Start your morning right with these light and fluffy whole wheat waffles! Made with 100% whole grains and no added sugar, these wheat waffles make a wholesome start to any day!
While whole wheat pancakes and French toast are undeniably delicious, my heart belongs to waffles.
From the crispy edges to the light and fluffy interior, waffles have the perfect textural contrast. And those nooks and crannies that capture melted butter and maple syrup--swoon! Whether serve with a honey lime fruit salad and a side of candied maple bacon or simply doused in maple syrup, you just can't go wrong with a good waffle. And this recipe for Whole Wheat Waffles is the best!
Wholesome Waffles
While I believe everything, even decadent breakfast recipes like Cinnamon Rolls and Bananas Foster French Toast, deserve to be enjoyed, I do prefer to start off MOST mornings, especially weekday mornings, with a wholesome, fiber-rich breakfast, like these wheat waffles, to power me (and my family) through the morning.
This recipe for whole wheat waffles leaves out the sugar and swaps out the refined flour for whole wheat flour. And don't worry, I have perfected the ratio to ensure that even though these waffles are made with 100% whole grains, they are still still tender and delicious. They are truly are a perfect choice for any day of the week!
Tips for Making Tender Whole Wheat Waffles
The following tips are provided to help you achieve perfect results. You will find the detailed instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Don't Overwork the Waffle Batter
We have all heard not to overmix pancake or cake batter, as that can yield a dense, tough end product. The same is true for waffles, especially when using whole wheat flour. To prevent overmixing the waffle batter, I suggest combining the wet and dry ingredients separately and then gently folding them together until the flour is fully moistened.
Rest the Waffle Batter
After preparing the batter, let it rest for at least 10 minutes, or up to overnight in the refrigerator. Resting the whole wheat waffle batter allows the flour to absorb the wet ingredients and the gluten to relax, which will help your waffles be tender and fluffy, even when working with whole wheat flour.
Ladle the Batter Evenly
I recommend referring to your waffle iron's instructions to determine how much batter to use per waffle plate. Then using a ladle or a measuring cup, pour that amount into the center of each greased waffle plate. This will help to ensure you have full, fluffy, evenly-sized waffles.
Cook Until Golden
Follow the instructions that came with your waffle maker to determine the length of cooking time for each batch of waffles. You are looking for them to be set and golden, which is typically 3-4 minutes per waffle.
∗ How to Keep Waffles Warm for Serving ∗
You likely won't have a waffle iron large enough to make more than a couple of waffles at once. Therefore, you likely will want to keep your waffles warm until you have completed cooking them.
- Preheat an oven to 200 degrees F.
- Line a baking sheet with a cooking rack. The cooking rack allows the air to evenly circulate the waffles, keeping the bottom of the waffles crisp as they are held warm.
- As the waffles are finished cooking, transfer them to the prepared baking sheet in the oven. Continue to add waffles to the baking sheet until all of the waffles are prepared.
How to Serve Whole Wheat Waffles
- Keep it classic and serve these waffles with pure maple syrup.
- Top the waffles with fresh fruit and whipped cream.
- Slather the waffles with nut butter and sliced bananas for an added boost of protein and a serving of fruit.
- Use these wheat waffles as a unique base to a turkey or ham sandwich.
- Use these waffles as the base of savory breakfast and top with smashed avocado and a poached egg.
- Top the waffles with fried chicken, or baked and breaded chicken tenders and hot honey for a spin on Chicken and Waffles.
- Or use the waffles as base for a delicious dessert and top with vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream.
How to Store Waffles
- Refrigerate: Allow the leftover waffles to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, transfer the waffles to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to for 5 days. Toast the waffles in a toaster or toaster oven until crispy and warmed through.
- Freeze: Once the waffles have cooled, place them on a cookie sheet in the freezer in a single layer until flash-frozen. Once frozen solid, place the waffles into a freezer container for storage. This allows the waffles to be removed from the freezer one at a time. To reheat frozen waffles it is best to toast individually in a toaster or toaster oven.
Recipe Modifications
- Gluten-Free Waffles: Using a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend in place of the whole wheat flour will work successfully in this recipe.
- No Buttermilk? If you don't have buttermilk, add one tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice to a glass measuring cup and then fill the measuring cup up to 3-½ cups with milk of choice.
- Egg-Free Waffles: Mix together ¼ cup ground flaxseed with ¾ cups of water to equal the 4 eggs used in this recipe.
- Dairy-Free Waffles: Make homemade dairy-free buttermilk by mixing 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice with 3-½ cups of non-dairy milk.
- Low-Fat Waffles: To keep these waffles lower in fat, replace half the oil with applesauce or plain Greek yogurt.
More Delicious Breakfast Recipes
- Gluten-Free Banana Oat Pancakes
- Overnight French Toast Casserole
- Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole
- Breakfast Tacos
- Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
- Sweet Potato Waffles
If you tried this recipe for Homemade Whole Wheat Waffles, I would love for you to leave a comment and review below.
Whole Wheat Waffles
Ingredients
- 3 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2-½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ cup melted coconut oil or melted unsalted butter
- 4 large eggs
- 3-½ cups buttermilk see note for homemade buttermilk
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter (or coconut oil) with the eggs and buttermilk until well combined. Add to the dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly incorporated. Be careful to not overmix to prevent your waffles from getting tough. Set the waffle batter aside to rest while the waffle iron is heating up.
- Preheat the waffle iron according the manufacturer's instructions. If planning to keep waffles warm between batches, preheat the oven to to 200℉ and line a rimmed baking sheet with a baking rack.
