A waffle by any other name would still taste as a sweet, but “Waffles of Insane Greatness” perfectly captures the um, well… insane greatness of them. I have officially scrapped my other waffle recipes and declared this one the be all end all of waffle options. This recipe has been sweeping the cooking/baking blogosphere, and when you taste them you will know why! Waffles of Insane Greatness were first featured on the Food Network show “$40 a Day” with Rachael Ray and hail from a restaurant called Aretha Frankensteins in Tennessee.
Here are a few of my favorite things about WIG (heh- the acronym is kind of funny)- the recipe is ridiculously easy, especially in comparison to other waffle recipes, they are crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside, and the taste is sweet without being over the top sweet.
I changed three things about the recipe. 1.) I doubled it because the original only made 3 waffles in my iron, plus I love having extras to freeze and pop in the toaster later in the week! Instant satisfaction! 2.) As a substitute for buttermilk I mix 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar with 2 cups of rice milk and let it sit while I prepare the rest of the ingredients. 3.) I do not let the batter sit for 30 minutes prior to making the waffles. I have a six month old, extra time is just not in my vocabulary! They still taste so good, but perhaps one day I will prepare the batter ahead of time to see if it makes a difference.
Waffles of Insane Greatness
-adapted from Aretha Frankensteins
$40 a day/ Food Network
Ingredients
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup cornstarch
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups whole milk or buttermilk or 2 c. rice milk with 3 tablespoons vinegar
* 2/3 cup vegetable oil
* 2 eggs
* 3 teaspoons sugar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* Butter and syrup, for serving
Directions
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix well. Add the milk, vegetable oil, egg, sugar and vanilla and mix well. Let the batter sit for 30 minutes, if you have the time. If not, don’t sweat it, mine turn out great without sitting.
Preheat a waffle iron. Do not use non-stick spray on the waffle iron; the oil in the batter will allow the waffle to release easily. Follow the directions on your waffle iron to cook the waffles. Serve immediately with butter and syrup.
Eat, savor, and thank me later 
Another waffle recipe shall never grace our kitchen after trying this one a few weeks ago. It is THE best darn waffle I have ever tasted and I could eat them every day, but I’d like to continue to be able to fit through the doorway. I’m glad the search is over for “the one”, now if I could find a pancake recipe I love as much and that has consistent results. BTW, we didn’t let our last batch sit for 30 minutes and they came out just as perfect.
Eating them everyday and for meals other than breakfast sounds good to me! Stay tuned for my best-ever, go-to pancake recipe!
[...] I’ve made the Belgian Waffle recipe that comes in the little WS booklet, and another — Waffles of Insane Greatness. The latter wins… by a lot, [...]
These waffles were great!!!! It has been sometime since I have had homemade waffles. This was a delicious return. My first two stuck to the iron, but I thoroughly enjoyed cleaning them off by scraping the cooked broken pieces off and snacking. The were crispy on the outside, but so moist and tender on the inside. Phenomenally tasty warm WITHOUT the syrup, to me. The ones i successful popped out tasted amazing with a warm berry compote drizzled on top. Thank you so much for this find.
I waited.
Trust me, it’s worth it.
This one’s a keeper.