Are you ready for the Best Waffle Recipe EVER?! These golden-brown, crispy, irresistibly fluffy homemade waffles turn out perfectly every time! They’re made completely from scratch, freeze beautifully, and are lightened up by using applesauce in the batter! Plus this recipe makes a HUGE batch, so you will definitely have leftovers to enjoy all week long!
Today I have a special treat for you in honor of Mother’s Day….a guest post from my husband Ritch! He developed this recipe, tested it (for over a year), made it, styled the shoot and took all the photos! He’s the best (ever)! Enjoy…
Getting up early in the morning, making these waffles, and surprising the mommy in your life with breakfast in bed would be a GREAT way to start this Mother’s Day!
My kids love Saturday mornings. As a pastor, I work each Sunday, and Laura gets all four kids ready for church by herself and out the door in time for service. So Saturday is really the only day in a given week where we get to wake up slow together. I usually stay in bed until the kids come bouncing in at [precisely] 7:30am. We snuggle in bed together, as I let them watch an episode of PJ Masks, or Spirit (the horse) on my iPad, before we all head downstairs in our pajamas together.
But one of the most special things that our kids love about Saturday mornings is having a big “Daddy-made” waffle breakfast using this Best Waffles Recipe!
Honestly, I don’t have a super big appetite in the mornings. When it comes to breakfast, I can either take it or leave it. But when I smell these waffles toasting in our waffle-maker, I feel like I could eat my weight’s worth!
I don’t consider myself much of a cook…for a few reasons: 1) I have an AMAZING chef for a wife, who loves to make incredible meals for us (I know, I am totally spoiled!), and 2) I have a very unsophisticated palette (to put it lightly). Seriously, I often confuse beef for chicken. Ha!
But after our last baby was born, I took a couple of weeks off, and worked from home to help Laura out around the house. {It’s true ladies, it was glorious and I love him so much for it} After a few mornings of serving the kids a sub-par breakfast, I decided to hunt down a good waffle recipe. I found a few that were decent…but felt uncharacteristically picky, and wanted to find a really great recipe.
After combining a bunch of good ideas from several other recipes, and testing out half a dozen different tweaks over a few months, Laura helped me dial in on what has become a family favorite…this Best Waffles Recipe! I hope you enjoy it too!
How do you make The Best Waffle Recipe?
Here are a few tips and notes on making this recipe, to ensure that your waffles turn out perfectly every single time!
Beat the egg whites.
This is the secret to extra fluffy waffles! I like to put the bowl of my standing mixer in the refrigerator for a few minutes before beating the whites because it speeds up the process!
Use a great Waffle Maker.
We recently bought this waffle maker and love it! Using a waffle maker that works well is key to great waffles! Before this, we were using one that I purchased for $9, ten years ago that was being held together with duct tape (no I’m not joking). We definitely saw a difference in our waffles with this model!
Note: This Makes a HUGE Batch!
This Best Waffles Recipe makes an enormous batch of waffles…24 of them to be exact! We always have lots leftover, even though our kids sometimes eat 3 per sitting!
How do you keep homemade waffles crispy?
Here are two suggestions I have for you to ensure the crispiest waffles ever!
- Keep them warm in the oven. After cooking the waffles, put them in a warm oven (about 250 degrees) until you are ready to serve. This will ensure that they stay warm without becoming soggy!
- Reheat in the toaster. Place chilled or frozen waffles directly in the toaster to reheat and enjoy! This will re-crisp them beautifully after they have been stored!
Can you freeze homemade waffles?
The reason Ritch created this recipe to make such a large amount is that we love having leftovers in the freezer to warm up for a quick breakfast! To reheat, simply pop the frozen waffles in the toaster and enjoy!
Best Waffle Recipe: Substitutions
Here are a few possible substitutions for this recipe! However, as mentioned above, it has been tested over and over again with many variations and the recipe, as written, is pretty perfect!
- All-purpose flour. If desired, you may substitute up to half of the flour with whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour. This will make the waffles less fluffy but still delicious!
- Milk. We always use 2% milk because that’s what we buy at the store! Feel free to substitute your favorite variety (including non-dairy milks like almond milk)! Just remember, the higher the fat content, the richer and tastier your waffles will be!
- Butter. Ghee or canola oil can be used in place of butter in this recipe. However, real butter adds such an amazing flavor I don’t recommend substituting it!
Serving suggestions:
Here are our favorite ways to enjoy these homemade waffles:
- With a glug of pure maple syrup (of course).
