Old-Fashioned Overnight Waffles with Yeast

Overnight Waffles with Yeast on plate

Often waffles taste almost like pancakes, so when I came across a recipe in a hundred-year-old cookbook for traditional Waffles with Yeast, I decided to give it a try. The recipe included an option for making overnight waffles, and I decided to go that route since it can be hectic in the morning, and I liked the idea of doing most of the prep work the previous evening.

The Overnight Waffles with Yeast were tasty with an old-fashioned goodness. The waffles were heartier and chewier than the typical modern waffle.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Waffles with Yeast — Source: New Winston Cook Book of Guaranteed Recipes

A cake of compressed yeast contained about the same amount of yeast as a packet of active dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons of active dry yeast).

Since I made the waffles using the overnight method, I updated the recipe for that option. Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Overnight Waffles with Yeast

Servings: 3 - 5
Time: 15 minutes active prep time
Difficulty: moderate
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2 cups milk

2/3 teaspoon active dry yeast (1/4th of packet)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon butter or lard, melted

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Step 1. Put milk in saucepan, then heat with medium heat while stirring until the milk is scalded (180 – 185° F.). Remove from heat and cool to 105 – 110° F.

Step 2. Sprinkle the yeast and sugar on the warm milk, then stir to dissolve.

Step 3. Put the milk mixture in a mixing bowl, then add the melted butter or lard, eggs, flour, and salt; beat until the batter is smooth.

Step 4. Cover and put in the refrigerator overnight (10 – 15 hours).

Step 5. Remove from refrigerator, gently stir, then ladle batter onto a hot waffle iron and cook following the waffle iron directions.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Old-Fashioned Pound Cake Waffles

Pound Cake Waffles

When browsing through hundred-year-old cookbooks, I came across a recipe for Pound Cake Waffles. The title intrigued me. The recipe called for lots of butter and sugar, and was very similar to actual Pound Cake recipes. I decided to give it a try. The recipe indicated that either lemon or vanilla flavoring could be used in the recipe. I went with lemon extract.

The waffles were lovely with a sunny lemon flavor that worked nicely with the maple syrup that I put on the waffles.

Here’s the original recipe:

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Pound Cake Waffles

Servings: 4 - 6
Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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3/4 cup butter

1 cup sugar

4 eggs, separated

1/4 cup milk

1 1/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon lemon extract or vanilla (I used lemon extract.)

Beat egg whites, then set aside. Put butter and sugar in a mixing bowl, then beat until creamed. Add the egg yolks and milk, then beat. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and lemon extract or vanilla; beat until combined. Gently fold in the beaten egg whites. Ladle batter onto a hot waffle iron and cook, following the waffle iron directions.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Old-Fashioned Chocolate Waffles

Chocolate Waffles

Week-end mornings are the perfect time to make breakfast foods that are just a little special, so when I saw a recipe for Chocolate Waffles in a hundred-year-old cookbook, I decided to give them a try.

The Chocolate Waffles were crispy on the outside and tender in the middle. They contained just the right amount of chocolate. The waffles were not very sweet, but when syrup or other sweet topping is added it was just right.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Chocolate Waffles — Source: Modern Priscilla Cook Book: One Thousand Home Tested Recipes (1924)

I gradually added the hot water to the cocoa, and stirred until smooth. This resulted in a very thick paste. I could not figure out why the old recipe called for then heating this thick cocoa and water mixture to boiling, so I skipped that step.

Chocolate Waffles probably are lovely when served with chocolate sauce, marshmallow cream, or vanilla ice cream, but I just served them with maple syrup and they were delightful.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Chocolate Waffles

Servings: 4-6
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 cup water

1 cup milk

2 eggs

2 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons shortening, melted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Put the cocoa in a mixing bowl, and gradually add the hot water while stirring constantly. Stir until smooth. Add remaining ingredients. Beat until smooth. Ladle batter onto a hot waffle iron and cook, following the waffle iron directions.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Old-fashioned Oatmeal Waffles

Oatmeal Waffle on Plate

I often get requests for gluten-free recipes, so I was excited to find a hundred-year old recipe for Oatmeal Waffles. The waffles are made with oatmeal and cornmeal. The Oatmeal Waffles were hearty, and delightful with syrup.

Here’s the original recipe:

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Oatmeal Waffles

Servings: 4 - 6
Time: 15
Difficulty: moderate
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1 1/2 cups finely ground oatmeal (about 1 3/4 cups minute oatmeal or old-fashioned oatmeal)

1/2 cup cornmeal

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon cooking oil

1 1/2 cups milk

1 egg

Finely grind the oatmeal. (I used a blender.) Put all the ingredients in a mixing bowl; beat until thoroughly combined. Let sit for 5 minutes to allow the mixture to thicken a little as the oatmeal absorbs the liquids, then bake in a hot waffle grill.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Old-time Waffle Recipe

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Saturday, December 6, 1913: The whole family was invited out for dinner today. We all went except Pa. It was up at Tweet’s place. We had something that I always had a curiosity to know what they tasted like. It was waffles.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

mmm. . . Waffles sound good.

Until I read this I hadn’t realized that waffles were around a hundred years ago. I wonder how they were made back in the days before electric waffle makers.

Here’s an excellent old family recipe for waffles and it may be similar to the recipe that Tweet used.

Waffles

2 cups cake flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, separated

1 1/4 cup milk

6 tablespoons melted butter

Beat egg whites until stiff. In a separate bowl combine cake flour, baking powder, salt, egg yolks, milk, and butter. Add flour gradually, beating only until smooth. Gently fold in beaten egg whites. Bake in a hot waffle iron.

Yield: approximately 4 servings

This recipe old, but it’s not a recipe of Grandma’s. Let me tell you its story:

This recipe was in my mother’s recipe card box. I think that it is the waffle recipe that my maternal grandmother used. (The grandmother I write about in this blog is my paternal grandmother).

We often had waffles when I was a child—but we never used this recipe—instead we used the recipe on the Bisquick box.

A few years ago I compiled my recipes—including recipes of my mother’s which were in my recipe box but that I’d never made—into a family cookbook. I gave the cookbook to my children and other relatives.

A couple of months ago my adult son said, “Mom, that’s a great waffle recipe in your cookbook.”

And, I responded, “What recipe?” since I’d never made the waffle recipe and had forgotten that I’d put it into the cookbook.

—

I recently actually made this recipe and it’s wonderful—and it’s even more wonderful that my children are discovering their food heritage.

—

Tweet was the nickname of Helen Wesner. She was a friend of Grandma’s and lived with her family on a farm at the edge of McEwensville.

—

12/7/13 Update

My readers are wonderful. I now know what an old-fashioned waffle iron looks like. RuthAnn at Labyrinth Living sent me a picture of an old-fashioned cast iron waffle iron that her great-grandmother used. She gave me permission to share it with you. Here is what she wrote:

It would have been used on a wood cook stove, but I know Grandma also used it later on her electric stove, just right on the elements. If you can see on one piece, one end has a round socket and the other piece has a round ball that fits into the socket. So those two halves fit together and are placed on the stove to heat. One lifts the handle to open the halves, and puts the batter on the waffle grid, then closes it and holds it for about a minute and then lifts the two handles together and swivels it around (the ball in the socket is the swivel) and puts it down to cook the other side. When it stops steaming, it should be ready to remove and serve.