Waffles are my guilty pleasure and this is my favourite method for making them! It’s a Greek recipe that produces the most delicious little wafer cakes, wonderfully crisp on the outside, and light and soft on the inside. Great little treats that you can enjoy with your family and loved ones. Nowadays, waffle pans are available in various shapes that will help you create exciting waffles like these beauties that I usually make for St Valentine’s Day.

WHAT IS A WAFFLE?

Waffles are small raised cakes baked inside a honeycomb pattern metal griddle or iron pan. The waffle batter is made with flour, eggs, milk or yoghurt and a raising agent. Most contemporary variations of this recipes call for baking powder, but, traditionally, this recipe is made with baker’s ammonia. This is one of the oldest raising agents used before baking powder or baking soda.

HISTORY OF THE WAFFLE CAKES.

Although today, waffles are associated often with Belgium cuisine, these delightful little cakes have been cooked long before that in Ancient Greece and were called obleios (wafers).

Waffles are believed to have a history of over 4,000 years. Before the first iron waffle plates were created during the Iron Age, they were cooked on heated stones. Waffles as we know them today began taking shape in the 15th century with the familiar honeycomb pattern becaming popular.

Wafer cakes have been popular street food in Europe all through the centuries. French poems from the 12th century describe them as treats sold at fairs and religious festivals.

From the ancient Greeks to the Middle Ages, waffle recipes developed. Initially, wafer cakes were made without raising agent. Raising agents were developed much later, in the 16th century. Today, there is a large number of waffle recipe variations, some use milk, others – yoghurt. They can also be made without eggs. In most of these recipes, waffles are flavoured with vanilla.

There are several types of natural vanilla flavourings available and you may be wondering how to use them, so I decided to write a bit about vanilla and the types of vanilla flavourings here.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT VANILLA.

Vanilla was brought from the new world to Europe by the Conquistadors in 1519, together with the cacao. It’s the second most expensive spice after saffron. The curing process of vanilla beans can take from 6-9 months and involves a labour-intensive process. 

The most popular Vanilla varietieS TODAY.

Madagascar Vanilla is known for its creamy, rich, floral and fruity flavours. It have many culinary applications.

Indonesian Vanilla has a unique rich smooth and smoky floral aroma with overtones of fruit and chocolate. It’s incredibly versatile to use in any recipe. 

Tahitian Vanilla is delicate, with liquorice style flavour, perfect for use in culinary applications where heating is not required, such as fruit-based desserts and ice creams. The subtle aroma also makes Tahitian beans great for use in body products, including lotions and soaps.

Assortment OF natural VANILLA FLAVOURINGS.

Natural vanilla flavouring is available in the form of an extract, a bean paste and a vanilla pod. You may be wondering what’s the difference between them?

The beans in the vanilla pod have the most intense flavour. When using them, you need to scrape just a few beans to obtain powerful flavour.

Vanilla extract is a liquid made by soaking vanilla bean pods in alcohol to extract the flavour.

Vanilla bean paste is a mixture of vanilla beans, powder from the flecks of the vanilla pod and vanilla extract mixed into a paste. The flecks hold the paste together.

How to use Vanilla FLAVOURINGS?

The beans from the pod and the vanilla paste both have an intense flavour and are best used for flavouring ice cream, frosting, whipped cream, crème brûlée, puddings and smoothies. The vanilla extract has a more subdued flavour and is suitable for use in baking goods, like cookies, cakes and sweet bread. You can also use vanilla extract in pasta sauces, cocktails, hot chocolate and chocolate desserts.

HOW TO MAKE THESE DELIGHTFUL WAFFLES WITH GREEK YOGHURT?

📋 INGREDIENTS IN THIS RECIPE

Flour – We use plain flour in this recipe. Make sure your flour is fresh for the waffles to rise.

Eggs – Fesh and good quality eggs will add to the flavours of the waffles.

Yoghurt – Use plain full-fat Greek yoghurt in this recipe. I have seen recipes with vanilla yoghurt, but do not really see the point of using it. It’s more expensive and I find adding a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the dough delivers much better flavour.

Fat – Some recipe variations recommend using butter, but I like my waffles with olive oil. They are so much lighter in texture and are better for you.

Sugar – The original recipe calls for white granulated sugar, but caster sugar works fine in this recipe, too. I substituted the regular sugar with Demerara sugar for flavour. This is a type of cane sugar with coarse and light tan-coloured grain.

Salt – You can use kosher or table salt. Do not use more than 1/2 teaspoon of table salt. I find that sufficient.

Raising agent – Quite a few of the old traditional recipes for cookies and bakes in Greek cuisine contain baker’s ammonia. The benefits of ammonia bicarbonate are that it makes the bakes crispy. It works great in crunchy cookies and crackers. However, in this recipe, I substituted it with baking powder because baker’s ammonia was not available, and the baking powder worked really well.

📖 STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

You can make the waffle batter in a stand mixer. But it’s so quick and easy to prepare it that I personally don’t feel like setting up mine for such a small job and I use my hand mixer instead.

Step 1: BEAT THE EGGS WITH THE SUGAR, SALT & VANILLA EXTRACT

First, beat the egg in a large bowl for a few seconds until bubbles form on the surface. Then, add the vanilla extract, salt and sugar. Whisk them with the eggs until they dissolve.

Step 2: SIEVE & ADD THE FLOUR

Stir the baking powder into the flour, then sieve the flour straight into the bowl with the eggs. Stir with a bread whisk to combine the flour with the eggs.

Step 3: ADD THE YOGHURT & OIL

Add the yoghurt and olive oil to the bowl with the batter. Whisk with your mixer until all the ingredients are combined into a thick batter.

STEP 4: BAKE THE WAFFLES

Heat your waffle pan and pour enough batter into it to fill the waffle shape. Close the lid and bake the waffle cakes for 5 minutes or until cooked to your taste. I find 5 minutes is perfect if you like the waffles soft, but if you like them a bit crisp, you may need to bake them for a few more minutes.

🍲 SERVE DELICIOUS WAFFLES

You can eat waffles warm or cold. At home, we like them straight out of the pan. They are so good!

Waffles are versatile and can be served in many different ways. You can prepare delightful snacks and appetisers with savoury toppings and waffle cakes. They are great with seafood or poultry sauces.

These delicious small cakes make beautiful desserts, topped with chocolate or ice cream and syrup, and are everyone’s favourite breakfast. I love them with feta and honey or jam!

Bon Appétit!👨‍🍳👨‍🍳👨‍🍳