From the warming spices to the crispy edges to the fluffy interior, be prepared to fall in love with this recipe for Sweet Potato Waffles.
Made in a blender with oats and sweet potato puree creating a delicious waffle that happens to be gluten-free as well!
This recipe for Sweet Potato Waffles is a spin-off of my whole wheat waffle recipe that you are going to love for many reasons.
- The Flavor: The best part about these sweet potato waffles is the rich warming fall flavor that comes through in every bite. Not only do you get notes of earthy sweetness from the sweet potato puree, but the addition of cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg gives these waffles a flavor reminiscent of sweet potato pie. YUM!
- The Texture: Sweet Potato Waffles get crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, just like a good waffle should be.
- Allergy-Friendly: This recipe for waffles is already gluten-free, and can easily be modified to be dairy-free as well.
- Versatile: If you don't have sweet potato puree, use homemade pumpkin puree or put that canned pumpkin puree to use and make Pumpkin Waffles.
Notes On Ingredients
- Oats: Both rolled oats and quick-cooking oats work for this waffle batter. Be sure your oats are certified gluten-free if needed. Do NOT use steel-cut oats.
- Sweet Potato Puree: Sweet Potato Puree is simply made by baking sweet potatoes and mashing their flesh with a fork or blending the flesh until smooth. For this recipe, you need 2 cups of sweet potato puree, which equates to 2 large or 3 medium sweet potatoes.
- Buttermilk: The acidity of the buttermilk reacts with the baking powder to keep these waffles fluffy. But there is no need to purchase buttermilk just for this recipe. To make homemade buttermilk, combine 1-½ teaspoons lemon juice or apple cider vinegar with 1-¼ cup of any variety of non-dairy or regular milk and let sit for 5 minutes before using.
- Spices: This recipe uses ground ginger, grated nutmeg, and cinnamon to give the pancakes a warming flavor reminiscent of Sweet Potato Casserole. I always recommend using a Microplane to grate a bulb of nutmeg versus using ground nutmeg.
Recipe Modifications
- Dairy-free Sweet Potato Waffles: Replace the buttermilk with homemade non-dairy buttermilk. Make non-dairy buttermilk by combining 1-½ teaspoons of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar with 1-¼ cup of unsweetened almond milk, unsweetened soy milk, or canned coconut milk, and let sit for 5 minutes before using.
- Pumpkin Waffles: In place of the sweet potato puree, you can use 100% pure canned or homemade pumpkin puree.
- Use leftovers! Instead of sweet potato puree, you can use leftover sweet potato casserole. It is one of my favorite ways to use Thanksgiving leftovers.
How to Make Sweet Potato 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.
Step One: Prepare Sweet Potato Puree
This is the perfect time to use leftover baked sweet potatoes, as sweet potato puree is simply made by cooking potatoes in their skin and then mashing or blending or mashing the flesh until smooth. If you don't have sweet potatoes on hand, this is a perfect recipe to make using canned pumpkin puree.
Step Two: Prepare Waffle Batter
This waffle batter comes together in the blender, making it one of the easiest recipes to make. By using the blender, you can quickly make oat flour from the oats and the blender will ensure that the sweet potato puree is nice and smooth and evenly distributed in the batter.
Step Three: Cook
You can prepare these sweet potato waffles on any waffle maker you have. I have made them on a cheap waffle maker and expensive waffle maker with similar results. Just remember to grease the waffle iron well to prevent the waffles from sticking.
Step Four: Keep the Waffles Warm
If you want everyone to be able to enjoy warm sweet potato waffles together, keep your waffles warm in a 200-degree F oven until ready to serve. I recommend placing the prepared waffles on a baking sheet lined with a baking rack, which will allow air to circulate around the waffles, keeping the bottoms from getting soggy.
Step Five: Serve
Sweet Potato Waffles can be served in a variety of ways. I personally prefer them with pure maple syrup, a dollop of whipped cream, and some chopped walnuts. However, they also pair well with nut butter, sauteed apples, sliced bananas, or butter and cinnamon sugar.
Storage Instructions
- Refrigerate: You can store leftover cooled waffles in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freeze: To freeze waffles, allow the waffles to cool. Place the waffles in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze for about 30 minutes, or until flash-frozen. This allows the waffles to be removed from the freezer one at a time. Place the waffles into a freezer-safe container for storage and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Reheat: Whether frozen or refrigerated, simply toast the waffles individually in a toaster or toaster oven.
More Favorite Gluten-Free Breakfast Recipes
- Sweet Potato Oatmeal
- Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal
- Homemade Breakfast Sausage
- Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole
- Breakfast Sweet Potatoes
If you enjoyed these Sweet Potato Waffles, I would love for you to leave a comment and review below.
Sweet Potato Waffles
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1¼ cup buttermilk see note for homemade buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups sweet potato puree from 2-3 sweet potatoes, recipe in card
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Sweet Potato Waffles
- Grease and preheat the waffle iron according to the manufacturer's instructions. Preheat the oven to 200℉
- Place the oats into the blender with the baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Pulse until the ingredients are nice and combined together. Pour out this mixture into a mixing bowl and set aside.