- Topped with a dollop of homemade whipped cream.
- With a side of fresh berries or other fruit
- Drizzled with nutella, peanut butter, etc.
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Best Waffles Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 TBS granulated sugar
- 2 ½ TBS baking powder
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 4 eggs separated
- 3 ½ cups milk
- ½ cup butter melted
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, sea salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
- Preheat a waffle maker to medium heat (on our waffle maker we use “3”).
- Separate egg whites from yolks (make sure to save both parts of the egg)!
- Put whites in the bowl of your standing mixer and beat on high until stiff peaks form.
- Transfer beaten egg whites to a bowl and set aside in the refrigerator.
- Add egg yolks and butter to the bowl of your standing mixer and mix on medium speed until combined.
- Add milk, applesauce and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
- Add half of the dry ingredients and beat until combined.
- Repeat with remaining dry ingredients.
- Add beaten egg whites and fold into the batter by hand with a spatula.
- Spray waffle maker lightly with non-stick spray and scoop 1 cup of batter into the center of the waffle plates.
- Cook on medium heat for 3-5 minutes or until the waffles are golden brown.
- Repeat with remaining batter until it has all been used.
- To keep warm: preheat oven to “warm” setting and put each batch of waffles on a large baking sheet in the warm oven until ready to serve.
- Serve warm with maple syrup, whipped cream, fresh berries, etc. etc.
Nutrition
More of our favorite breakfast recipes:
- The best healthy pancakes!
- My all-time favorite peanut butter breakfast bars.
- Baked oatmeal: Peanut Butter Banana baked oatmeal, Blueberry baked oatmeal, apple cinnamon baked oatmeal, pumpkin baked oatmeal.
- The best green smoothie ever.
Thank you Ritch, for this beautiful post! I am one blessed lady to be married to such a stud! He’s artistic, he knows how to cook, is the best daddy in the world AND he loves me very much! XOXO love you babe!
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Jennifer
These waffles were SO good! I was tired of buying frozen waffles so now we have waffles for dinner and then I freeze the rest. My kids loved the taste and the adults appreciated the taste and texture (thanks to the egg whites!). Your website is my go-to site because the recipes are always spot on. My entire family thanks you!
Jill
Is the applause just for flavor? If it is, I’m going to use jelly instead!
Laura
Applesauce is a great substitute for butter or oil. I don’t recommend using jelly in it’s place!
Ali
Thank you for posting this recipe, we have a similar routine at my house! I love the tips for rehearing and keeping them warm too. It’s truly been a game changer to have such a delicious breakfast already made and in the freezer that we can grab and go. My man of the house is also the go to waffle maker so I appreciate your husbands guest post haha. Thank you!
Robert F Knight II
I agree that whipping egg whites does make a superior waffle.However I’ve never heard of someone putting the bowl the fridge for whipping egg whites. Egg white should be beaten at room temperature. Chilling the bowl is used for whipping cream not egg white.
Reiko
I don’t usually review recipes. However, this truly has to be the best waffle I have ever tasted. I don’t know why I never thought of separating the eggs before. Yummy!
Laura
Thank you SO much! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! We actually had these for breakfast yesterday and today! 😉
Cindy
My fiance just got a new Pokemon toaster for his birthday. He a bit of a fan so I made these waffles for him and served them topped with Nutella, fresh fruit and whipped cream. They were delicious! Thank you so much for this recipe. I will make this a breakfast staple in my home.
Laura
I LOVE the idea of nutella and whipped cream! YUM!
Casey Froke
Have you tried using your French toast recipe but cooking it in the waffle maker!? Makes amazing French toast and adds the “holes” for better syrup collection.
Laura
Great idea!!!
Reena
Hello..pls can i substiture the applesauce with somethin else..help
Laura
You can substitute the applesauce with an equal amount of butter or oil!
E S
I LOVE leftover frozen waffles, and these look like the perfect waffles to do that with; and I love what Ritch said. I actually kind of like to cook, but I don’t have a super sophisticated taste either.
The way he staged these photos. . . . It’s amazing how God matched you two together.
Vesna Misoska
We LOVE waffles in the Castro house and make a ton for leftovers. We have a waffle maker held together by tape, too. Ha! However, I’ve been eyeing that exact Cuisinart waffle maker for a while – good to know it’s a winner. Know that we will be trying this recipe (applesauce is a nice touch!) in our Frankenstien waffle maker. 🙂