Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, ground cinnamon and salt.

Pour the melted butter into the sugar mixture, and stir to combine.

Transfer to a plastic bag or a piping bag, and set aside. (This will help us swirl the mixture into the waffles without a lot of messiness. We’ll snip the bag when it’s time.)

Let this sit for 20-30 minutes.

Combine the dry ingredients — the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt — in a large bowl and whisk together.

In a smaller bowl, combine the wet ingredients — the buttermilk, egg and vanilla extract — and whisk until smooth.

It is important to stir this vigorously so that the egg mixes into the rest of the wet ingredients.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and slowly whisk together, stirring until just combined. Do not overmix the batter.

Make the waffles

Preheat the waffle iron and spritz lightly with cooking spray. This is extremely important to keep the waffles from sticking to the iron.

Pour ½ cup of the batter into the warmed waffle iron, spreading with a rubber spatula until at the edges.

Drizzle a swirl of the cinnamon sugar into the batter.

Cook per the manufacturer's instructions. (I like mine crispy on the outside, so I cook them on a higher setting. To each their own.)

Remove the waffles from the iron when cooked through.

If there is any excess cinnamon-sugar swirl on the waffle iron after removing a waffle, wipe it down with a damp cloth between rounds to remove. It can and will burn and make it trickier to remove the waffles from the iron. After wiping down, spritz with extra cooking spray.

Serve warm with a drizzle of cream cheese icing or warm maple syrup. Enjoy!