- Place the milk, eggs, sweet potato puree, and vanilla extract in the blender. Add the flour/oat mixture on top of the wet ingredients. By placing the wet ingredients on the bottom of the blender, the batter will come together much easier. Blend until the batter is smooth and all the ingredients are evenly incorporated. This is a thicker batter. However, if too thick, add up to 3 tablespoons of additional milk.
- Ladle ⅓-1/2 cup of the batter unto each waffle iron (use the amount directed per your waffle maker) and cook until golden on both sides.
- Remove the cooked waffles from the waffle iron, place them onto a baking rack on a sheet pan, and keep warm in a 200℉oven until serving. Repeat until the batter is gone, greasing the waffle iron in between each batch.
- Serve with toasted walnuts, maple syrup, and whipped cream if desired.
Sweet Potato Puree
- Oven Directions: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Pierce 2-3 sweet potatoes with a fork several times then place them on a sheet pan lined with foil. Bake the potatoes until fork tender, about 40-50 minutes. Once baked, let cool slightly, remove skins and blend or mash the flesh of the potatoes with a fork until smooth.
- Instant Pot Directions: Pierce 2-3 sweet potatoes with a fork several times then place them on a trivet inside the inner pot of an electric pressure cooker. Pour 1 cup of cold water into the instant pot. Set to cook on high pressure for 18-27 minutes, depending on the size of your potatoes, following my recipe for Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes. Once the cooking time has elapsed and pressure has been released, let the potatoes cool slightly, remove the skins and blend or mash the flesh of the potatoes with a fork until smooth.
Equipment Needed
- Baking Sheet with Rack optional
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in 2018 and updated in 2022 with new photos.
Shirley
Just finished making these with kefir instead of buttermilk. Very tasty and filling. I only got six out of the batch, and had to thin it out a couple of times, probably my kefir is thicker than buttermilk. I think if I left out the spices, this could be a great sandwich option! Thanks so much for a great recipe.
Gescheidle Chris
Wow! These are the best! I am a cyclist and always make a healthy snack for mid or post-ride enjoyment. (It’s better than commercial supplements!). A favorite snack to make are waffles. These are tops! Low calorie, healthier, delicious and easy to make! Thank you!!
Kristen Chidsey
Thank you for sharing! I love hearing these waffles power you through your ride (and kudos to you for making your own snacks--I totally agree with your reasoning!)
Meg
Tasty recipe, I will make again!
Kristen Chidsey
So happy to hear that Meg!
Carla
We cook for my in-laws every weekend. My mother in-law has heart disease and was recently diagnosed with diabetes; so I'm always looking for heart healthy, tasty recipes for all of us (we eat exactly what I make for them).
The only modification I made was to leave out the 1/2 tsp salt and used a bit more milk to thin out the batter. My family enjoyed this with pecans and a dolloping of whipped cream and also suggested we could use as a bread for a post Thanksgiving sandwich. Thank you.
Jill
If I just use oat flour instead of blending whole oats how much would I need? I would like to try this this weekend. Looks great!
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Jill! 2 cups of oats equals about 1 1/2 cups oat flour. Add more if you feel the batter is too runny. Enjoy!
Evan
Yum!! What a great recipe. My old recipe called for a ton of oil, so I was so pleased to see how well these came out. I replaced the eggs for flax eggs and they worked great!
Kristen Chidsey
So glad you enjoyed Evan!
Mariellabella
these were very good. my picky teens loved them! of course, I didn't mention they were made from sweet potato until after they scarfed them down.
Kristen Chidsey
LOL~ smart mama! So glad you all enjoyed!
Diana G
Absolutely LOVE these. I make a double batch to have extras to freeze for later in the week. Today I topped them with homemade cranberry orange sauce and a dollop of whole-milk Greek yogurt. Yum!
Kristen Chidsey
I am so happy to hear you enjoy so much! my favorite way to serve them is with cranberry sauce as well. Thanks for sharing!
Kelly
Just made these for my family. My kids loved them, including my picky 6 year old. I subbed flax eggs for regular eggs and they turned out great. I was a little hesitant to try with no added sweetener, but they had a nice, mild, naturally sweetened taste. . Do you know if these will freeze well? Thank you for your recipe, I will be using it often.
Kristen Chidsey
I am so glad you all enjoyed this recipe Kelly! I love freezing these waffles to keep on hand. I simply place onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and then pop in the freezer and freeze until solid. Then pop in a freezer-safe bag and reheat in the toaster as desired.
Spike
These tasted great but mine didn’t rise at all and were floppy. ☹️
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Spike! So glad you enjoyed the flavor. Check to be sure your baking powder and soda are not expired. While these don't rise like Belgium Waffles, they should have some spring. You can also toast once cooked to crisp up.