Healthy Waffle Recipe with whole wheat flour that your kids will love! Double the batch, freeze and then toast frozen for easy breakfast.
For more easy grab-n-go breakfast ideas try Instant Pot egg bites, almond flour banana muffins or healthy banana pancakes.
Whole Wheat Waffles
A healthy waffle recipe that results in crispy and delicious waffles? Yes please! These whole wheat waffles will satisfy the kid in all of us. They are made with your everyday pantry staples like my healthy pancakes. Waking up Saturday morning to the aroma of freshly made waffles just doesn’t happen out of a box.
If you make a big batch, freeze some for later. This is so convenient when you’re in a pinch. We always do that along with chia pudding and blueberry muffins.
Are Waffles Healthy?
What is deemed “healthy” will always differ from one person to the next. You might consider only gluten free waffles healthy, a gym junkie will eat only protein waffles, and we are OK with whole grains. There is no one “right” way to eat.
However, anything that comes from a factory and has been highly processed is usually not good for anyone. It’s been stripped away of most of its nutrients and has had things added to it that we can’t even pronounce.
Does that mean you can’t indulge once in while? That would be a personal decision. I, for one, stopped buying frozen waffles since we started eating primarily real food. By real, I mean food that hasn’t been altered from its original state. Whole foods, unprocessed and highly nutritious.
The good news is, our favourite foods like chocolate chip cookies, carrot cake and brownies can absolutely be healthy! We just need to be careful what we put in them and how we make them. Waffles are healthy when made from scratch. And if you ask me, way more delicious!
We are made to believe that eating healthy is more expensive and that prepackaged food is cheaper. And while it may look and feel that way it’s because we’ve never been taught how to eat healthy on a budget.
Well, it’s possible! Growing up very poor in Ukraine and with no access to processed foods, I can assure you that it may take a bit to figure it out, and there is a learning curve. But once you do, there’s no going back.
Ingredients
- Wet ingredients: Large eggs. Any milk (I used unsweetened almond milk). Maple syrup or honey. Olive oil or avocado oil (can also use butter). Pure vanilla extract.
- Dry ingredients: Aluminum-free baking powder. Salt. Whole wheat flour.
How to Make Healthy Waffles
- Batter: In a large mixing bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add milk, maple syrup, olive oil, vanilla, baking powder, and salt; whisk until well combined. Add whole wheat flour, mix well.
- Cook: Preheat the waffle maker well. The amount of batter depends on the size of your waffle maker. I used about 1/3 cup per waffle. If your waffle maker is cast iron you might have to spray it with cooking spray to prevent waffles from sticking. This recipe uses enough oil, so you might not. Just try one first and see how it comes out.
Enjoy delicious homemade waffles anytime. Top with a drizzle of maple syrup, a slab of nut butter, or some fresh berries!
Tips and Variations
- Waffle mix: Mix the dry ingredients together and keep in a mason jar. You’ll have a homemade waffle mix at the ready!
- Whole wheat flour: You’ll notice that these waffles aren’t as fluffy as your average waffle. This is due to the whole wheat flour containing bran and germ. For a lighter version try my almond flour waffles or super fluffy almond flour pancakes.
- Buckwheat flour: Despite its name, it is actually a gluten-free alternative to other flours. It has a deeper nuttier flavor and is darker in colour. It is a great gluten-free option for this recipe.
- Tricks for fluffy waffles: Because this recipe uses whole wheat flour, you won’t have the fluffiest waffles. There are, however, some things you can do to try and maximize the potential. Separate the yolk from the egg whites. Beat whites until soft peaks have formed and fold them back into the batter. You can also allow the batter to rest while the waffle iron heats up. This way you give extra time for the baking powder to do its thing.
- Cinnamon: For added warmth and a delicious hint of cinnamon, add a dash.
- Non-dairy: To make these non-dairy, use almond milk, coconut milk, or oat milk instead.
