Waffles are one of my favourite holiday treats, there’s no doubt. I have lots of childhood memories that include enjoying waffles in the seaside. I even lost my first tooth when eating one! We also enjoyed waffles during family cycling trips in a large park near my hometown when I was a child. All of my family loved waffles, but whenever we tried to make them at home, it was a failure. We tried to find the perfect recipe for years, and after lots of miserable attempts that yielded pancake-like, flat and soggy waffle wannabes, we found it. I don’t actually own a waffle maker myself, but I made waffles with my sister when I last visited my family. This recipe is simple and ready in minutes!

Two secrets to making the perfect crispy homemade waffles

From my experience, there are two equally important secrets to making homemade waffles that turn out crispy rather than flat, pancake-like and rubbery. The first of them is good recipe for the batter, obviously. The other secret is the waffle maker. Using the right device makes a huge difference!

It’s easy to find cheap waffle makers. I even saw some in the “home” sections of clothing stores. Those appliances can be tempting – they won’t break the bank and usually are small, great for those with limited storage space at home. Some of those waffle makers have cute shapes, and who wouldn’t like Mickey Mouse-shaped waffles, right? Unfortunately, it’s difficult to make perfect waffles in those novelty appliances.

A good waffle maker has two features: the characteristic grid-shaped mould should be deep, and the device should have high wattage power. A shallow mould in a low-power device will cook the batter into a pancake. A tasty one, for sure, but it won’t be crispy and it won’t hold its shape.

Commercial-grade waffle makers are often around the 1kW power level. The smallest and most affordable appliances might be around the 350W mark. That’s a huge difference! If you’re serious about your homemade waffles, consider investing in a waffle maker marked as 700W or more. You can find Wattage information on the box, and it should be included in the product specification in online stores.

Ingredients for the perfect, crispy waffles

For around 8 waffles you’ll need:

• 250g plain flour
• 300ml milk or plant-based alternative for vegan waffles
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• pinch of salt

Also, make sure to prepare your favourite toppings.

How to make perfect waffles at home

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix with a whisk or a fork. You can use an electric mixer, but we never do. A good old fork works perfectly fine.

Heat up the waffle maker and grease it with oil. Add around 2 tablespoons of batter per waffle into the moulds. The amount of batter required per waffle will depend on the size of your appliance. Make sure not to put too much batter as it might overflow.

Close the waffle maker and cook your waffles for a few minutes. The cooking time will vary between waffle makers, and it might take some trial and error to figure out how long to cook the waffles for in your machine. With my waffle maker, it usually takes around 8 minutes.

Let the cooked waffles cool down for a minute before you add your favourite toppings.

If you find that the waffles stick to the mould and you struggle to take them out, make sure to grease the waffle maker with vegetable oil between each waffle you cook.

How to store homemade waffles

Naturally, homemade waffles are best when eaten fresh. If you have any leftovers, you can store them in room temperature for a day or two. Reheat them in your waffle maker to bring back the crispiness.

Alternatively, you can freeze your cooked waffles and then reheat them in the waffle maker or an air fryer from frozen.

Nutritional value of homemade waffles

The whole recipe has approximately 1295 kcal, 34 grams of fat, 218 grams of carbs and 25 grams of protein. Assuming the recipe makes 8 waffles, each of them will have 162 kcal, 4.5 grams of fat, 27 grams of carbs and 3 grams of protein

The nutritional value doesn’t include any toppings and oil used to grease the waffle maker.

How to make these waffles healthier – protein waffles variation

Homemade waffles are delicious and make a scrumptious breakfast, but their nutritional value isn’t ideal for a balanced meal. To improve it, we can add some additional protein.

Instead of using 250g of plain flour, use 200g of plain flour and 50g of protein powder in your favourite flavour. Vanilla is always a good choice, but I love waffles made with cookie dough flavoured protein powder too.

The nutritional value of the recipe with protein powder is approximately 1313 kcal, 36 grams of fat, 186 grams of carbs and 57 grams of protein. That’s 164 kcal, 4.5 grams of fat, 23 grams of carbs and 7 grams of protein per waffle (assuming the recipe makes 8 waffles).

To further improve the nutritional value of the meal, make sure to add some fresh fruit as waffle topping or a side, for added fibre and vitamins.

Toppings to try on homemade waffles

If you like simplicity, you can enjoy these waffles sprinkled with icing sugar. Hot and crispy waffles don’t need many elaborate toppings!

Whipped cream is also a waffle topping you can’t go wrong with. It’s my go-to whenever I buy waffles out of home.

If you’re feeling fancy, you can play around with fresh fruit, jams, chocolate and peanut spreads, sweet sauces, sprinkles… whatever you like! One of my favourite combinations for waffles is cherry jam with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Yum!

You can also experiment with savoury waffles. I once had a waffle with bacon and egg, and it was delicious! I also heard that chicken and avocado work really well.

Bon Appetit!

So there you have it – a recipe for waffles that never fails. Enjoy!

Also see:

• Food
• Savoury
• Sweet