You've Been Making Waffles Wrong This Whole Time

Who doesn't love a good stack of waffles? Just think about those fluffy, doughy squares oozing with sugary syrup and melted butter (drooling yet?!). Not surprisingly, the classic and nostalgic breakfast item is one of the most popular dishes on tables across the U.S., both at home and at restaurants. Not only did the US Foods Holding Corp. report a surge in demand for waffles this year, but a survey by Krusteaz also found that waffles were the No. 1 "breakfast for dinner" food among Americans.

While frozen waffles like Eggos are great for a quick and convenient bite, homemade waffles are the real treat. And as long as you have a waffle iron and a few basic baking ingredients (flour, eggs, sugar, and the like), they aren't that difficult to make. However, there are a few tiny mistakes people make when whipping up a batch of homemade waffles. Here's one of the most common that you can easily avoid next time.

Homemade waffles often require some refrigerated ingredients, namely milk, butter, and eggs. But if you're pulling the ingredients out of the fridge right before dumping them into your batter, you could unknowingly be ruining your waffles. There a few key reasons why you should be using room temperature ingredients instead of cold ones. First, cold liquid ingredients can make your batter lumpy. King Arthur Baking explains that adding melted butter (which many recipes call for) will coagulate in cold milk rather than combining smoothly.

Also, cold ingredients, especially butter, are more difficult to blend together. That means you'll have to mix your batter more just to combine the ingredients. According to Love Food, overmixing is one big waffle-making faux pas. It will lead to tough, chewy waffles rather than the light and airy ones you're craving. Using warmer ingredients helps cut down your mixing time to prevent that.