount of decoration on them. They were stunning. I took a series of photos of the TV screen, just to have a reference, when I tried.

And, of course, I just had to try it out! 😃

As it happened, I had just made a roasted turkey breast, and we had lots of leftovers. Obviously, this would be a Turkey Pie. What else would go in was yet to be determined. 

But First, the Pastry

Now that I had an application, I had to sit myself down and determine what I wanted to do for the pastry. I definitely wanted a puffed pastry of some kind and not just a yeast dough. The elaborate decorations used on top of the pies in City Bakes would not be possible with just any yeast dough. I thought about making Paul's Puff Pastry recipe, but then got cold feet when thinking about how this would rely solely on the proper rolling and folding of the butter. I felt I would rather add a little yeast, just to be safe. I wanted the dough to be beautifully golden yellow, so I wanted eggs in the dough. And sugar? I opted to use a just a little; just enough to give it great flavor, but not enough to make it taste sweet.

My version came out spectacularly well. I used most of the pastry in the creation of the Turkey Pie, what with top and bottom crust and all the decorations. Whatever pastry was left was only bits and scraps, which I carefully piled atop one another and rolled out again, though this will never be as puffed as the first time around. Still, I cut some haphazard croissant shapes from this dough and while they came out all sorts of sizes and odd shapes, they were truly delicious, just what I wanted as a croissant in flavor, and they still puffed beautifully. No complaints.  

I have no beautiful photos of the whole process, but truly, it is a matter of following directions, nothing more. I used grams to weigh my ingredients. I feel it is important to use ingredients by weight, making it so much more fool-proof. And ultimately, working as quickly as possible to keep the dough and butter cold is of the utmost importance.

Puffed Pastry Dough

Makes 12 very large croissants, or use pastry for other applications

500 grams bread flour (about 3¾ cups)
10 grams salt (about 2 teaspoons)
40 grams superfine sugar (about 3 tablespoons)
10 grams instant yeast (about 3 teaspoons)
2 cold eggs plus enough cold water to equal 300 ml., total (10 ounces, total)
300 grams fine quality European butter (about 2½ sticks)

Place the bread flour, salt, sugar and yeast into a mixer bowl. Stir to distribute the ingredients evenly. Whisk together the cold eggs with cold water and pour into the dry ingredients. Mix to bring the dough together, then knead for about 6 minutes, either by machine or by hand, as preferred. Place the dough in a bowl, covered, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

On a counter or other surface, measure out two rectangles, using masking tape at the corners to mark the measurements. One rectangle will be the measurement for the butter; 40 x 19 cm (15¾ x 7½-inches). Another rectangle will be for rolling the dough; 60 x 20 cm (24 x 8-inches).

While the dough is in the fridge, get out the cold butter. Use 2 pieces of plastic wrap or two pieces of parchment, large enough to accommodate the measurement of the butter. Place the butter between the plastic wrap or parchment. Bash the butter with your rolling pin to begin flattening it out, then gently press and roll it to fit that smaller measurement of 40 x 19 centimeters. Keep the edges as straight as possible. This may require some work, tidying the edges as the butter is rolled. Keep it to an even thickness. Leave the butter in between the plastic or parchment, figure 2, set it onto a baking sheet and place the sheet into the fridge to chill. 

Once the hour has elapsed on the dough, remove from the fridge, lightly flour the surface you will be working on and quickly shape the dough into a long rectangle, figure 1. Roll the dough, straightening and tidying the sides and corners as needed, until it reaches 60 x 20 centimeters. Take the sheet with the chilled butter rectangle out of the fridge, figure 2, remove the paper or plastic from one side and flip the butter over onto one end of the dough rectangle, figure 3, where it should fit neatly almost to the edges of the top ⅔ of the dough. Remove the remaining parchment or plastic film from the top of the butter. Fold the exposed edge of dough up over half the butter, figure 3. With a knife, trim the butter, just above where the dough has been folded over, being extremely careful not to cut through the dough beneath, figure 4.

Lamination Sequence: Rolling and folding cold butter into chilled dough

Lift the free square of butter from the top of the dough and place it atop the lower fold of dough, neatening the edges, figure 5. Now, lift the remaining top flap of the dough and fold it down over the newly placed butter square, figure 6. The result is now a tidy square, figure 7. Figure 8 shows how the layers should look from the edges. Very carefully, press the edges of the dough to completely seal in the butter. Make a small indent in one corner of the dough with one finger to mark that this was the first roll and fold sequence. Wrap the dough in plastic film or place into a zip-top bag and into the fridge for 1 hour.

