Secrets to the Best Homemade Waffle Recipe
Learn the secrets to the best waffle recipe. Make light and crispy homemade waffles with tender, chewy middles. Jump to the Best Waffle Recipe now or read on to see how we make it.
We’ve been searching for a waffle recipe to share with you for quite some time now. We’ve got lots of pancake recipes, but no waffles. We’ve tried different recipes. We loved some, especially this yeast-raised waffle recipe from Smitten Kitchen. They are light, crisp and deliciously yeasty. The problem? You really need to make the batter the night before and as much as we wish we thought that far ahead, we just don’t — not usually anyway.
The recipe made it into our recipe box, but we still needed a simpler, quicker version — the one we’d most likely pull out when the yearning for fresh, hot waffles on a Sunday morning hits. After a few more trials, we found we loved buttermilk waffles — again, though, they didn’t match our need for the everyday, make on a whim waffle. (We never have buttermilk in our fridge and if we do, it’s most likely expired).
Finally, we stumbled onto this recipe. It’s simple, takes little time to prepare, uses ingredients we always have in our kitchen and makes homemade waffles that are light and crisp with tender, chewy middles. Perfect.
You May Also Like our Easy, Fluffy Pancake Recipe and learn how to make fluffy pancakes at home, with ease. Our easy recipe makes pancakes that are light and fluffy and only requires a few simple ingredients you probably have in your kitchen right now.
Or, try this easy French Toast Recipe. It is perfect for the weekday or over the weekend – it only takes 30 minutes and a few ingredients to make.
Secrets to Making the Best Waffles at Home from Scratch
After trying multiple recipes, our most common complaint was floppy waffles. We like waffles that are crispy on the outside. After lots of research, we stumbled across Fine Cooking’s article about how to make crispy waffles. In it they share the secret for crispy waffles. It’s cornstarch!
Mixed with flour, cornstarch guarantees that your waffles will be perfectly crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.
We were skeptical at first, but after trying it we were sold.
More Tips
Don’t overwork the batter. Just like pancakes or muffins, you want to be gentle when mixing the wet and dry ingredients together. Only whisk or stir until just mixed — no need for beating here.
Be prepared to throw away the first waffle. Unless you know your waffle iron like the back of your hand, you’ll probably need the first waffle to test out temperature and cooking time. After the first waffle you should have a better understanding of the amount of batter to add (ours takes a 1/2 cup of batter), the best heat setting and timing.
Before you start making your waffles, heat the oven to 200° F. Once each waffle is done, set the cooked waffle directly on the oven rack to keep it warm and crisp. Repeat with the remaining batter, holding the waffles in the oven (try not to stack them). The extra few minutes in the oven adds even more crispiness to the outside of the waffle and keeps them warm for serving.
Try buttermilk. Our recipe calls for milk to be used, but for even more flavorful waffles try buttermilk. We’ve shared tips for how to convert our recipe to buttermilk waffles below.
For extra light and crispy waffles, separate the eggs. Mix the yolk into the wet ingredients. Then, whip the egg white until stiff peaks form. Once you’ve combined the dry and wet ingredients, fold in the beaten egg whites. Separating the egg and beating the white adds airiness to the waffles and makes them extra light.
You May Also Like This: If pancakes are more your style, take a look at these from our archives:
- Easy and Delicious Whole Wheat Pancakes Recipe
- Spiced Buttermilk Banana Pancakes Recipe
- Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes with Butter Pecan Syrup
- Cinnamon Pancakes with a Cinnamon Roll Glaze
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
Secrets to the Best Homemade Waffle Recipe
- PREP
Cornstarch is the secret for crispy waffles. Mixed with flour, cornstarch guarantees that your waffles will be perfectly crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.
Makes approximately 4 to 5 waffles, depending on waffle iron
You Will Need
3/4 cup (100 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (30 grams) cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (235 ml) milk, whole or 2% reduced fat milk are best
1/3 cup (80 ml) vegetable or lightly flavored oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Butter, syrup and/or berries, for serving
Directions
- Prepare Batter
- Make Waffles
Whisk the flour, cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. In another bowl or large measuring jug, whisk the milk, vegetable oil, egg and vanilla together until blended.
Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and whisk until just mixed. Set batter aside for 10 to 15 minutes so the baking powder has time to activate.
Heat the oven to 200° F and heat the waffle iron. Pour the batter onto the heated waffle iron (ours takes about 1/2 cup) and cook until the waffle is crisp and golden brown. Immediately set the cooked waffle directly on the oven rack to keep it warm and crisp. Repeat with the remaining batter, holding the waffles in the oven (try not to stack them). Serve with butter, syrup and berries.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Buttermilk Waffles: To make buttermilk waffles, simply replace the milk with 1 cup of buttermilk. Or, use a combination of milk and buttermilk.
- Extra Light Waffles: For even lighter waffles you can separate the egg. Mix the yolk into the wet ingredients. Then, whip the egg white until stiff peaks form. Once you’ve blended the dry and wet ingredients, fold in the beaten egg white.
- About the Salt: We use kosher salt. If you don’t have it on hand, keep this in mind: 1 teaspoon fine sea or table salt = about 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt.
- Recipe inspired and adapted from Aretha Frankensteins Recipe
- Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA Supertracker recipe calculator to calculate approximate values. We assumed 5 waffles. The calculations below are for 1 of 5 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: Calories 262 / Protein 5 g / Carbohydrate 25 g / Dietary Fiber 1 g / Total Sugars 5 g / Total Fat 16 g / Saturated Fat 3 g / Cholesterol 41 mg
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Great recipe, but next time will double the amount. I got 2.5 waffles out of the recipe.
Outstanding! First time recipe, and Christmas present waffle iron. I made it straight this time, extremely pleased. Next time I’ll tweak it with a touch of freshly ground nutmeg. This is definitely a keeper!
I was skeptical about the cornstarch, as I never used it in my mother’s recipe. But since it called for Bisquick, and I had none, I searched and found this recipe. I would agree, maybe a bit more flour, and a tad more sugar. I doubled the recipe and the three of us ate well.
I’ve been trying to find the perfect waffle recipe for the last couple of years. Just made this on — an it was delicious! Will definitely make this one again. Thanks for sharing!
We made these this am—yummmm!
We made some modifications because of what we had on hand:
– doubled recipe
– almond milk instead of cow’s milk
– Olive oil with a little coconut oil
– arrowroot powder instead of cornstarch
– whipped the egg whites
These made four waffles in our big Belgian waffle maker. I’d definitely make again!
I made these for Thanksgiving breakfast. I doubled the recipe and whipped the egg whites. I got busy with the turkey so the batter sat for much longer than the 10-15 minutes. My husband ended up finishing them off in the waffle iron and company showed up, turkey went in the oven so no time for them to crisp in the oven and they were still wonderful! Today I am making them again (4 days later) and will put them in the oven to crisp and I’m going to add a little pumpkin spice to the batter.** Also, I am a gluten free baker and use only my own gf flour mixture, these were perfect ** Thank You for all your hard work! Even GF they are winners in my book!!
I forgot to mention that I used Almond Milk instead of cows milk and they were still awesome!
It is the first recipe i tried and I need to look no further. Nice and moist in the middle and lightly crispy on the outside. YUMMY!
Really greasy waffles but they tasted ok for the most part. Not my fav recipe but they came out fine.
I haven’t made waffles since I was a kid, so I wasn’t too confident. But they were great! THank you!
I have been making this Recipe for over a year or longer now & omg I freaking LOVE it !!!! The only thing I change if I add a tad more flour — sometimes a teeny bit of cake flour. & I cannot have dairy I add almond milk instead. I live by a store called Trader Joe’s and they sell this almond milk pumpkin stuff which I add a splash of this in too to make it super fall like! I think the added corn starch & letting it sit for that 15 minutes really makes it so much better! I cook mine for about 4 minute or so so they are a bit more toasty. Congrats congrats congrats to whoever came up with this because I am not joking everyone always loves these waffles so much !!! Thank you thank you thank you !!