Funnel Cake Waffles

1. Combine 1/2 cup warm water and 1 teaspoon sugar in a very large mixing bowl; add yeast. Let stand until yeast softens and begins to form a creamy foam, about 10 minutes.

2. Add flour, 2 cups water, melted butter, and salt to yeast mixture; stir until smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate, 8 hours to overnight; dough will rise quite a bit.

3. When ready to make waffles, stir 1/4 cup sugar, vanilla, and baking soda into batter until smooth.

4. Preheat a waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions. Lightly grease the hot iron.

5. Working in batches, pour in about 1/4 cup batter for each waffle. Cook until waffles are golden brown and the iron stops steaming, 5 to 10 minutes.

Tips

In Step 1, use a bowl that seems ridiculously big for the batch of ingredients. The final batter will rise immensely and could likely overflow on your counter if the bowl is too small. Big mess!

To preserve a crisp waffle texture, don't cover the waffles with toppings. Instead, serve the waffles plain, then cut pieces and dip them into desired toppings.