- Brown butter: If you do decide to use butter, you’ll want to melt it. Creating brown butter will add a beautiful nutty flavour to your waffles. Brown butter is made by melting the butter until it just starts to turn brown. You’ll know by its delicious aroma. Just be careful not to go too far the other way. Burnt butter has no place in your waffle batter.
Healthy Waffle Toppings
- Maple syrup. Look for “pure maple syrup.” Brands like Aunt Jemima are made of glucose, corn syrups, and all of the highly processed refined sugars we don’t want. When possible, spend a few more dollars and buy pure maple syrup. It is full of vitamins and nutrients and your kids will not notice the difference. Only pour a little bit. It’s not cheap, so make it last!
- Yogurt. When I have time I make yogurt in Instant Pot or buy plain whole milk yogurt. I shoot for local, organic, or grass-fed, with no added sugar. Maple syrup on top and it’s creamy heaven!
- Frozen fruit. Costco is amazing for affordable organic berries and fruit. Thaw it a bit and its juices will blend beautifully with yogurt and maple syrup “streams”.
- Nut/seed butter. Almond butter, cashew butter, and pumpkin seed butter all add a creamy, nutty, high protein topping.
- Chocolate spread. Making your own chocolate spread can be healthy, nutritious, and oh so chocolatey. Using raw cacao, hemp seeds, coconut oil, honey, and sea salt. Blend until creamy and dreamy.
Storing, Freezing, and Reheating
Store: Keep waffles in an air circulating container in the fridge for up to a week.
Freeze: To freeze, let waffles cool for 10 – 15 minutes, then place in a resealable Ziploc bag, let as much air out as possible, seal and freeze for up to 6 months.
Reheat: Pop them in the toaster straight out of the freezer to heat up. You can also use the microwave if you’re wanting to get them a bit softer.
More Healthy Recipes
- Overnight oats
- Zucchini brownies
- Protein cookies
- Whole wheat banana bread
- Whole wheat banana muffins
Healthy Waffle Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 eggs large
- 1 1/2 cups any milk I used unsweetened almond milk
- 3 tbsp maple syrup or honey
- 3 tbsp any mild oil or melted butter
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add milk, maple syrup, olive oil, vanilla, baking powder and salt; whisk until well combined. Add whole wheat flour, mix well.
- Preheat waffle maker. If your waffle maker is cast iron you might have to spray it with cooking spray to prevent waffles from sticking but maybe not since batter has enough oil. Try one and see how it comes out.
- Make waffles according to your waffle maker's instructions. Amount of batter depends on the size of your waffle maker. I used about 1/3 cup batter per waffle. For crispier waffles, I also cook a bit past the green Ready indicator.
Store: Refrigerate in air circulating container for up to a week.
Freeze: Fully cook, cool completely, and freeze in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
Reheat: Pop them in the toaster straight out of the freezer to heat up. You can also use the microwave if you're wanting to get them a bit softer.
Video
Notes
- Whole wheat flour: You'll notice that these waffles aren't as fluffy as your average waffle. This is due to the whole wheat flour containing bran and germ. For a lighter version try my almond flour waffles or super fluffy almond flour pancakes.
- Tricks for fluffy waffles: Because this recipe uses whole wheat flour, you won't have the fluffiest waffles. There are, however, some things you can do to try and maximize the potential. Separate the yolk from the egg whites. Beat whites until soft peaks have formed and fold them back into the batter. You can also allow the batter to rest while the waffle iron heats up. This way you give extra time for the baking powder to do its thing.
- Cinnamon: For added warmth and a delicious hint of cinnamon, add a dash.
- Waffle mix: Mix the dry ingredients together and keep in a mason jar. You'll have a homemade waffle mix at the ready!
Nutrition
Recipes and images are a copyright of ifoodreal.com. It is against the law to republish recipes anywhere including social media, print and all world wide web. Nutritional info is provided for informational purposes only and to the best knowledge.
