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Self Rising Waffles Recipe

Self Rising Waffles Recipe


As warm breakfast lovers, I love starting my morning making a good breakfast to kick-start everyone’s day! The other morning began like any other. I took a shower, got ready, and popped in the kitchen to begin. Yes, I am a morning person. That’s when I realized that something terrible had happened. Something so rare that I had to triple check just to make sure: I was out of all-purpose flour! How could that be? I have no idea. I turned to this self rising flour waffle recipe. I was hopeful that it would work out in our favor. There’s nothing worse than a disappoint recipe, is there? Fortunately, this story ends well!

I typically make overnight yeast waffles (type it into the search bar located at the top of the page to check out that one when you have time to plan ahead) but we were out and about so it just wasn’t happening. Plus, I had a taste for waffles! I had heard of plenty of recipes that switched all-purpose flour for self-rising but I hadn’t heard of the opposite. I managed to find and cook this waffle recipe with excellent results. Just as delicious and equally as easy to throw together, these waffles are fluffy and really, really good. Served with a side of fresh fruit and a dollop of Indiana maple syrup and life is good. Even a Monday.

What is Self Rising Flour?

Occasionally referred to as self raising flour, self rising flour differs from all-purpose flour in that it contains a leavening agent. There are three kinds of leavening agents in baking: chemical, physical, and biological.

An example of physical, or mechanical leavening, would be creaming, whether it is combining butter and sugar or simply whipping egg whites and folding them into a mixture. You are physically forcing air pockets into the mixture, and in the case of the egg, you are trying to keep those air pockets intact, thus providing the item with volume in the final baked good.

Biological leavening is probably an easy one to figure out: it’s related to yeast! The yeast cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae chow down on the sugar when the temperature is right–which is why you add warm liquids to the flour. Yeast then expels carbon dioxide and alcohol. According to the Huffington Post, “one package of yeast contains 140 billion yeast cells.” Wrap your head around that for a minute. It takes time for this process to happen, which is why we have to leave bread alone, and let it rise. The kind of yeast used affects the flavor of the bread or beer, which is why you wouldn’t use the same type of yeast in bread that you would in making beer, although it is possible–just take a look at the comparison of a woman who shares recipes using brewer’s yeast. At its most basic, brewery yeast is divided by the temperature at which it ferments.

Nothing better than these waffles made with self rising flour. Click To Tweet

Now chemical leavening is where self rising flour (or self raising flour) comes in. Baking soda reacts with acids immediately (think: cream of tartar, lemon juice, sour cream, honey, and buttermilk). The reaction creates bubbles. Baking powder, according to the Joy of Baking, is composed of “one or more acid salts (cream of tartar and sodium aluminum sulfate) plus cornstarch to absorb any moisture so a reaction does not take place until a liquid is added to the batter.” Many labels read “double-acting” and that is because they react both to the chemical reaction of the acid as well as with the heat of the oven. It’s why, if you add too much baking powder, that your muffins will collapse. The air bubbles got too big.

So, self rising flour is all-purpose flour with baking powder and salt already mixed in. The result, according to King Arthur Flour, is a baked product that is softer and more tender than those made with all-purpose flour. It is a product often used in southern baking because it is a product that was originally made with wheat grown in the region.

How to Make Your Own Self Rising Flour

What do you do if you love this recipe for waffles made with self rising flour but forgot that you are out of the flour you need? It is easy! Although experts from across the web warn that it will not turn out as tender a product when you make your own, it is still doable.

When a recipe calls for self rising flour, you are able to make your own by combing all-purpose flour with baking powder and salt. For one cup of self rising flour, measure in 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and somewhere between 1/4 teaspoon to 1/2 teaspoon salt in a one cup measuring cup. Add in enough all-purpose flour to equal one full cup. The only variation between recipes for making your own self rising flour is in the amount of salt. They generally ranged between 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon salt so use your best judgment–or try preparing it different ways with your favorite recipes to figure out which one works the best for you.

If you have been turning to packaged waffle mixes–stop that! Try this self rising flour waffles recipe instead. Make breakfast memorable. This recipe is from King Arthur Flour. I can’t seem to find it now but it was there. Somewhere…

Self Rising Flour Waffles Recipe

Small Towns: Destinations, not Drive-Thrus! I’m Jessica Nunemaker and THIS is little Indiana!