The CWI Cookbook

 3 eggs
1 qt. milk
1/4 tsp. salt
Flour
2 tbs. homemade yeast [1 cake or envelope dry yeast]
1 additional tbs. flour
3 tbs. melted butter
Additional butter or lard to grease waffle iron
Powdered sugar
Cinnamon

Make a thick batter of three eggs, a quart of milk, and flour, adding a little salt, and two large spoonfuls of good yeast. Set it in a warm place till it gets very light [risen], then stir in a spoonful of flour, and three of melted butter. Heat your waffle irons of a brisk heat, butter them well to prevent the waffles sticking to them, put in batter according to the size of your irons, not filling them quite full, as the waffle will expand a little while baking; close the irons, and bake them till a light brown on both sides; then take them from the irons, sprinkle them with powdered sugar and cinnamon, and send them to table warm.

From The Kentucky Housewife, by Mrs. Lettice Bryan, 1839

Comment: We are never quite sure what an author means when they use the term “light” for a recipe. Given the number of eggs and quantity of butter called for here, it is certainly not to be confused with the modern meaning of “low calorie” or “intended to produce weight loss.” Waffle irons have been in existence since the 15th century, it seems, and in America at least since Thomas Jefferson brought one back from one of his trips to France. Today of course the electric version is nearly universal, and one wishing to cook this recipe as its author intended must scour the junk shops of the land, or resort to eBay. Another alternative is to find a device known as a pizelle maker, although these normally produce a much thinner product than one expects of a typical waffle.