8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 tablespoons sugar
1½ cups, plus 2 tablespoons, all-purpose flour
¾ cup semolina flour
¼ cup cornstarch
1¼ teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1½ teaspoons active dry yeast
Nonstick cooking spray, for greasing
Directions
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, heat the milk, half-and-half and butter over low heat until the butter is almost melted, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the sugar, then slowly pour the milk mixture into the egg mixture, whisking until smooth.
In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, semolina flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder and yeast. Slowly pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture, whisking simultaneously, until smooth. Cover the batter with a kitchen towel and let sit at room temperature until it almost doubles in size, about 1½ hours. Makes 3½ cups of batter.
Preheat the oven to 225° and place a wire rack inside a rimmed sheet tray.
Preheat a waffle iron according to the manufacturer's instructions. When the iron is hot, grease the grids with nonstick cooking spray and ladle some batter into the center, about 1 cup for a large waffle iron. Close the iron and cook until the waffles are golden brown and crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the waffles to the wire rack and keep warm in the oven. Repeat with the remaining batter and serve.