- Once the waffle iron is heated, brush or spray each waffle plate with canola oil, coconut oil, butter, or cooking spray. Ladle about â…“ cup of the batter (or the amount called for per your manufacturer) onto the center of each grid on the waffle iron. Close waffle maker and cook according to the manufacturer's instructions.
- Once the waffles are finished cooking, remove them with a silicone spatula or wooden chopsticks from the waffle maker and transfer them to the prepared baking sheet. Hold warm in the oven while you finish cooking the remaining waffles.
- Serve with any topping you desire.
Equipment Needed
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published in 2017 then updated in 2020 and 2024 with new tips and photos.
Marissa
Hi there! I was searching for a healthy waffle recipe that I could make batches of for my freezer instead of buying frozen waffles from the store because I want to eliminate all these extra additives and sugar etc. I see it calls for canola oil but I am on an anti inflammatory diet and canola oil is said to cause inflammation. Would it be possible to use olive oil, coconut, oil, or avocado oil? And which do you think would be best? Maybe coconut oil? Thank you so much! I’m on a journey to cleaning up my homes bad eating habits and it’s very exciting! Hoping this is another thing I can add to feel good about 🙂
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Marissa! I would recommend using melted and cooled coconut oil. They will be delicious! And way to go cleaning up your diet 🙂
Heather
I make these often for my family, we all love them and I love that there's no sugar. I add some cinnamon and nutmeg for extra flavor but otherwise the recipe is perfect. I freeze the extra for quick weekday breakfast.
Marion
Made these using the flaxseed egg substitute as a quick Sunday morning breakfast. I cut the recipe in half. Because of the size of my waffle iron, it actually made 8 waffles instead of 6. I did have an issue that I’m a little puzzled over. Of the first 6 waffles, 4 of them tore into pieces as I opened the waffle iron. (The waffle iron was preheated and oiled.) I was only able to rescue 2 of the 6. However, the scraps had a wonderful texture and my husband says the flavor is much better than my usual recipe. I’m not sure if the flour to milk ratio was off and the batter was too thin, or I mis-measured the oil. After church I had some extra batter and added a little more oil and flour and the last 2 came out perfect. The recipe is a keeper and will definitely be replacing my old recipe.
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Marion! I am so happy to hear you enjoyed the waffles! As for the batter is too thin, if you notice it is very runny again, simply add 1-2 tablespoons of flour until you reach the right consistency. It may have been mismeasured or due to the moisture/humidity in the air.
Zack
Overall, there is 4 cups of liquid, plus four eggs to 3 cups of flour. Isn’t that too much? This recipe was very runny. Could there be a typo in the recipe?
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Zack! Waffle batter should be much runnier than pancake batter and this recipe has been used for years with great success my many people. Try cooking one waffle, and if there is an issue, add an additional 1/4 cup of flour. It may be you were light on the flour when measuring 🙂
Beryl
These came out perfect. I mixed in some gel food coloring and made colorful waffles.
Kristen Chidsey
How fun!
Jay
Hi, as I prepped the batter I noticed there was a lot of liquid to solid ratio. I got halfway through adding the wet liquid and the batter was getting quite thin. I left out half the batter for fear of it getting too funny and then wasting all my ingredients. It worked out in the end but now I'm left with half batch of wet mix lol.
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Jay! This batter should be looser than a pancake batter, but not runny. I am wondering what went wrong, but glad you made it work. For the wet mix, you could add a bit of flour and baking powder to make more waffles.
Meghan Foley
This turned out even better than I expected! I even used the buttermilk trick Highly recommend 🤗
Kristen Chidsey
YAY! I love hearing this recipe exceeded your expectations Meghan! Thanks for sharing!
Susan
So is 1/3 cup one waffle or 2? Thanks! Looking forward to these.
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Susan! Great question! Each waffle needs about 1/3 cup of batter--so pour 1/3 cup of the batter onto the center of each waffle grid. Enjoy!
SMurphy
Used whole wheat flour (duh), 1/4c canola oil, 1/4c applesauce, almond milk and added 2TBSP syrup. My kids loved them!
Dana Bunn
Did you notice you list salt twice in Step 1 and don’t mention baking powder? Making these this morning for hubby and myself. Thanks for the recipe!
Kristen Chidsey
Thanks for the catch Dana! Updating now. It is supposed to say add salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Enjoy!
Rodney Spiteri
Hi Kristen,
The Nutrition list are per waffle or for the whole batch, thanks for these great recipes.
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Rodney! The nutrition would be per waffle 🙂
Erica Walton
Hi,
If I don’t have canola or coconut oil what should I replace with? Vegetable oil or olive oil?
Kristen Chidsey
I would do vegetable oil Erica 🙂
Amy
When I added my coconut oil, vinegar, milk, and eggs together (second step), all of the coconut oil started to clump together. It was melted originally. And it stayed this way as I finished the recipe and made the waffles. Why?
Kristen Chidsey
It sounds like your milk and eggs were really cold. Try letting them come to room temperature first so that the warm coconut oil doesn't immediately solidify when it touches something really cold. I will be sure to bold that note so it is not overlooked. Sorry about the inconvenience.
Patricia
Absolutely amazing! Easy, light, crisp and as unhealthy as you want to make it (with toppings, of course). I love that I can enjoy these as a healthier indulgence, but also serve them plain to my baby. Thank you!
Kristen Chidsey
I am so glad you enjoyed Patricia!! They are a great food for your baby!