Second and subsequent turns

After the hour has elapsed, remove the dough from the fridge to the lightly floured surface, figure 9. Set the dough on the surface at a 90-degree angle from the last roll and fold, figure 10, so that the tri-folded edge is towards you, figure 11. Roll the dough again to a 60 x 20 cm (24 x 8-inch) rectangle, figure 12, then bring the bottom of the long rectangle up one-third, figure 13, then the top down, figure 14, to cover the top fold. Make two small finger indents in the dough to indicate the second "turn" and wrap and refrigerate the dough for one hour.
Repeat this last sequence twice more, resting the dough in the fridge for one hour between folds, then wrap the dough and refrigerate overnight. After its overnight rest, the dough is ready to be used for whatever application you might prefer.

When using puffed pastry, it should be rolled out again before working with it. Never drag a knife or twist a cutter, as this will damage the layers and cause the pastry to rise unevenly. Sharp cuts or straight down pressure from a cutter is best.

Once made, puff pastry can be frozen. Thaw completely in the fridge before using.

This amount of dough will make 12 very large croissants or 18 to 20 smaller ones.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Make Hamburger Buns at Home

Sloppy Joe, Fried Potatoes and Coleslaw

There are times when I get the urge to make something like hamburgers or Sloppy Joes and have no buns. Since I always make our bread, this is no big deal; I just make my own. I had used an old recipe from Better Homes and Gardens for a long time, no matter what I needed in the "roll" department. Once you have a basic recipe, it is very versatile. Make the dough into any shape you please, to fit the occasion. A simple roll dough can be formed into cloverleaf rolls for a nice dinner, buns for a barbecue, or even doughnuts.

Making Cloverleaf Rolls is just a matter of forming a whole lot of tiny dough balls. Fit three little balls of dough into one cup of a greased muffin pan and continue till all the little wells are filled with three dough balls. They bake in no time, being so small. Usually 12 to 15 minutes is enough. To make them extra pretty, brush them with an egg wash before baking. An egg wash can be a whole egg mixed with a couple of tablespoons of water, or an egg yolk with one tablespoon of water. 


To make buns, Use about the same amount of dough as would have been made into three of the little balls, or slightly more. I was uncertain yesterday of how much exactly was needed for each bun, having just invented the recipe. I also weighed the dough. I used just about 3 ounces per bun; this was a little bit too much. The buns turned out great, but a bit larger than usual. I got 16 buns from this recipe, but I believe it would have been better to make 20 or even 24. If you have a scale, try making the balls about 2 to 2.5 ounces each.

Cloverleaf Rolls

My background is Slovak / Serbian. All my grandparents came from "the Old Country". From my Mom's Slovak side, she taught us about "Doughnut Day." Once we knew about it, every year we clamored for doughnuts. Doughnut Day is the Slovak equivalent of Mardi Gras, the day before Lent starts; the last of sweets and other excesses until Easter. And, who can resist a doughnut, hot from frying, dipped in a glaze or rolled in sugar? I mean, REALLY! 

Though my kids were born in Guatemala, where Mardi Gras was an exceedingly pale thing in comparison to, say, the wild excess of Rio, or New Orleans - I taught my kids about Doughnut Day and made doughnuts with a basic roll dough. I also, on occasion have made doughnuts or buns or cloverleaf rolls from my version of my Mom's and Grandma's Pascha. I call my version "My Kitchen Aid Mixer Bread". In essence, similar, in some exchanges of ingredients (honey for sugar, dry milk for regular milk), and the use of my Kitchen Aid Mixer to do the work. It would work with pizza dough, in a pinch. The only real difference is in the shaping. And last evening I was going to make Sloppy Joes, so I needed buns.

