These light, crisp, and flavorful Almond Flour Waffles are perfect for Sunday mornings or healthy breakfast ideas on the run. Easy recipe is naturally gluten free, oil free, and dairy free plus contains no refined sugars!
We also love these cottage cheese waffles and almond flour Greek yogurt bagels.
You don’t have to be gluten free to enjoy crispy almond flour waffles. Our family also loves these healthy waffles with whole wheat flour but these almond waffles are one of our favorite breakfast dishes alongside frequently requested almond flour pancakes!
The combination of almond flour and oat flour in gluten free waffles is nutrient filled and satisfying. The result are waffles that aren’t too dense and crisp up perfectly, with a slightly fluffy center.
Why You Will Like This Recipe
- Nutrient dense: Almond flour and oat flour are both packed with several vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Meanwhile, almond flour contains healthy fats that are beneficial to heart health. Oat flour also has a powerful soluble fiber, ‘Beta-Glucan,’ which can reduce cholesterol levels and blood sugar while improving gut bacteria and keep you feeling full for longer.
- High protein: Packed with good ingredients these almond flour waffles keep everyone fuller longer, which prevents reaching for a sugary snack later!
- Low glycemic: Both flours are low GI, too – meaning, depending on what sweetener you use with these waffles (and how you serve them), this could be a diabetic-friendly almond flour waffle recipe.
- Oil free: Important if you are staying away from processed and added oils in your diet.
- Dairy free: Use a plant based milk to keep these dairy free!
- Versatile: Eat as is or jazz them up for a decadent gluten free waffle recipe, see below for options.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Eggs: You’ll need 3 large eggs for these almond flour waffles. It is used for binding and lift for waffles with almond flour.
- Milk: You can use any milk, dairy or non-dairy. I use unsweetened almond milk.
- Almond flour: I’ve tested this recipe with almond flour, almond meal, and even hazelnut meal with good results. Blanched superfine almond flour will yield the lightest and fluffiest almond flour waffle recipe results!
- Oat flour: You can buy this ready made or place oats in a high speed blender or coffee/spice grinder and process into a fine flour consistency. Use certified gluten free oats to keep this 100% gluten free waffle recipe.
- Applesauce: Unsweetened applesauce is used in place of oil in this recipe while adding subtle natural sweetness.
- Sweetener: You can use maple syrup or honey. Other liquid sweeteners (i.e., rice syrup/a keto sweetener) will also work, feel free to use a diabetic friendly sweetener if needed.
- Baking soda: To provide lift and texture to the gluten free waffles.
- Salt: To balance the sweetness and enhance the flavor of the waffles.
- Vanilla extract: Helps to make these almond flour waffles taste like dessert. Alternatively, you could use natural vanilla seeds or paste.
How to Make Almond Flour Waffles
- Preheat the waffle maker and oven: That way, your waffle maker is ready to use once the batter is prepared. Preheat oven to 200F degrees, this will be for crisping your waffles further after they finish in waffle iron.
- Mix the batter: In a large bowl, lightly whisk the eggs. Then add the applesauce, milk, sweetener, vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until well combined. Then add the oat flour and almond flour and mix in well. If your waffle maker isn’t ready yet, then you can allow your batter to rest for a few minutes at room temperature until it’s ready. If anything, this is giving the baking soda more time to work.
- Cook the waffles: Once preheated, spray the waffle iron with cooking spray (I use Misto vs. cooking spray). The amount of batter you use and the time it takes to cook the almond flour waffles will vary based on your specific waffle maker.
I used 1/3 cup batter per waffle because I found smaller round (not full size) waffles crisp up better.
- Bake to crisp them up: Arrange cooked waffles on a wire rack and bake on the middle rack of the preheated to 200 F oven for 15 minutes.
Optional Add-ins and Variations
There are several ways that you can easily adapt the almond flour waffle batter. Here are a few of my favorite ways.
- Spices: You can experiment with different spices based on the season; cinnamon, pumpkin spice, nutmeg, ginger, etc.
- Fresh berries: Adding a small handful of fresh berries like blueberries, raspberries, or sliced strawberries should work well without needing further recipe tweaks.
You can use berries either as a topping after crispy waffles are ready to eat, or fold them gently into the waffle batter. Note that they may stick to your waffle iron while cooking, but that is okay, you may just need to use a little more arm work to wash the waffle plates.
- Citrus Zest: Add the zest of lemon/orange/mandarin, etc., for more flavor. Make sure not to include the white pith, though, which is bitter.
- Chocolate: A small handful of chocolate chips could be folded into the waffle batter before cooking.
