Warm milk in a saucepan or microwave. Combine milk, yeast, cane sugar and 1 cup flour in a mixing bowl and set aside in a warm place (such as inside your oven with only the light turned on) for 15 minutes. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, honey or maple syrup, butter and vanilla. Add egg mixture to dough along with salt and remaining flour. Mix into a soft sticky dough. Cover and let rise for 1 hour (again, in a warm place).
Punch down the dough and scrape it from the sides of the bowl. Loosely cover with plastic and refrigerate overnight.
Separate dough into 12 chunks, roll each into a ball, then roll balls in pearl sugar. Cook according to your waffle iron’s directions. (We suggest Cuisineart’s Classic Waffle Maker, RRP $70, which has a nonstick surface, adjustable temperature control and a “Ready” indicator light with audible tone.)
As you remove waffles from the iron, place them in a 120 degrees Celsius oven in a single layer on a baking sheet until the entire batch is ready to be served. Freeze leftover waffles and reheat them in the toaster for a quick weekday breakfast.
Serves six. Serving size: 2 waffles. Per serving: 1760kJ, 19g fat, 11g protein, 53g carbohydrate, 245mg sodium
SMART SWAPS
3 simple ways to up your waffle’s health ante
Whole for Half
Replace half of the all-purpose white flour for wholemeal pastry flour or brown rice flour, and mix in 1 teaspoon each of cinnamon and ground ginger.
Dark for White
Use 1 cup blanched almond flour and ¼ cup cocoa powder in place of 1 cup of all-purpose white flour
Fit for Fat
Cut half the butter for 2 per cent plain Greek yogurt, and toss 1 mashed banana and ½ cup chopped walnuts into the batter.