Light and Crispy Waffles

We absolutely adore these crispy waffles! Our recipe is super quick and easy, resulting in the most delicious waffles made completely from scratch. You will love these easy waffles, which are light and crispy on the outside, while remaining soft and fluffy on the inside.

Watch the Video

Waffles Recipe Video

How To Make Our Favorite Waffles Recipe

If you are looking for light and crispy waffles, you are most certainly in the right place. This easy waffles recipe makes waffles with the most delicate exterior while being soft and fluffy on the inside.

These are the best waffles we have ever made at home. I often find waffles too dense and eggy, but not these. These are light on their feet.

Our recipe makes four thin waffles — like shown in the photos and video — or two to three thicker, Belgian-style waffles. It’s also easily doubled, so if you need to serve more people, you can.

The recipe can be made quickly and calls for ingredients we always have in our kitchen. Let me walk you through them. The full recipe is below.

A stack of homemade waffles

Let me walk you through what you will need so you can say goodbye to flavorless, floppy waffles and hello to waffles that are light and crispy on the outside and tender in the middle.

  • All-purpose flour is my go-to flour for this recipe. It keeps the waffles light on their feet. Of course, you can substitute whole grain flours like whole wheat or spelt flour, but expect them to be a little denser.
  • Cornstarch is our secret ingredient for making the crispiest waffles. Cornstarch guarantees that the waffles will be perfectly crisp and tender.
  • Baking powder and baking soda help the waffles rise and brown. For the lightest waffles, I recommend using both.
  • Sugar, salt, and vanilla extract help the waffles taste great. I keep the sugar amount low since I love pouring maple syrup on top, but you can increase the sugar for sweeter waffles.
  • Vegetable oil is my go-to fat for these waffles. I’ve tried melted butter, and while it does add a buttery flavor, I prefer the texture with oil. You can experiment with this yourself; simply use the same amount of melted butter as the oil called for in the recipe.
  • Milk or buttermilk is the liquid in the batter. When I have buttermilk in the house, I use it, but when I don’t, a combination of milk and a little lemon juice or vinegar mimics buttermilk. If you don’t have lemon juice or vinegar, use plain milk. The waffles still taste great.
  • One egg adds tenderness and provides structure. For the lightest, fluffiest waffles, separate the egg. Whisk the egg yolk into the milk, and then beat the egg white until stiff peaks form and fold it into the batter.

How To Make Buttermilk Waffles

Many of our readers have asked if you can make the recipe with buttermilk. Of course, the answer is 100% yes! In fact, we prefer them with it.

Since most of us rarely have buttermilk in the fridge when waffle cravings hit, use the trick of mixing regular milk and lemon juice (or vinegar) to mimic buttermilk. I have shared the ratio below in the tips section of the recipe.

Our Best Tips for Making Waffles

Don’t overwork the batter. Like pancakes or muffins, you want to be gentle when mixing the wet and dry ingredients. Only whisk or stir until just mixed.

Adding the wet ingredients to make the waffle batter

Set your waffle iron to the highest heat setting. In our experience, waffles cook best when cooked at the highest heat setting. But, of course, waffle irons will vary, so if you have it set to high and think the waffles are too dark, turn it down a bit. We’ve tried four different waffle irons with this recipe and haven’t needed any heat setting other than high yet.

Before making your waffles, heat the oven to 200° F. To keep cooked waffles crisp, place them directly onto the oven rack.

Preventing floppy waffles by placing them into a warm oven while I finish cooking the rest of the batch

Fill the waffle iron with enough batter to fill the entire lower grid. The amount of batter you need will vary depending on your waffle iron. For example, we add less than 1/2 cup to the waffle iron in our video and just over 3/4 cup to our thicker, Belgian-style waffle iron.

Pouring waffle batter on to a regular waffle iron

For extra light and crispy waffles, separate the eggs. I know this is an extra step, but trust me, it’s worth it. If you don’t have the time, you can add the egg whole. Add it to the oil and milk mixture. The batter won’t be as thick and fluffy.

More Easy Breakfast Recipes

A stack of crispy waffles made from scratch

Light and Crispy Waffles

  • PREP
  • COOK
  • TOTAL

These light and crispy waffles come together quickly. Cornstarch is the secret to crispy waffles. It guarantees that your waffles will be perfectly crisp and tender.

This recipe makes four standard waffles (1/2-inch to 3/4-inch thick). If you want to make thicker Belgian waffles or use a deep waffle iron, you will get closer to three waffles using our recipe below.

Separating the egg is optional but is recommended. We do not do this in the video; however, after years of feedback from readers, we have determined that whipping the egg white thickens the batter slightly and improves the results for deeper waffle irons.

