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Alton Brown's Sweet Potato Waffles

A waffle made with sweet potatoes, flour, baking powder, salt, egg whites, milk, brown sugar, butter, and orange rind.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Alton Brown's Sweet Potato Waffles

Time5 to 6 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the sweet potatoes

  1. Put cubed sweet potatoes in a steamer basket.

  2. Place the basket in a large pot of simmering water that is no closer than 2 inches from the bottom of the steamer.

  3. Allow potatoes to steam for 20 minutes or until fork tender.

  4. Mash cooked potatoes and set aside.

Make the batter

  1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

  2. In another bowl combine the sweet potatoes, milk, brown sugar, butter, and grated orange rind.

  3. Stir the sweet potato mixture into the flour mixture and thoroughly combine.

  4. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.

  5. Gradually fold egg whites into batter ⅓ at a time.

Cook the waffles

  1. Using a no.20 disher (scoop), place 2 scoops of batter onto a preheated, oiled waffle iron, and cook until lightly browned, about 5 to 6 minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1176Calories
33 gProtein
40 gFat
172 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Vegetable1 tbsp (14g)120
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Orange1 medium (131g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Wafflenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Sweet potato + orangetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together191 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  3. Sweet potato + flourtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together627 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sweet potatoes
Provide moisture, body and natural sweetness to the batter.
Egg whites
Whipped to stiff peaks, they lighten the batter and help the waffles rise and set.
All purpose flour
Forms the structure that holds the waffles together as they cook.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the batter, creating lift and a lighter crumb.
Butter
Adds fat for tenderness and rich flavor, and helps browning.
Light brown sugar
Adds sweetness and molasses flavor, and promotes browning on the waffle surface.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Whipped whites hold air that gives lift. Adding them all at once or stirring vigorously knocks out that air, leaving dense waffles. Fold gently, in portions.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sweet potato, flour, egg, milk, sugar, butter):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raisinfits better
  3. Coconutfits better
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sweet potato, flour, egg, milk, sugar, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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