Hamburger Buns, ready for dinner

The other day I made Cinnamon Rolls, and had created a dough I felt would be good for that application. I am sure it would be good as a basic roll dough for any of the already mentioned uses, but yesterday I needed hamburger buns and was thinking of how tender Potato Buns can be. So I altered amounts of some ingredients and added others, using a little potato flour and made a new recipe. It has been exceptionally cold of late. All right, who am I kidding - it has been totally frigid practically since Thanksgiving, with temps soaring down to 24 below and wind chills of -50. When it is that cold, sometimes a yeast dough has a little difficulty rising as quickly as I would like, even with the use of "instant rise" yeast. In mid summer, it is a different story. Yeast dough rises like magic in summer. It took a little longer to get the buns to rise than sometimes, but they turned out most amazingly tender and moist. We had some really fabulous Sloppy Joes! Usually I use the oven with the light on, creating a nice, warm ambient temperature for the dough to proof. However, I had just made my Green Tea Lime Sables, and the oven was just plain HOT, so I couldn't set the dough there to rise. It took about 1½ hours for the dough to rise in the cool kitchen, and at least another 45 minutes for the formed buns to rise. They baked in about 15 minutes. Here is the recipe: 

Basic Potato Roll Dough

Makes 20 - 24 buns

2 cups warm water, not hot
¼ cup honey
1¼ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons olive oil, or use melted butter or other oil of choice
4 cups Bread Flour, divided
1 packet Instant Rise/Rapid Rise Yeast
½ cup potato flour
¼ cup dry milk powder
1 egg

Heat the water and pour into a large bowl or heavy duty stand mixer, such as Kitchen Aid. Add in the honey, salt and oil. Mix together 2 cups of the bread flour, the packet of yeast, potato flour and dry milk powder. Whisk together well, then add to the warm liquid. Start the mixer, or stir together with a spoon. Once there is a soft batter, add in the egg and beat well. Add in the remaining 2 cups of flour gradually, while either kneading with the mixer's dough hook, or by hand for at least 10 to 12 minutes. The dough may seem very stiff at first. The use of potato flour seems to start this way, but softens later in the kneading process. Set the dough into a greased bowl, turning once to allow all sides to be well oiled. Set in a warm place to rise until doubled in size.
 
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Punch down the dough and divide into 4 sections, as equally as possible (or weigh the dough). To make hamburger buns, further divide each section into at least 5 pieces. Form a smooth ball from each piece, then use a rolling pin to roll into a fairly flat disc about 6 inches across. The dough will shrink back on itself. Set each piece onto a greased baking sheet, with at least 3 inches between them (usually about 6 per sheet). I have large "muffin-top" pans, and use those, also. The piece of dough should overlap the little shallow well, but shrink back and fit inside.
 
Set the buns to rise until about double. The centers may not look completely puffed yet, but while baking they will grow. Before baking, if desired, brush the buns with an egg wash and sprinkle on sesame seeds or poppy seeds. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (325 on Convection). Bake the buns for about 15 minutes, or until puffed and brown.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

There is Nothing Like a Warm Cinnamon Roll...

Cinnamon Roll, ready to eat

Today I was all set to head up to my office and work on my cookbook, when I thought about the cinnamon rolls I saw Mario Batali make on The Chew. He used pizza dough to make them, and while that would probably be good, I decided to try something my own way. Starting with my own pizza dough recipe as a base, I added in some honey for a little sweetness and an egg just to enrich the dough. I also scraped a half vanilla bean into the mixture. 

Once the dough was made, I weighed it. People always seem to give dough by weight; something I had never done till now. The whole batch of dough weighed just about 2.8 pounds.  I allowed the dough only a short rise of 15 minutes, rather than wait for a full "double in bulk." In the 15 minute wait, I made the filling by mixing together 1 melted stick of butter with brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.

15 minute rise

By the time I finished making the filling and washing the utensils, the dough was ready to work with. At that point I took the dough out and divided it into two sections, rolled, filled and cut, and set the pieces into a pan for another 15 minute rest. I turned on the oven, cleaned up the counters and utensils and it was time to bake the cinnamon rolls. Oh, the heavenly smell of cinnamon rolls baking! 

While they baked, I made the icing; a very simple confectioners sugar, melted butter, a pinch of salt, vanilla and water. This icing is rather thick, but as it gets set onto hot rolls right from the oven, the heat of the rolls takes care of melting the icing very enticingly down over and into the rolls.

The whole process took just about 2 hours with the short rising times, and I always use "quick rise" or "instant" yeast, so that makes rising times far shorter than they could be. Quick rise or instant yeast is available in most every grocery these days. I buy it bulk in 1 pound bricks, because I bake all our bread and many other wonderful things, like yeast waffles or pizza. One packet of yeast is equivalent to just about 2 1/2 teaspoons of bulk yeast, in case you might want to invest. There are little jars in the grocery also. I used to buy those, and then graduated to the pound brick. I keep my yeast in the freezer. Just take it out and straight into the bread mixture. No need to wait or thaw. The other benefit with instant yeast is that it does not need to "proof". No need to put the yeast into a little warm water to wait for it to start bubbling and growing. It can be added right to the dry mixture and everything just mixed together. Love it!

