This recipe for Marion Cunningham's Raised Waffles starts out with simple ingredients: yeast, milk, butter, flour, sugar, and salt. Mixed together the night before, these waffles are light and fluffy with a subtle tangy flavor. You will be making them every weekend!
If you love yeast baking, you might also enjoy my traditional pizzelle recipe - Italian waffle cookies that are just as fun to make.
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These delicious yeasted waffles can also be adapted to make them completely dairy-free.
My kids never really loved a bowl of cereal or oatmeal for breakfast. Maybe it is my fault for spoiling them from when they were little. My kids love my homemade pancakes and my homemade waffles, and honestly, I love them too!
Besides Marion Cunningham's Raised Waffles, these vegan overnight yeast waffles are also on heavy rotation in our house!
This recipe has been around for ages. Marion Cunningham (not the mom from Happy Days!) made this recipe famous, and I believe it originally appeared in an old Fannie Farmer cookbook. How cool is that?
What I love most about this recipe is that you prepare almost everything the night before. The yeast does its work overnight and gives you a waffle that is incredibly delicate, crispy, and full of flavor. My mom made a batch once while I was out running errands and called me to say these were the best waffles I had ever made. That is high praise!
What ingredients are needed to make Raised Waffles?
Here is what you need to gather the night before to mix together:
- 1 package active dry yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons)
- ½ cup warm water
- 2 cups warm milk (I used just slightly over 1 cup so would not be runny)
- ½ cup melted butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
How to Make Marion Cunningham's Raised Waffles
In a large mixing bowl (the batter will rise to double its original volume) sprinkle in the yeast over the warm water. Let stand to dissolve for 10 minutes. Add the milk, butter, salt, sugar, and flour and stir to blend. Mix on low speed with handheld mixer. Just mix until it is nicely combined. You don't want to over mix and you don't want any lumps.
Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand overnight at room temperature. *I also covered the plastic wrap with a dish towel.
This is how it will look the next day.
Now don't forget to LEAVE OUT the eggs and the ¼ teaspoon of baking soda until the next day. I forgot to warm my milk and the batter was still just fine. Probably because I didn't cool the butter before adding it to the batter…it all evened out I think.
It should be left to rise for at least 8 hours. You could even let it rise in the refrigerator overnight. I've done that once or twice and it seems to make the batter a little less yeast tasting.
If you do let it rise in the refrigerator, let it warm up on counter in the morning before adding the eggs and baking soda.
Next morning the final step is to whisk in the eggs and the baking soda. If you use full 2 cups of milk the batter will be thin. I used less milk than recipe calls for to get a thicker batter. I have used a FULL 2 cups of milk, and found it too liquidy.
Once you whisk in the melted butter and baking soda, you get this silky waffle batter.
So I adjust and add a little over 1 cup. But you make it with whatever amount of milk you prefer. I wanted a little bit of thicker waffles.
Let it sit a while while you heat the waffle maker...it will all start to magically bubble again.
Depending on the size of your waffle iron, pour about ⅓ to ½ cup batter onto the hot iron (use a light hand at first and check your progress--this waffle batter expands rather impressively. Bake until golden and crisp.
How long will raised Marion Cunningham's Raised Waffles batter stay fresh?
This yeasted waffle batter will keep for several days in the refrigerator. Keep it covered tightly in your storage container.
Hope your week is fun. Make these waffles when you get a chance. If you have a favorite waffles recipe, I want to hear about it! Send me the link in your comment!!
Frequently Asked Questions
The overnight fermentation with yeast creates a batter that is full of tiny bubbles. When those bubbles hit the hot waffle iron they give you a waffle with an incredibly light, airy interior and a crispy, almost lacy exterior. The flavor is also deeper and more complex than a standard baking powder waffle, with a subtle tang that is hard to get any other way.
Yes! Refrigerating the batter overnight results in a slightly less tangy flavor, which some people actually prefer. Just make sure to let the batter come back to room temperature on the counter for a bit before adding the eggs and baking soda and cooking.
The batter will keep for several days tightly covered in the refrigerator. The flavor deepens a bit more each day. Just whisk it together again before cooking and add a splash of milk if it seems too thick.
