Why you’ll love these homemade waffles
Our breakfasts have become fairly routine – toast, dairy free overnight oats or quick scrambled eggs without milk during the week and dairy free pancakes or egg in a hole on the weekend. Sometimes we switch it up with dairy free french toast on the weekend, but we are creatures of habit after all.
But, lately, we’ve been loving this homemade waffle recipe, and it’s been a really great change of pace. I love that they’re just as easy to make as pancakes, but more fun.
Plus, we’ve been topping them with all sorts of fun stuff – like this beautiful strawberry sauce which would be perfect for Valentine’s Day breakfast in bed.
More dairy free breakfast ideas: breakfast pizza / dairy free breakfast casserole / dairy free crepes / lavender blackberry scones
Ingredient notes:
- Dairy free milk – To make this recipe dairy free, I used almond milk instead of dairy milk. If you don’t want to use almond milk, you can swap it for a different nut milk (I love using cashew milk) or any other dairy free alternative, like oat milk or coconut milk. Just stay away from the full-fat canned coconut milk for this recipe. It just won’t work because it’s too rich and thick.
- Canola oil – I used canola oil instead of melted butter, I like to use vegetable oil rather than coconut oil or vegan butter because it’s just easier. There’s no need to melt anything and it’s really easy to measure, but you can use any of those options as long as it has been melted.
- Egg – Just in case you didn’t know, read this post: are eggs dairy? If you want to make this recipe egg free, you should be able to get away with an egg replacer but the texture may vary slightly.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed below are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
Melissa’s tips + tricks:
- Don’t open the waffle iron early. I know it’s tempting, but don’t check on the waffles while they cook. Just let the machine do it’s job and check when it beeps. If they aren’t crispy on the top, leave them in a little bit longer.
- Find your iron’s sweet spot. Every waffle maker runs a little differently. I would recommend starting somewhere around medium-high when testing, to prevent any burning. We normally keep ours around 3.5/5.
- Keep waffles warm and crispy. I like to place cooked waffles on a cooling rack inside a cooking sheet to keep the air circulating and prevent them from losing their crispiness. I will either pop this in the oven on a warm setting or just keep it next to the waffle maker (it depends on how many batches of waffles I’m making or if we’re eating them right away, etc.).
More dairy free breakfast options: million dollar bacon / bananas foster pancakes / breakfast tacos / apple cinnamon oatmeal
Frequently asked questions
We used this Belgian waffle maker for this homemade waffles recipe, but you could really use whatever waffle iron you have (or end up purchasing). Technically, these aren’t Belgian waffles, but we’ve were given this waffle maker as a wedding gift so I wasn’t going to run out and buy a new one. If I was going to be a non-Belgian one, it would be this one.
The main difference between the two is that the sugar and fat quantities are higher in waffle mix, which is what allows the waffles to get that crispy exterior.
The secret to perfectly crispy waffles lies in the batter itself. For that ideal crunch, you need the right sugar-to-fat ratio—something different from pancake batter. Another key is finding the right temperature on your waffle iron, which might take a bit of trial and error to nail down. Finally, as you finish each waffle, place it on a cooling rack to let air circulate and keep it from turning soggy while you cook the rest.
You can make your waffle batter ahead of time and store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two days.
These homemade waffles can be made in advance and reheated in the toaster or the oven when ready to serve. This is a great option for making waffles on weekday mornings.
Homemade Waffles Recipe
Ingredients
For the waffles:
- 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1 1/2 cups almond milk
- 6 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the strawberry sauce:
- 1 lb bag frozen strawberries, thawed in the fridge (still slightly frozen is okay)
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp cold water
Instructions
- Make strawberry sauce for waffles. Add frozen strawberries, sugar and lemon juice to the pan and heat over medium until the strawberries start to soften and create liquid.In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and cold water until smooth. Add to the pan and stir to combine. Simmer until the strawberries break down and the sauce that forms has thickened.Remove from heat and set aside for serving.
- Preheat your waffle iron. Following the instructions provided with your machine, preheat the waffle maker to ensure that it is fully heated when you're ready to cook the waffles.
- Mix your batter. In a large bowl, mix your dry ingredients together. Then, add the milk, canola oil, eggs, and vanilla extract in your wet ingredients and whisk until smooth. Some small lumps in the batter are ok.
- Waffle your batter. Prepare waffles according to waffle maker directions, using about 1/2 cup of batter for each waffle.*Be sure not to open the machine while the waffles cook. If they aren’t crispy on the top when the machine beeps, leave them in a little bit longer.Repeat as needed until all the batter as been cooked.
- Serve waffles as desired with strawberry sauce and/or maple syrup.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
The recipe calls for milk? Is this almond milk?
Yes! Sorry. We used almond milk, but you can use whatever dairy free milk you like (just not canned coconut milk).
This recipe is really good! The waffles are nice ans fluffy inside and crispy on the outside. The taste is very nice too. Definitely a keeper!
Tastes just like regular waffles! These are my favorite breakfast and I love that all the ingredients are things that were already in my kitchen! Definitely recommend making these. Tomorrow I’m going to make them again, but with olive oil instead of canola and see how it goes.
I just made these for my dairy free teens!!! They are hard to please and they loved these. Thank you for sharing!! ?
An excellent recipe! I used oatmilk instead of almond(allergies) and it came out great. I only needed 1 cup.
I just made these! I used olive oil because I didnt have any other kind. Also added about 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg. Delicious!!!
My wife made brownies once with olive oil (we love olive oil) but they were terrible!
Unfortunately, the recipe doesn’t call for olive oil. Even if you love it, the recipe wasn’t developed with that so there isn’t enough to compensate for the strong flavor of olive oil. I’m sorry you didn’t care for them, but it was probably because of the change you made.
Hum, I replaced the 6 Tbsp of canola oil with extra light olive oil and they came out great. To each their own I guess.
Love these waffles! My 3 year old needs dairy free and this is definitely the best recipe I have found. He loves them!
Hesitant because the batter is super runny. However, they were amazing!
We inherited an under-used waffle iron from my parents recently and I couldn’t wait to bust it out for my son and his cousins who are visiting over the holidays. Trying to please two picky 7 yo and one picky 4 yo had me as nervous as a groom at the altar, but with this recipe I absolutely nailed it! The recipe performed perfectly and all the tips helped me through my jitters. The texture was light and airy inside and the outside browned perfectly with just the right amount of crunch. I think we got about 10 waffles out of the recipe which was enough to freeze for another breakfast. I’m no expert but the vanilla seemed a little light to me, though it could have been because the vanilla was a bit long in the tooth. Well done!
My family loves this recipe! The waffles come out perfect every time. Have you tried turning them into chocolate waffles? Do you think adding, say, 2 tablespoons of cocoa would do the trick? Thanks again for this and your other recipes – never a disappointment.
What oil could I use instead of canola oil?
Any light flavored oil. Vegetable, olive oil, melted coconut oil, they will all work.
My very frank and picky father just said these were maybe the best waffles I’ve made. I used 3 medium eggs because that’s all we had and a blender. Thanks!
Avocado works great!!!!
Excellent recipe, we used soy milk and didn’t have any eggs so made a substitute using coconut oil, baking powder and water, they were absolutely delicious. My son says they are delicious. Thank you !!! Kelly and Hiero