This Trick Makes The Best Waffles You've Ever Tasted

Just when you think you've mastered this brunch go-to, here's an easy trick to make for the best waffles you've ever eaten.

Waffle batter gets even better when you leave it out on the counter overnight. That's right!

Just as slowly rising bread dough acquires deeper, more complex flavors, yeasted waffle batter benefits from being prepared the night before and then left on the counter until morning. Recipes like this Allrecipes favorite, where you just add two eggs and a bit of baking soda to the batter in the morning, produce unbeatably savory, airy, crisp-edged waffles. As one commenter put it, "PERFECTION." The overnight waffles are even more convenient in some ways than other yeasted waffles, which require you to get up early on brunch days to give the batter time to rise. Several Allrecipes cooks called the overnight waffles the best they've ever had -- and these fans have plenty of company. The method is often credited to the classic Fannie Farmer cookbook.

When I finally tried the overnight waffles, after a lifetime of mixes and quick baking-soda waffles, I was taken aback that 2 cups of milk were included in the bowl. Milk? On the counter? Overnight? It turns out, though, that it's not as odd an idea as it seems. (Think about creme fraiche, too, made by leaving cream and buttermilk out on the counter for 24 hours.) While no one would suggest cooking with milk that's actually spoiled, sour milk was a standard baking ingredient in the pre-refrigeration era, a useful way to avoid food waste. While some argue that modern pasteurized milk won't react the way milk did in ye olden days, this waste-free kitchen expert says pasteurized sour milk is unlikely to make you sick because its acidic environment is unfriendly to microbes. (Think of it as a cousin to yogurt!)