Dough, smeared with cinnamon mixture

Cinnamon Rolls

DOUGH:
1/4 cup honey
1 3/4 cup lukewarm water
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil or coconut oil, melted
4 cups bread flour
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 packet instant-rise yeast
1 egg

In a large bowl, or bowl of a heavy duty stand mixer, place the first 4 ingredients. Add in the flour, vanilla and yeast and begin mixing. Add the egg and continue mixing. If kneading by hand, turn out onto a floured surface and knead for about 6 - 8 minutes. In the mixer, allow to mix with the dough hook for the same amount of time. Place dough into a greased bowl and set aside for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, make the Cinnamon Filling:

CINNAMON FILLING:

Rolled and cut

1 stick butter, softened
3 tablespoons cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place all ingredients into a small bowl and combine with a spoon or hand mixer and set aside.

Divide the dough into 2 sections, and first roll one section of the dough into a large rectangle about 12 x 20 inches or so. Divide the cinnamon mixture in half and place half on the rolled piece of dough. Using a fork, smear it around. It can be difficult to smear in cold weather, but it doesn't have to be even. Roll the dough from the longer edge. Dot the far edge with a little water, to seal well. I sort of eyeballed the cutting, first dividing in half, and then into sections about 2-ish inches wide. Stand these on end in one half of a greased 13 x 9-inch pan. Repeat these steps with the second section of the dough and the cinnamon mixture, rolling, cutting and placing into the second half of the 13 x 9 pan. The two sections could also be set into two 9-inch round cake pans. Set aside to rise for 15 minutes. Set the oven to preheat to 350 degrees (325 on Convection).

Rolls set in pan for 15 minutes

ICING:
4 cups confectioners' sugar
4 tablespoons melted butter
3 - 4 tablespoons water or milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch salt

Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl, stirring vigorously to combine. The icing will be stiff, but it will melt nicely onto the hot rolls.

Bake the rolls for about 20 to 25 minutes, or, if you own an instant-read thermometer, until one of the rolls in the middle of the pan reads 180 degrees in its center. They should be golden.

Remove from the oven and have handy a large baking sheet, (if you used a 13 x 9 pan) or a round plate (if you used 9-inch round pans). Place the baking sheet or plate over top of the hot pan, grip both together with hot pads and flip the hot pan upside down onto the baking sheet or plate. Now, repeat this process, so the rolls will end up with the tops upwards onto a serving plate or tray. It seems like a lot of to-do, but it is the easiest way to have the rolls out of the pan.

Baked with golden tops and melting icing

Set a rounded tablespoon sized blob of icing on top of each roll. The residual heat will cause the icing to melt down into and over the hot cinnamon rolls. Note in this last photo, the almost solid blob of icing on the roll in the forefront, versus the nicely melted one behind.

Now, get ready to savor these wonderful, warm, gooey, cinnamon-y confections.





My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Back to Yeast Waffles

Overnight Yeast Waffles

I can be very persistent. Just ask my husband!

When I made the waffles about a week ago, trying for a recipe that would be similar to Marion Cunningham's Yeast Waffles, well, it just took too long for the results. The result was wonderful after 3 days in the fridge. Great, if you are having guests and need something spectacular for breakfast and need things done ahead; not so much if you want relatively instant results. 

I consider overnight as "instant" because it is quick to mix up the night before and let it set out overnight. It is ready for use immediately, in the morning. Just add eggs and baking soda and presto - Waffle Batter! The recipe of last week used no time at room temperature to ferment. The fermentation was a long and very slow process in the fridge. I had come to expect the fermented yeastiness of M.C.'s Yeast Waffles. My batter of last week never had that. While it did finally come out tasting of yeast after 3 days in the fridge, it was not strong, nor fermented in flavor. So, I went back to the drawing board. I did some research into such things as sourdough starters, along with other recipes for yeast waffles. 