- More protein: To add even more protein to almond flour waffles, you can add a few tablespoons of seeds to the batter. Or here is how to make protein waffles.
Tips for Best Results
- Don’t open the lid of the waffle maker too early: Or the waffles can break and will likely stick to the machine.
- For even ‘lighter,’ fluffier almond flour waffle recipe: You could separate the egg whites and yolks and beat the egg whites to stiff peaks, then fold them into the batter.
- Use a classic waffle iron for this almond flour waffle recipe: Not a Belgian waffle maker. Not only does the Belgian waffle maker require more batter, but you won’t get amazingly crispy results either.
- Re-use the Ziplock bag: In a bid to be more environmentally friendly, I prefer to wash and re-use the plastic bags I use for freezing these almond flour waffles. You could use reusable silicone freezer bags.
- No oven: Or if you don’t want to turn on the oven, pop the cooked waffles into a toaster to further crisp up (for between 30 seconds – 2 minutes).
FAQs
The batter consistency should be like regular pancake-waffle batter; not too runny and yet not thick enough that a spoon could stand in it.
One good way to tell if waffles are ready is paying attention to the steam. When you first cook waffles, the machine will let off a lot of steam. Once this all but disappears, then the waffle is likely cooked. Most waffle makers might also have a light indicator that is red while cooking, but green when ready. If you would like crispy waffles, I often leave them a little longer (but not much!) after the indicator says they are ready.
You can reheat gluten free waffle recipe straight from frozen (or chilled) by adding them to a toaster for the crispiest results. You could also heat them in a preheated oven at 350F/175C until warmed through.
Alternatively, you could microwave the waffles, though this will yield softer results, not crispy.
Also, I haven’t tried this method, but you may be able to pan fry the waffles (in a dry pan with no oil) until heated through, and that should also help make them crispy again.
I haven’t tried to make this recipe without eggs before, so I can’t guarantee the results. However, according to a reader, you can use flax egg (could try chia egg, too) in place of the regular eggs, and this recipe works well.
I made this recipe explicitly with almond flour and oat flour in mind, so I haven’t tried it any other way. However, I also have this whole wheat waffle recipe.
The recipe has not been tested as such to be specific keto waffles with only almond flour. It should work, but proceed with caution and let us know in the comments how it goes!
How to Serve Almond Flour Waffles
There are several ways that you can enjoy this almond flour waffle recipe. Here are some of my favorite waffle toppings and ways to serve these.
- Butter: Add a dab of butter and drizzle of syrup.
- Berries: Topped with whipped coconut cream and fresh berries.
- Yogurt: I love to serve these with several dollops of my Instant Pot yogurt and some maple syrup and/or berries or other fruit slices; kiwi, pineapple, pomegranate, pineapple, etc.
- Powdered sugar: If you have a sweet tooth, you can lightly dust the almond waffles with powdered sugar or a powdered sugar alternative.
- Nut/Seed butter: Drizzle some of your favorite over these waffles; almond, cashew, hazelnut, or even pumpkin seed or sunflower seed butter will work and boost the protein further.
- Chocolate spread: You can make your own all natural spread with just a few ingredients (raw cacao, hemp seeds, coconut oil, honey, and salt then blend until smooth). This would be perfect for a brunch or waffle charcuterie board!
- Ice cream: If you want to make more of a dessert of these almond waffles, you could serve them with a scoop of your favorite ice cream (or nice cream) like this vegan vanilla ice cream or chocolate ice cream. You could also use the waffles to create a ‘waffle ice-cream’ sandwich.
- Savory: Make your own version of a healthy ‘fried’ chicken and waffles by making these waffles with healthy fried chicken!
I also love to serve these waffles and other healthy breakfast dishes like these breakfast egg muffins, whole wheat buttermilk pancakes, and banana pancakes as part of a brunch spread. Check out my full list of breakfast recipes for more inspiration!
How to Make Ahead and Store
Make ahead: You can prepare the waffle batter the night before and leave it covered in the refrigerator overnight, ready to make the waffles in the morning.
It’s also possible to create a ready made waffle mix by combining all the dry ingredients and storing them in a mason jar. Then all you need to do is add the wet ingredients and mix any time you want waffles.
Store: You can keep the waffles at room temperature, uncovered, for up to a day (to maintain crispness). Any longer, and you should transfer the waffles to an air circulating (not airtight) container in the fridge for up to a week.
Can you freeze almond flour waffles? You sure can. Allow them to cool completely before placing them in a Ziplock or silicone bag, releasing as much air as possible. Then seal and freeze the waffles for up to 6 months.