Makes 4 standard waffles or 2 to 3 thick waffles

Watch Us Make the Recipe

You Will Need

1 cup (130 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (30 grams) cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon sugar

1 cup (235 ml) buttermilk or milk

1/3 cup (80 ml) vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

Butter, syrup and/or berries, for serving

Directions

    1Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar in a large bowl.

    2In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla extract.

    3For the lightest waffles, separate the egg. Whisk the egg yolk into the milk mixture. If you do not plan on separating the egg, whisk the whole egg into the milk mixture.

    4If you separate the egg, add the egg white to another bowl, use a handheld mixer to beat until stiff, and then set aside.

    5Whisk the milk mixture into the dry ingredients until only small lumps are left. Switch to a rubber spatula and gently fold in the whipped egg whites.

    6Set the batter aside for five to ten minutes while preparing the waffle iron.

    7Heat the waffle iron to the highest heat setting.

    8Cook waffles until golden and crisp, adding enough batter to the waffle iron to fill the entire lower grid. If the waffles look too dark, turn the heat down slightly.

    9Serve the waffles immediately or keep them warm and crispy on a rack in a 200°F oven until ready to serve. Stacking them outside the oven will cause them to steam and become floppy.

Adam and Joanne's Tips

  • Buttermilk substitute: Use whole milk or to mimic buttermilk, stir 1 cup of whole milk with 2 tablespoons lemon juice or distilled white vinegar.
  • Melted butter makes these waffles a little heavier but is delicious. Use 1/3 cup melted butter.
  • Recipe inspired and adapted from Aretha Frankensteins Recipe
  • Recipe updated May 2022 to improve results when making thicker waffles. For the original recipe, use 3/4 cup of flour.
  • Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values. We assumed four waffles.

If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste

Nutrition Per Serving Serving Size 1 waffle / Calories 255 / Total Fat 21.4g / Saturated Fat 16.3g / Cholesterol 53.2mg / Sodium 161.5mg / Carbohydrate 13.5g / Dietary Fiber 0.1g / Total Sugars 6.2g / Protein 3.6g
AUTHOR:  Adam and Joanne Gallagher

Recipe updated, originally posted February 2014. Since posting this in 2014, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear and added a quick recipe video. – Adam and Joanne

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232 comments… Leave a Review
  • Chrissy March 4, 2024, 2:31 pm

    This was amazing! I’ve tried quite a few.. stodgy pancake batter, too man6 eggs batter, and proper Belgian yeast prove-overnight waffles. These were better than all of them, except the Belgian, but without having to wait overnight! So crispy! I recommend checking them at least 1-2 minutes before recommended cooking time as my first few were overdone, but they were light, crispy and tasted wonderful. Highly recommended:)

    Reply
    • Joanne March 4, 2024, 2:41 pm

      Wonderful! We are thrilled you enjoyed them.

      Reply
  • Madeline January 20, 2024, 3:25 pm

    Thank you so much for sharing. This recipe is the best for crunchy waffle.

    Reply
  • Purnima January 15, 2024, 12:29 am

    I made it this beautiful waffle recipe and my husband loved it. Thank you very much for your clear and neat steps.

    Reply
  • Donna October 22, 2023, 10:14 pm

    This recipe is by far the best out there! I’ve tried MULTIPLE and I’m so happy this one popped up. These are crispy and that was what I was after. I’ve made with powdered milk and whole milk but buttermilk is the only one I will use. I mix this up and put in a old coffee creamer bottle and it pours out sooo easy. I mix the day before leaving and take with us to hunting camp and take to the lake when we go camping. Best recipe ever!

    Reply
  • Erika September 27, 2023, 1:09 pm

    Wow! My search for the perfect waffle recipe has ended! This recipe delivers everything it promised. The waffles are light, but crispy and so delicious! I doubled the recipe for my family of five. Everyone loved them. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Adam September 27, 2023, 3:45 pm

      Wow! What a nice review. So glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂

      Reply
  • Felicity P September 2, 2023, 7:10 pm

    Love love love, this recipe is perfect! So light and crispy – I followed the recipe almost exactly, using light milk and lemon juice in place of buttermilk (all I had) and it just blew my mind. Thank you!

    Reply
  • Amanda August 27, 2023, 11:47 am

    Wow! Just wow! This the best waffle recipe I have ever tried and I’ve done the pain-in-the-neck Belgian waffle recipes where you have to separate the yolks from the egg whites and beat separately, mix it back in, yadda yadda yadda. You could do it with this one but it’s not necessary. It truly is crispy on the outside and light as air in the middle. I think the corn starch does make the difference. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful recipe!

    Reply
    • Adam August 28, 2023, 3:49 pm

      What a nice comment 🙂 So happy you enjoyed the waffles!

      Reply

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