This is excellent for me. I need to lose weight to keep my health up. I love waffles too and I thought you couldn’t make healthy waffles until I found this. My mom surely approve to healthy waffles because it has healthy in it. Thanks 🙏
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the wonderful review!
Thank you so much for this yummy recipe! The waffles were great!
Yay! So happy to hear!
I went half almond flour and it was DELICIOUS.
🙂
I followed the recipe exactly but after pouring 1 cup of the flour, the batter is already too thick. May I know what can I do?
Hm, it sounds like you miscalculated liquids or changed smth in the recipe. With 2 cups liquid adding 1 cup flour will not make batter unusually thick. All I can suggest is adding more liquid or maybe batter is the way it should be. Look at my photo and adjust to that.
My family loved these! I used our gf Pamela’s bread mix instead of whole wheat flour and they were delicious. The batter seemed thick though so I poured quite a bit more almond milk in. Loved them, we will definitely make them again!
Wonderful to hear Cassie!
Best waffles I’ve ever eaten!!
Awe, thanks so much Tosin!
I have just tried these waffles they are really delicious, thanks for the recipe.
Thank you for for the awesome feedback Grace!
these turned out really dense, i like fluffy soft waffles these were a little rubbery, maybe i did something wrong but i don’t think i will make them again.
Waffles with whole wheat flour cannot be fluffy soft because there is bran and germ in whole wheat flour, that’s what makes it more healthy than white fluffy flour. You can try my almond flour waffles if you want a lighter waffle.
I wouldnt call this healthy. flour, milk, sugar – look into what it does to the body.
OK, Thank you, Jesus, for shining a light on waffles.
The best have ever make
So delicious! Saving it to make again later, thanks for the recipe!
You are very welcome Cristine!
So yummy! I used whole grain buckwheat flour. Unbelievably light & fluffy with a nice crispness. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
You are very welcome Angie!
The waffles are great in this chilly day in Rural New York… I added 1/2 cup of wheat germ…
Happy to hear this Susan!
I ended up separating the egg yolk from egg whites and whipped egg whites to soft peak and combined in the end. Made a nice fluffy texture and worked great!
Thanks for sharing Mimi!
Perfect. I had with tuna and sweet chilli sauce…. dont like sweet!
I only recently bought a waffle maker….hadnt had them before! ( I am Scottish ?)
Very yummy! I added blueberries to the batter and it was delish!
Dont use coconut flour!!!! It works like fake snow and turns the mixture into a mashed potato like texture.
I replaced 1/4 of the flour with almond meal (1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup almond meal). It worked out great. I noticed you have an almond meal waffle recipe, but this recipe has more standard ingredients, so it was more convenient.
Thanks for the great recipe.
Can I make batter tonight and keep in fridge and put into waffle maker in the morning?
I believe so.
Made this quite a few times, it’s pretty good with some cinnamon added into the mixture
Just perfect, served them with fruits
Is it possible to bake these waffles in a silicon mould?
Like a silicone waffle mould? I haven’t tried myself, but I think it’s possible!
Just made 6 Belgian type waffles, recipe was quick, easy and very tasty!
Delicious! I make these most weekends for my family and extra which I freeze for a quick snack throughout the week!
Makes me happy that you liked the waffles Jazmin!
Sounds real good, I’ll give it a whirl
Don’t hesitate to leave a comment and star review once you try the recipe!
So I didn’t have a waffle maker so I turned them into pancakes instead and they were delicious. Amazing Job
Wonderful! I am so happy to hear this Keyla!
Is it possible to freeze the batter?
You can freeze the cooked waffles, but i wouldn’t recommend freezing the batter.
Everyone in my family just loves these waffles. It is especially fussy kid approved which is nothing short of a miracle. Thank you so so much for your healthy and easy recipes, it is my go to site for food ideas and recipes.
Makes me so happy that my site is your go-to for recipes!
