Waffles Lab455 recipes
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What goes into waffles

The main ingredient list of all 455 recipes, with names merged so one choice counts once: unsalted and salted butter are butter, light and dark brown sugar are brown sugar, kosher and table salt are salt. Different flours stay apart. Frosting, glaze and other extras are counted on their own at the end.

In short

  • Most waffle recipes use butter (74%); 32% use oil, and 7% use both.
  • For sugar, 66% use white sugar alone, 13% no sugar at all, and 11% maple syrup or honey (with or without sugar).
  • For leavening, 57% use baking powder alone, 17% baking powder and baking soda together, and 9% none of these.
  • For the liquid, 57% use milk alone, 17% buttermilk alone, and 6% milk and water together.
  • 22% add spice, 20% fruit and 6% chocolate; 58% add none of these.

The main choices

Each block sorts every recipe into one group by a single decision. Amounts are the median among recipes in that group, scaled to 250 g of flour, the size of a typical batch. The recipe named under each group is the one in it closest to the typical batch on every ingredient.

Butter, oil or both

Each recipe counted once, by the fats in its main ingredient list.

Margarine and vegan butter count as butter (4 recipes). Oil includes coconut oil (2%) and olive oil (1%).

White, brown or a syrup

Each recipe counted once, by the sweeteners in its main ingredient list.

White sugar includes powdered sugar, in 4% of recipes. Coconut sugar counts as brown (1 recipe). "With maple syrup or honey" means any liquid sweetener (maple syrup, honey, molasses and sweetened condensed milk), with or without dry sugar. Coarse and cinnamon sugar are usually sprinkled on top, so they do not count here.

Baking soda, baking powder or both

Each recipe counted once, by what it relies on to rise.

  • Baking powder only

    median 11 g baking soda and powder · closest to typical: Gaufres gourmandes (cuisine.journaldesfemmes.fr)

    57%260 recipes

  • Baking powder and baking soda

    median 13 g baking soda and powder · closest to typical: The Perfect Buttermilk Waffles Recipe (biggerbolderbaking.com)

    17%80 recipes

  • None of these

    closest to typical: Wafel recept (lekkerensimpel.com)

    9%42 recipes

  • Yeast only

    closest to typical: Overnight Yeasted Waffles (countryliving.com)

    8%37 recipes

  • Everything else

    7%36 recipes

Sourdough starter includes discard, which many recipes add for flavor rather than lift.

Water, milk or something richer

Each recipe counted once, by the liquids in its main ingredient list.

Cream includes heavy cream, whipping cream and half-and-half.

Whole eggs, yolks or whites

Each recipe counted once, by the parts of the egg it uses.

A large egg is about 50 g out of the shell, a yolk about 18 g, a white about 32 g.

Add-ins

Share of recipes that add at least one of each. A recipe can add several, so the shares do not sum to 100%. 58% add none of these.

  • Spice22%

    cinnamon 16% · nutmeg 5% · spice blend 3%

  • Fruit20%

    pumpkin 6% · blueberries 4% · banana 2%

  • Chocolate6%

    bar chocolate 3% · chocolate chips or chunks 2%

  • Cheese, herbs or other savory4%

    cheese 2% · jalapeño or chile 1% · bacon or meat 1%

  • Nuts3%

    hazelnuts 1%

How often each ingredient appears

Share of the 455 recipes that list it at least once, for every ingredient in 5% or more of them. The median amount is among recipes that use it and give a weighable amount, scaled to 250 g of flour; for a flour, it is that flour's share of all the flour in the recipe.

  1. Eggs90%

    410 recipes · median 104 g (about 2 large eggs)

  2. All-purpose flour89%

    409 recipes · median: all of the flour

  3. Salt84%

    386 recipes · median 2.6 g

  4. Baking powder77%

    351 recipes · median 10 g

  5. Butter73%

    336 recipes · median 80 g

  6. Milk72%

    330 recipes · median 325 g

  7. Granulated sugar69%

    314 recipes · median 40 g

  8. Vanilla55%

    254 recipes · median 5 g

  9. Vegetable oil27%

    127 recipes · median 58 g

  10. Baking soda24%

    111 recipes · median 4.5 g

  11. Buttermilk20%

    92 recipes · median 401 g

  12. Cinnamon16%

    77 recipes · median 2.6 g

  13. Water10%

    49 recipes · median 150 g

  14. Yeast10%

    46 recipes · median 7 g

  15. Brown sugar9%

    45 recipes · median 47 g

  16. Cornstarch6%

    30 recipes · median 48 g

  17. Whole wheat flour6%

    29 recipes · median 51% of the flour

  18. Pumpkin6%

    28 recipes · median 245 g

  19. Maple syrup5%

    25 recipes · median 45 g

  20. Nutmeg5%

    23 recipes · median 0.8 g

Toppings and extras

19% of recipes (90 of 455) list something beyond the main recipe: a frosting, glaze, filling, crumb topping, a boiling bath or a sprinkle on top. None of it is counted above. The most common extra ingredients, as a share of all recipes:

  • Butter5% (26)
  • Cream5% (24)
  • Maple syrup5% (23)

How the ingredients are counted

A recipe uses an ingredient when any line of its main ingredient list names it. Names are merged by the words in them, so “1 cup unsalted butter, softened” and “salted butter” are both butter, and a line that offers a choice (“walnuts or pecans”) counts as the first one named. Canola, vegetable and other neutral oils are one oil; coconut and olive oil are listed on their own.

Lines only for greasing the pan are left out (1 of them). Lines for brushing, sprinkling or serving, and lines that belong to a frosting, glaze, filling or topping, count as extras.

Amounts come from the grams on each recipe page: printed by the source, or converted from cups and spoons with standard densities. Scaling them to 250 g of flour lets a small recipe and a double batch line up. Percentages are rounded down.