How to Customize a Recipe

Decide what it is about what you want to make you do and don’t like. In this particular instance, I want to make waffles that are sweet and not too dry. Since we eat them with cream cheese, I won’t have the added moisture of syrup or butter.

Look for a recipe that comes close, with ingredients you have on hand and a cooking method you will actually follow. I know my cooking habits. Anything that asks me to sift flour or fold egg whites in separately isn’t going to happen for freaking waffles. I eventually went with this one:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/20513/classic-waffles/

IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT, OR ARE NOT COMFORTABLE WITH WHAT YOU’RE MAKING, make the recipe as written once.

IF YOU ARE A REASONABLY ACCOMPLISHED COOK/BAKER, then read the comments. A lot of commenters were adding butter to this recipe, but I thought it probably had enough. A number of people also increased the sugar, which I decided to do.

Decide how this could taste even better. It helps to think “if I were ordering this at an awesome restaurant, how would it taste?” I wanted a little bit of depth, so I added a teaspoon of Chinese Five Spice. I’m also always trying to get more protein, so I swapped 1/2 cup flour for vanilla protein powder. (Again, if you’re unsure, change only ONE thing at a time. This will mean more iterations, but less risk of ending up with something inedible.)

Make the recipe with your changes (and for goodness sake, write them down somewhere).

Evaluate – did you get *exactly* what you wanted? Are they/is it the best (whatever) you’ve ever had? If not – why not?

Figure out what can be improved, then make *your* recipe again just like you did last time except for whatever changes need to be made. Do this until you have the best (food) ever. Then (and I can’t emphasize this enough) WRITE IT DOWN.

In my case, I’m still not happy with the sweetness, so next time, I’ll increase the sugar again, but leave everything else the same. Then I’ll re-evaluate.

Don’t be frustrated if it takes a few tries to get exactly what you want; that’s just part of the process.