More Almond Flour Recipes
- Almond flour brownies
- Almond flour banana muffins
- Almond flour zucchini bread
- Almond flour cinnamon bread
- Almond flour blueberry muffins
Or you could simply peruse this list of 45 almond flour recipes!
Almond Flour Waffles
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups applesauce unsweetened
- 1 1/4 cups any milk I used unsweetened almond milk
- 1/2 cup maple syrup or honey
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups oat flour
- 2 cups almond flour
- Cooking spray I use Misto
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
- In a large mixing bowl, add eggs, applesauce, milk, maple syrup, vanilla extract, baking soda and salt; whisk until well combined. Add oat flour and almond flour, mix well.
- Preheat waffle maker. Spray top and bottom griddles with cooking spray each time and make waffles according to your waffle maker's instructions. I used about 1/3 cup batter per waffle as I found smaller waffles crisp up better.
- To crisp up the waffles, arrange cooked waffles on a wire rack and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 15 minutes.
- Waffles are most crispy when served right away.
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate in air circulating container for up to a week. To heat up, place in a toaster for a few minutes.
- Freeze: In a reusable plastic bag for up to 6 months. To thaw, place in a toaster for a few minutes.
- Almond flour: I’ve tested this recipe with almond flour, almond meal, and even hazelnut meal with good results. Blanched superfine almond flour will yield the lightest and fluffiest result, though.
- Oat flour: You can buy this ready-made or place oats in a high-speed blender or coffee/spice grinder and process into a fine flour consistency.
- Sweetener: You can use maple syrup or honey. Other liquid sweeteners (i.e., rice syrup/a keto sweetener) will also work, feel free to use a diabetic-friendly sweetener if needed.
- Don’t open the lid of the waffle maker too early: Or the waffles can break and will likely stick to the machine.
- Use a classic waffle iron: Not a Belgian waffle maker. Not only does the Belgian waffle maker require more batter, but you won’t get amazingly crispy results either.
AWESOME !!!!!! My young adults enjoyed them. I had hoped to freeze a few …… no luck. We ate them with Caribbean styled sausage , that was a delicious combination
That’s so great Margo. Sounds like you will have to make a double batch next time 🙂
Great waffles, soft, fluffy, nutty flavor, healthy, my kid loves them! Easy to make, I usually make a double batch and freeze the rest.
What if I don’t have oat flour will it matter?
You need some sort of flour so try to replace it with what you have in hand.
This is my favorite waffle recipe. I make flax eggs instead of regular eggs, so good. My grandsons love them too!
Happy to hear that you enjoy this recipe so much (and so do your grandsons)!
I absolutely LOVE these waffles!! I add chia seeds and flax meal and they are amazing!! Thank you for sharing!
You are welcome Tara! Chia seeds and flax meal sound like excellent additions!
Hi, my daughter is on a very restricted diet and these waffles sound delicious and would be perfect for her other than the applesauce. She cannot have much fruit and I think the amount of applesauce in them would be too much, can you suggest a substitute for the apple sauce? Thanks
Maybe yogurt would work.
The best waffles I have ever had in my life!!! I mean literally!!! I made it with coconut milk and no applesauce but put berries and a little ice cream on top! To die for!!!
I’m so happy to read this! Thanks for your positive feedback, Inobat!
These waffles taste fantastic. I had just one cup of applesauce so threw in a frozen banana to make up for it. They take much longer to cook then I was expecting (15 minutes) and break apart when removing them. I oiled the waffle iron between and also added a bit of oil to the batter. So yummy ?
So happy you liked the waffles. I think you might need a new waffle maker as these waffles come out very easy in mine.
Just to update you I’ve made these loads of times since my original comment. They are my go to waffle now and I’ve got the hang of cooking them!! Thanks for a great healthy recipe. Unfortunately my kids don’t like them but that means I always have extras to freeze for myself for later!
Hi Abi! Thanks for the update. I am happy this is your go to waffle recipe 🙂
Can you share which waffle maker you have? I love the small pockets on those!
That was very old Walmart brand maker. As long as you get not Belgian waffle maker you should get small pocket one.
I made these into pancakes and was pleasantly surprised that they didn’t turn out doughy. I divided the recipe into thirds for just my husband and myself and thought the dough looked a little thick (my husband hates doughy pancakes) but they turned out great. I did not have any almond milk on hand so just used water but it didn’t seem to make a difference to the great flavor. A keeper. Thank you.
Fantastic! Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Haven’t tried yet, so can’t comment. Excited to try waffles & pancakes!! 💗💗
Have you considered using xantham gum too??