President Harding’s Waffles with Creamed Chipped Beef (1922)
Reader ratingsPresident Harding’s waffles with creamed chipped beef: light waffles from The Stag Cook Book of 1922 under the beef, as the editor says Harding liked them, the beef made after Mrs. Wilson’s 1920 recipe.
- Recipe makes
- About 8 waffles, 4 servings
- Prep
- Cook
- Total
Make the creamed beef first and keep it warm over very low heat while the waffles bake. Keep baked waffles crisp on a rack in a 200°F (95°C) oven.
Waffles with creamed dried beef.
The story behind the recipe
The Stag Cook Book, published in New York in 1922, collected favorite recipes from well-known men, and its waffles appear under the name of Warren G. Harding, in the White House since March 1921: two eggs, sugar, butter, salt, a pint of milk, “flour to make thin batter” and baking powder. The editor added a note on what went on top. The Ohio History Connection gives the same ingredients, in the same amounts, as Florence Harding’s waffles, so the recipe may have been the household’s; neither source says who wrote it down.
The gravy school
“There is a great deal of argument about the proper dressing for waffles,” the note says. Some ate them with gravies, others with honey, maple syrup or flavored sugars, and “President Harding is a staunch upholder of the gravy school and likes his in the form of creamed chipped beef.” The book has no recipe for the beef, so ours comes from Mrs. Wilson’s Cook Book, published in Philadelphia in 1920, where creamed dried beef fills popovers on a fall breakfast menu. Mary A. Wilson cuts the beef fine with scissors, covers it with boiling water for five minutes, and simmers it in milk thickened with flour, with parsley, a dot of butter and a dusting of paprika.
Read more about this recipe
Making it today
Harding’s recipe beats the egg whites separately and folds them in last with the baking powder, which keeps the waffles light; we do the same. Dried beef is sold in small jars or flat packets. Wilson’s sauce is very thick, made to sit inside a popover, so we use less flour to make a gravy that pours over a waffle, and stir her butter in at the end.
The President’s waffles sit beside O’Malley’s Rum-Tum-Tiddy (1922), from the same book, in What Did Americans Cook When the Bars Closed in 1920?.
2 eggs 2 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons butter ...
Recipe makes: About 8 waffles, 4 servings
Ingredients
For about 8 waffles, 4 servings. Quantities are shown as written.
Quantities as written here, for about 8 waffles, 4 servings.
Creamed chipped beef
- Dried beef (chipped beef)4 oz
- Whole milk for the creamed beef2 cups
- All-purpose flour for the creamed beef4 tbsp
- Finely chopped parsley2 tbsp
- Unsalted butter for the creamed beef1 tbsp
- Paprika1 pinch
Waffles
- Large eggs2
- Sugar2 tbsp
- Salt1 tsp
- Unsalted butter, melted2 tbsp
- Whole milk for the waffles2 cups
- All-purpose flour for the waffles2 cups
- Baking powder1 tbsp
- Neutral oil for the waffle iron1 tbsp
Measurement notes
Ingredients as written here
- 4 oz dried beef (chipped beef)
- 2 cups whole milk for the creamed beef
- 4 tbsp all-purpose flour for the creamed beef
- 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter for the creamed beef
- 1 pinch paprika
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 2 cups whole milk for the waffles
- 2 cups all-purpose flour for the waffles
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp neutral oil for the waffle iron
Equipment
- Waffle iron
- 2 mixing bowls
- Whisk or hand mixer
Medium saucepan
Kitchen scissors- Wire rack and baking sheet
Instructions
Heat the oven to 200°F (95°C) and set the rack on the baking sheet inside. Heat the waffle iron.
For the creamed beef, cut the dried beef into fine shreds with the scissors. Put it in a bowl, cover with boiling water and leave for 5 minutes, then drain.
Whisk the flour for the creamed beef into the milk for the creamed beef in the saucepan until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring all the time, and let it bubble gently for 3 minutes.
Stir in the drained beef and the parsley, turn the heat to very low and keep warm, stirring now and then. Add a splash of milk if it thickens too much.
For the waffles, separate the eggs. Beat the yolks in a mixing bowl with the sugar and salt, then whisk in the melted butter and the milk for the waffles. Whisk in the flour for the waffles to make a smooth, thin batter.
In the other bowl, beat the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks. Sift the baking powder over the batter and fold it in with the whites until no streaks remain.
Brush the hot iron with oil. Pour in enough batter to cover about two thirds of the grid, close and bake for 3 to 5 minutes, until the steam stops and the waffle is crisp and golden. Move it to the rack in the oven and bake the rest the same way, oiling the iron each time.
Just before serving, stir the butter for the creamed beef into the sauce. Spoon it over the waffles and dust with paprika.
Nutrition
595calories per serving
- Recipe makes
- About 8 waffles, 4 servings
- Servings
- 4
Estimated per serving from USDA FoodData Central values for the listed ingredients.
Recipe notes
When adjusting quantities
About ½ cup of batter to each waffle; irons vary.
Notes
Quantities mentioned in these notes don’t change when you adjust the servings.
Taste the creamed beef before serving; the beef carries all the salt it needs. With maple syrup instead, they belong to the “sweet-tooth school” the editor sets against Harding’s. Contains milk, egg and wheat.
Scaling changes the ingredients only; pan sizes and cooking times need their own judgment. To adapt this recipe further, try the recipe tool at TuneMyRecipe (opens in a new tab), our sister site.
Sources and attribution
After Warren G. Harding, Waffles, in C. Mac Sheridan, ed., The Stag Cook Book (New York: George H. Doran Company, 1922), and Mary A. Wilson, Mrs. Wilson’s Cook Book (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1920)