Batter bubbling away at 10 PM

10 PM: Batter risen considerably

I think these days everyone is so fearful of germs and food poisoning, they forget that sourdough comes from fermenting a yeast batter, generally at least starting out on the counter (as in NOT refrigerated). I read online and about everyone that had posted MC's Yeast Waffle recipe, now called for mixing the batter and then putting it in the fridge overnight. This will never give that great sour, fermented quality that is so unique to these waffles. It will give nice waffles, just not what I was looking for. Granted, it is possible to have a starter go bad; just not overnight. If ir did, it would become very obvious in that it will develop an off color, sometimes pinkish, and smell just wrong. There is no lovely fermented tang; it just plain stinks. 

Long, long ago, I had a sourdough starter going for some time. Once it was there bubbling away, I looked for recipes to use the starter. I made waffles and pancakes, bread and cake. The thing about a sourdough starter is that the longer it lives (as in, using a portion, then refreshing the remainder with more flour and water, so the fermentation is continuous), the more sour the flavor. The stronger the sour flavor, the more it comes through in what you make. Breads become quite tangy, and so do waffles and pancakes. At that point, I was not so enamored of the sourdough starter. I didn't want quite that much sour tang in my waffles or pancakes. So, what to do?

Here entered M.C.'s Yeast Waffle recipe - a real "a-HA!" moment. 

Note light through bubbles when held up to light

So, back to the reason for this post. I created another batter last evening. It is similar to M.C.'s Yeast Waffles. There are only so many things to change. You need certain proportions of flour, yeast, sugar, salt. Other additions are butter or oil, milk, eggs and baking soda. I lessened the amount of butter a bit, and added an egg. I added a pinch of powdered vanilla pod (I save the pod from a vanilla bean when I scrape the seeds, allow it to thoroughly dry, then pulse to a fine powder in a coffee grinder used just for this). A splash of good vanilla extract would be great also. I used nonfat dried milk powder. The batter really took off. I mixed it up at 8 PM. I checked it at 10 PM, before going to bed. It was merrily and actively bubbling away and had risen noticeably in the bowl. This morning, it was still bubbling, though more slowly, and had noticeably fallen in the bowl. This is normal, and expected.

Once I added the eggs and baking soda, I had my "Belgian" waffle maker going. I had never made this kind of waffle in the deeper welled waffle maker and was curious if they would rise to fill the spaces, as the dough is relatively runny. The deeper wells did fill, but I think it just works more nicely in a regular waffle iron. The dough baked into very light and crisp waffles with noticeable tiny bubbles baked into the waffle. They smelled heavenly of the yeasty tang and tasted even better. Success! 

Note height of batter in the bowl

Still bubbly, risen and fallen overnight

One more thing: I am baking bread and other wonderful yeasty things all the time, so I buy SAF Instant Yeast by the pound brick. Instant (or Rapid-Rise / Quick-Rise) Yeast requires no "proofing." If you have a packet of regular yeast, use 1/2 cup of the water called for, warmed separately, to proof the yeast. Save this mixture until the end of the mixing of the batter. I also do not keep milk in the house. I have instant dry milk powder or evaporated milk for those times I need milk for a recipe. If preferred, use 2 cups of milk when melting the butter. The other half cup of water can be added to the milk, or used to proof the yeast if needed.

Thin, gloppy batter

Overnight Yeast Waffles

2½ cups water
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
⅔ cup instant dry milk powder
1 packet of instant rise yeast (about 2 1/2 teaspoons)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
½ teaspoon baking soda

Mix the water and butter in a microwave safe container and heat on short bursts to melt the butter without overheating the water. Make sure the water is just tepid before adding to the dry ingredients.

Separately, in a large, glass or plastic bowl, combine the flour, milk powder, yeast, sugar and salt. Add in the tepid water and butter mixture and stir well to combine. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to ferment overnight. (If it is very cold outside, you may place the bowl in the oven with the oven light on. Keep the bowl at the furthest point from the light as possible. Some oven lights make the oven too hot, and could hinder the process or kill the yeast.)

Next morning, set up a waffle iron. Add the eggs and baking soda to the fermented batter and whisk in to combine. Pour about ½ to ⅔ cup onto the waffle iron and bake according to directions; usually about 2 to 2½ minutes. Makes about 10 to 12 (7-inch round) waffles.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Yeast Waffle Experiences

Long ago I found a recipe for Marion Cunningham's Yeast Waffles in the local newspaper. I tried the recipe and it was fantabulous! The smell of the waffle baking with its yeasty aroma so like bread baking; the flavor with the yeast right out there and apparent, the tender crispness of the waffle - all these made for one heady breakfast experience. I have been making them almost exclusively ever since.

