No-Batter Super-Crunchy Waffles

EASIER

VEGETARIAN

Makes 8 waffles

Start with frozen puff pastry. Thaw it. Put it in the waffle iron. Done. No stirring, no mixing, no nothing. And don’t just think about breakfast. Make these waffles later in the day, cut them into long strips, and serve the crunchy straws as appetizers that are ready for tapenade, garlic aioli, blue cheese dip, or Blender Hummus (here).

One 17.3-ounce box frozen puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed in the box overnight in the refrigerator

Butter, maple syrup, honey, date syrup, birch syrup, jam, and/or confectioners’ sugar for serving

1. Unfold each sheet of puff pastry and cut into 4 quarters.

2. Heat a 6- to 8-inch round or a small square waffle iron. Place one square in the center of the iron, close the lid, and cook for one cycle, according to your taste.

3. Open the iron, flip the square so that it settles back into the pattern of the iron, and cook without closing the lid for 1 minute. Serve at once with whatever toppings you prefer.

Test Kitchen Notes

• A 7-inch iron fits one puff pastry quarter. You may be able to fit two quarters in larger machines.

• After flipping, cooking the pastry with the waffle iron open keeps the layers airy and extra-flaky.

• Don’t grease the iron, unless there are burned bits from other breakfasts on the plates.

• Don’t refreeze unused pastry. Make all the waffles, then freeze when cool. Heat in a toaster straight from the freezer.

Standard supermarket brands of puff pastry are made with oil and come two sheets to a 17.3-ounce box. The recipes in this section were developed and tested with these brands.

Artisanal puff pastry brands, made with butter and available at high-end supermarkets, often offer one larger square sheet in a 14-ounce box. To make waffles or other fare in this section, cut this square into two rectangles and roll each to about 12 x 15 inches before dividing into quarters. These high-end brands are about triple the price and feature a more traditionally laminated dough with many flaky layers. However, they do not do quite as well in a waffle iron, resulting in less crunchy if still satisfying fare.