Melted Butter Is The Key For Making Store-Bought Waffle Mix Taste Gourmet

Whether eaten on their own for a quick morning breakfast or paired with truffle poached eggs and toast for Sunday brunch, waffles are a fantastic way to start the day. Standard waffle mixes prep all of the dry ingredients for you, so you can skip the measuring and messy kitchen. While the convenience of waffle mix is a huge perk, you can level up the taste of your waffles by adding melted butter to the batter — the key ingredient that takes box waffles from good to great.

One of the biggest reasons why is that butter adds a richness and depth of flavor that oil lacks. Using butter also makes for a crispier texture and plush interior even after they cool, which is ideal for making box mixes taste like a gourmet buttermilk waffle recipe. 

Another fabulous flare butter gives waffles is caramelization. The milk solids in butter combine with butter's natural sugars to carmelize from the heat on the waffle iron, producing a crisp, delicious finish.

Typically, waffle mixes require adding a combination of water, eggs, and some type of fat, like oil. Substituting butter for oil is an easy swap because it's a 1:1 ratio. For example, if the waffles call for ¼ cup of oil, you use the same amount of melted butter as a replacement. 

There are many different kinds of butter, but choose unsalted butter for your waffle mix because it will not add any extra sodium to the batter. If you incorporate melted butter into your waffle batter, you may need to compensate for the extra liquid by removing it elsewhere, like reducing the water or milk by the same amount.

A final tip for the best waffles is to bring all of your ingredients up to room temperature. Using ingredients with similar temperatures prevents the melted butter from resolidifying when incorporated, which could result in a lumpy batter that cooks unevenly. No one wants a partially gummy, partially burned waffle, after all.