I have tried other kinds of waffle recipes. Though I am not particularly fond of chocolate at most times and really not for breakfast, I did try a recipe that uses cocoa and Porter beer with its chocolatey undertones. That recipe is wonderful, and I usually serve those chocolate waffles with strawberries cut up into sour cream with a little sugar. Wonderful. I also spent time exploring ways to add fiber into the diet and made lots of waffles with added oat bran or wheat bran or corn meal. Nothing beats the yeast waffles recipe for flavor.

My Refrigerator Yeast Waffles with Pecans and Blueberries

Waffle irons come is many sizes and shapes. These days many also have perfected the timing so one no longer has to make a guess when it might be done. I got a waffle iron from Williams Sonoma about 10 years ago. It has a slide bar to set, from 1 to 7, how done you want the waffle to be. It has a little red light to tell you it is heating or cooking, and a green light when the waffle is done, along with a little high-pitched whistling sound. It works great, and I have absolutely no complaints. It is a round waffle maker. If the batter goes all the way to the rim (which usually means it will overflow a little), it makes about an 8-inch diameter waffle. If the batter stays inside the rim, it makes about a 7-inch waffle. I have never had a Belgian waffle maker. I have never cared for the exceptionally deep wells it creates. I don't know why. It's just my thing. 

M.C.'s recipe calls for mixing the yeast, milk, butter, salt sugar and flour and mixing well, then lightly covering and leaving the bowl on the counter overnight. In the morning, or when ready to make the waffles, the batter will have risen noticeably. The smell is heavy with the slight fermenting of the yeast. At this point eggs and a little baking soda are added and whisked in and the batter is ready to bake. Obviously, I cannot just publish Marion Cunningham's Yeast Waffle recipe as mine (which I just read she got from Fanny Farmer's Cookbook), so I decided to try making a recipe for a yeast batter and see how it would go. 

Batter after 24 hours in fridge

I wanted to make a batter that was ready to use right away. I mixed basically the same ingredients, but in different proportions, adding in baking soda. I am not a chemist, and am not sure exactly what the soda does in a yeast mixture (as opposed to it working with soured milk or buttermilk in a quick bread, cake or pancake). I feel it must help with the bubbling and puffing, particularly if the batter is left out to ferment. Well, my batter had not been fermented, but I added it anyway. I made the waffles yesterday. I was unimpressed. There was absolutely no yeast smell from the batter nor any aroma while baking. The waffles were fine. While there was nothing inherently "wrong" with them, they were just - plain - waffles.  I also made a couple of pancakes with the batter, and those worked fine, too, but were similarly uninteresting.

Consistency of the batter

I decided to put the rest of the batter in the fridge. I covered it lightly with plastic wrap. The batter grew to completely fill the bowl by this morning. I stirred it down and tried again. This morning the batter noticeably smelled like yeast, though without that wonderfully pungent fermented quality. I had hopes. I made waffles. I sprinkled ¼-cup chopped pecans onto the batter in the iron. The waffles tasted better, but still no real yeasty aroma while baking, nor anything to indicate they are yeast waffles while eating them. I am going to give them another day in the fridge and try again tomorrow. I like things that are ready right away and not something I have to wait for days to develop flavor. I think I am going to go back to making a new recipe that will ferment overnight and see what I can come up with. Meanwhile, this is my recipe, to date:

Refrigerator Yeast Waffles

¼ cup warm water
1 package yeast
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or use all-purpose for the total amount)
2 cups all-purpose flour

Refrigerator Yeast Waffle with pecans

2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
2¾ cup milk or half & half
3 eggs
1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Stir the yeast into the warm water and let it froth. In a large bowl, combine the flours, sugar, salt and soda. Whisk together the milk and eggs; add in the melted butter. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the yeast and beat to combine. Store in a plastic or glass bowl in the refrigerator overnight and up to 4 days: make sure the batter has a LOT of room to grow, or you will find a mess next day. Cover lightly. If you top with a lid that seals tightly, it could explode as the batter expands.

This will make approximately 10 (7-inch) round waffles or about 20 pancakes. As each waffle iron is different size and shape, you will have to experiment to see how much batter to use per waffle. Bake according to waffle iron instructions. I had mine set on the higher side of medium.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.