I’m cooking this right now. Very easy recipe but I’m wondering if anyone knows how many calories this is
Each of my recipes has a nutritional info at the bottom of the recipe card. For this recipe, 2 waffles have 258 calories.
This tasted good! I’m just only wondering, what makes these waffles healthy exactly?
These waffles are made with REAL, simple ingredients. They are made healthy with whole wheat flour and sweetened with maple syrup or honey (no refined sugar).
Hi just wondering if you don’t have a waffle maker can you put them in a silicone waffle tray and put them in the oven?
Hm, I have never even heard of a waffle tray. I think if it exists, then you can do that.
I thought they were great. Just a little more sweetner would have made it better. I used honey as my sweetner. They turned out solid instead of soggy wich was perfect. I dont like soggy waffles. Thanks for this recipe!
You are welcome Phebe.
loved it, my family too
How would I go about making these waffles with the whey from my yogurt venture? Hoping for a faux sourdough waffle.
I am not so sure about waffles. I have pancakes recipe made with yogurt whey. Enjoy!
Hi! Can I make them with regular white flour? If so is it just a fair swap or will it be different measurements?
Yes, you can use white flour. Usually 1 cup of white flour= 3/4 cup whole wheat flour. So for this recipe you may need to add more white flour and a little less liquid (milk).
I did 1/2 whole meal 1/2 gluten free. substituted 1 protein powder serve .1 tsp Mac’s powder 3/4 cup frozen blue berries and 2 tablespoon ALPS blend ,coconut oil instead of olive oil
And substituted maple syrup for pure organic sugar free mapel syrup . Wanted to up load pic but couldn’t see how .tastes great if you want a change
I used 1/2 white & 1/2 wheat flour so they weren’t too heavy, they turned out lighter & fluffier than I expected! I used honey in the recipe and we always use real maple syrup on top?
I’m so happy to read this! Thanks for your positive feedback, Carmela!
Great, easy and quick – perfect for my family of 6 kids! I have a small and slow waffle maker so I made flapjacks with the same recipe while waiting for my slow waffle maker.
Fantastic! So happy to hear that your family enjoyed this recipe Sophia!
Very moist, excellent flavor. Will definitely keep and use this recipe.
Awesome to hear and you are so welcome, Annie.
Amazing! Thank you so much. I was looking for a healthy waffle recipe. Your recipe has been a regular in my kitchen now! 🙂
Yay! Happy to hear this Gabby!
Just made these with my grandson, Michael.
Easy and yummy!
He ate 3 of them!
Luisa from Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada.
That’s so great, Luisa! It sounds like Michael has a new favorite!
Darn! I was hoping heart healthy would be lower in cholesterol and sodium. Trying to get hubby’s blood pressure down with diet. Looks good otherwise.
Hi Pam. Try almond flour waffles. 🙂 You can also reduce salt to 1/4 tsp in these waffles.
So good! Been looking for a recipe that didn’t include added refined sugar. I do go half and half with the whole wheat and regular flour though. My son loves them!
That is so amazing to hear! Glad everyone enjoyed my recipe!
How many calories are in 100g of those waffles ?
Nutritional info is inside the recipe card.
Love yor Utube channel too suggest all try this&suscribe there for much more happy healthy faces.Do you advertise your Utube on twitter?I’m not on FB
I am not on FB or Twitter but you can click here to subscribe to my youtube if you are not subscribed yet. AND if you click on the Bell button you will get email notification every time new video is posted. Thank you for your kind words, Rita.