Absolutely. Swap the milk for any plant-based milk you enjoy and use dairy-free butter sticks in place of regular butter. The waffles come out just as light and delicious.
The eggs would weigh down the batter and interfere with the overnight rise. The baking soda is added in the morning because it reacts immediately with the acidic, fermented batter to create lift. Adding it the night before would waste that reaction before the waffles ever hit the iron.
More Easy Breakfast Recipes:
- Vegan Orange Marmalade Muffins
- Blueberry Banana Streusel Muffins
- Oven-Baked Strawberry Pancake
- Banana Scones with Maple Espresso Glaze
- Sourdough Banana Bread
Did you make this and love it? Please RATE THE RECIPE below:)
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Marion Cunningham's Raised Waffles
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 package active dry yeast 2 ¼ teaspoons
- ½ cup warm water
- 2 cups warm milk* I used just slightly over 1 cup so would not be runny (use your favorite dairy-free milk if you prefer)
- ½ cup melted butter* use dairy-free butter sticks if you prefer
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl (the batter will rise to double its original volume) sprinkle in the yeast over the warm water. Let stand to dissolve for 10 minutes. Add the milk, butter, salt, sugar, and flour and stir to blend. Mix on low speed with handheld mixer. Just mix until it is nicely combined. You don't want to over mix and you don't want any lumps.
- Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand overnight at room temperature. *I also covered the plastic wrap with a dish towel.
- The next morning, just before cooking the waffles, whisk in the eggs and the baking soda-the batter will be thin (I used less milk than recipe calls for. If you use it all, the batter will be very thing). Depending on the size of your waffle iron, pour about ⅓ to ½ cup batter onto the hot iron (use a light hand at first and check your progress--this waffle batter expands rather impressively. Bake until golden and crisp. This batter will keep for several days in the refrigerator.
Nutrition Disclaimer
Please keep in mind that the nutritional information presented below is an approximation and may vary depending on the exact ingredients used.
I don't own a waffle iron but it's on my wish list! These looks fantastic. I love waffles and pancakes too.
Waffles are my favorite food ever next to bagels. 🙂 I've never had waffles with yeast before but I so want these now!! Oh my word they look sooooo good. I think I would love them the next day too. YUM!!!
Waffles are our favorite thing for breakfast, and these look amazing!
This is my favorite time of the year for waffles (not that there is a bad time for waffles) I love waffles in the summer because of all the fresh fruit we get at the market! Of course we top with a bit of homemade sweetened cream and breakfast is almost dessert! Will add this recipe to my list of must trys...
Save me some please, I'll eat them for any meal.Oh my word!
I hope my plate is still there. lol. I absolutely loveeee waffles. Perfect breakfast!!
very cool! Great post!
Funny, I immediately thought of Happy Days! 🙂 My kids love homemade waffles too...I have to try this recipe! 🙂
I looooove The Cake Bible. You're making me so sad my copy is packed away in storage for the summer! And you're giving me a reason to get reacquainted with Rose this fall...Great recipe find!
I haven't had homemade waffles in a long time! These look delicious!
I've heard a lot of good things about yeasted waffles, must give them a try one day!
I love waffles and your waffel looks really great =)
May just have to try this! Sounds awesome and you have to love that it's from that old classic, Happy Days!
Wow....I crave some now. It looks perfectly delicious Lora 🙂 Thanks for these two great recipes.
I was thinking Happy Day's! It probably is a happy day though when you get to eat these!
I thought you were talking about the Happy Days Mom, too! 🙂
The waffles look so so good!
Dang. I TOTALLY thought this was a recipe from the mom from Happy days. Seriously. I was deflated as I read, though.
Regardless, I have never made homemade waffles (no waffle iron - guess that would help?) but do love them. Perhaps I need to make the investment?? 😉
I am loving this! Wow it looks soooo good!
My mouth just watered, these look so good! I'd love some topped with...NUTELLA! 🙂
I adore, adore, adore waffles and will definitely give this a try. Luckily Dudette does love cereal and oatmeal so I have a wide variety of breakfasts to offer her, but waffles and pancakes definitely top the list. Many thanks for sharing the recipe with us!