It never ceases to amaze me how one modification to an ingredient can completely alter the taste. Take butter for instance. On its own, it’s good, multi-purposeful, and enhances just about everything that it’s combined with,  whether baked or cooked. Butter browned takes it up to a whole new level, kicking it up a major notch, and sets it apart from its original state. Browning a stick of butter makes for a rich, nutty, caramel-y kind of taste that can transform waffles into waffles! It’s that hint of something extra, something good.

A few weekends ago, the girls had friends sleepover and the request for breakfast was waffles. Along with the waffles, I made scrambled eggs, and bacon and when my daughters’ friends say things like, “These are so good” and “I love your cooking”, it simply makes me smile.

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsps. brown sugar
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 3/4 cups butter = 1/2 cup browned butter*
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preparation:

In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally until it turns a warm, amber color and little, dark bits start to form on the bottom of the pan. *The interesting thing about browning butter is that you have to use more from the get go, because once melted, a stick of butter no longer measures to a 1/2 cup of butter, but less. Or in this case, do like I did, and since I’d forgotten this tid bit of information and only used a stick, I found that I was adding tablespoons of solidified butter to the melted part to get it back up to 1/2 cup.* Allow to cool somewhat.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, and baking powder; set aside. In a medium bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, browned butter, and vanilla extract. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined.

Cook on a pre-heated waffle iron until waffles are browned, about 3-5 minutes as waffle irons vary. I sometimes like to make a double batch so that I can freeze the extras for another day. Once the waffles are cooled, I add to a Ziploc bag and place wax paper between the layers so they don’t stick. Place in the freezer for a later use. When ready to use, take 2 out, pop it in the toaster, heat, add butter, if desired, drizzle with syrup and eat. Or, what I like to do is omit the butter and syrup and add scrambled eggs between the two for a waffle sandwich.