Excited to make these for my little bear tomorrow morning! Just got a mini waffle maker and I’m chomping at the bit to use it. These sound great for make ahead, quick grab and go homemade breakfast on those busy school morning…our school year resolution is to stop with the store bought convenience foods! Thank you for the recipe 🙂
I made a few slight changes to the recipe. It was delicious! I halved the recipe, and I used white whole wheat flour and canola oil. I set my waffle maker to 5 1/2 (max setting 6), and after I removed the waffles, I put them on a cooling rack in a 250 degree Fahrenheit oven to make sure the crispiness didn’t go away while I made the next waffles. I put 1/4 t butter extract and 1 T rainbow jimmies in the batter to make them funfetti waffles, and I topped them with some more rainbow jimmies and some melted sugar-free vanilla frosting. The texture and flavor were awesome. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
turned out perfectly, great recipe
Okay I did everything according to the recipe, except I didnt have whole wheat flour and used almond flour instead? Is that big no no? They didnt turn out at all! Had to throw away the whole batch! What did i do wrong? These sounded so yummy!
Yes it’s a big no no. You can’t substitute flours much in baking because all flours rise differently and need different amount of liquid. That’s why they didn’t turn out. You can search my blog for almond flour waffles or pancakes. Or just plug in almond flour and you will see lots of recipes for it..)
These are so good!! But is there anything I can substitute the eggs with??
Yes with flax egg. Dilute 1 tbsp ground flaxseed in 3 tbsp warm water and let gel.
Can’t wait ? to try it , which will be very soon.
I used this recipe but I use white flour and 2% reduced fat milk. It kind of thick but I like it
Tasty and guilt-free!
I followed this recipe exactly, except for the whole wheat flour (didn’t have any), so I used white flour and coconut flour. Waffles came out great except that i only got 3 because i have a very large vertical waffle maker. Will increase my ingredients next time.
Made these as dinner tonight. They were very tasty, I used honey and soy milk. They did stick to the waffle iron like glue, but that was solved with lots of cooking spray.
Happy to hear, Megan. You might need a new waffle maker as non-stick coating wears out. Or cook a tad longer even past the Ready indicator. The batter has oil and with non-stick surface these healthy waffles shouldn’t stick.:)
Delicious healthy waffles!
These were delicious & my mom thinks so, too! She wants me to make them again soon, & I don’t blame her. (gotta love that almond milk)
Made these as pancakes as i dont have a waffle iron and oh my god, they were incredible!
Was also out of honey so used mashed banana as a sweetner, I think this made them a slight bit drier so would probably need double or 1.5 times the amount.
Yay. Hm, I should try these waffles with banana.
Amazing recipe. Works great in a waffle stick maker as well.
Awesome, Tori. You are fancy.:)
Hi Olena. I’m really excited to try this recipe. Is it possible to pre-make the waffle batter the night before and store it in the fridge, so that it’s ready to cook in the morning? TIA
Totally. I just made these on Sunday. Triple batch and froze. Took me a few hours but I was cleaning the kitchen along the way. So much cheaper than store-bought organic.
Hm I make mine with pancake mix and protein mix – egg whites folded in. They have been dry lately? any suggestions? thanks!
Because they lack fats. Ideally I would use eggs instead of whites or at least half and half. Or coconut oil. Applesauce is a low calorie moisturizer too. Look up I have Gluten Free Applesauce Waffles.
hello. i put all the ingredients into a calorie counter and got 535 calories for 2 waffles. i don’t really understand the HUGE difference.
That doesn’t sound right. If you are using someone else’s ingredients nutritional info, they have many mistakes, you have to double check every ingredient nutr. info. That’s what I do.
How do you reheat the frozen waffles? In the microwave? If so for how long and what power level? Thanks! Can’t wait to try these and stop buying the store bought freezer waffles!
Just pop in a toaster – that’s it! 🙂 Just like with store bought waffles.
What was the waffle iron did you use to get the small round waffle Ideal for waffle breakfast sandwichs.
Just a cheap two waffle iron you can find under my Shop page and then Kitchen appliances. Sorry I am on the phone. No link. Just dont pour too much batter and they will come out round and small.
Hi Olena,
thank you for this lovely recipe! Do you think I could use one cup whole wheat flour and one cup protein powder?
E
Yes as long as the batter tastes good and is thick. You will have to play around a bit with how much protein to add.