A simple, healthy, tasty, and crispy recipe for Oatmeal Waffles. The batter can be whipped up quickly and easily in your blender. Make fresh or keep a stash in the freezer for quick breakfasts throughout the week!
It's just me and these deliciously crispy Oatmeal Waffles. And the good news is they are healthy enough to eat for breakfast, lunch or brinner.
We're talking naturally flour-free, oil-free, and gluten-free waffles (if you use certified gluten-free oats), made with really wholesome, healthy ingredients, and we're talking perfectly golden, crispy, fluffy in the middle, waffle perfection! A great alternative to my very popular vegan banana waffles.
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you need to make delicious vegan oat waffles:
And a few ingredient notes:
- Oats - No need to turn them into flour first because these are oatmeal blender waffles. Throw it all in, blend and you're done. Wondering what kind of oats to use? Rolled oats (sometimes called old-fashioned oats) or quick oats are the ones you want for this recipe. Be sure to use certified gluten-free oats for gluten-free waffles.
- Nut or seed butter - Peanut, almond butter, cashew, sunflower seed, or pumpkin seed butter are all fine. This adds amazing flavor and fat to the recipe. Fat is essential for a good texture.
- Applesauce or banana puree - Your choice which. Applesauce you can't taste in them, banana you can. If you use banana puree watch out in the instructions because you need a touch more plant milk.
- Baking powder, baking soda & apple cider vinegar - Essential for puff and fluff. Baking soda and vinegar in addition to the baking powder causes a chemical reaction that creates extra air in the batter. This replaces the leavening that eggs would otherwise provide in a non-vegan recipe.
- Plant milk - Any plant milk such as cashew milk, soy milk, oat milk, or almond milk will work in this recipe.
Ideally you will also need a blender to make gluten-free oat waffles. This is a throw it all in, no mixing and be done in a minute or two, lazy blender waffle recipe. But if you don't have a blender you can still make them. Just use oat flour instead of oats.
And of course you will need a waffle maker. I have this Cuisinart Waffle Maker and I'm very happy with it. I've never had a waffle stick yet and it's well over 10 years old.
How To Make Oatmeal Waffles
Here's how we make flourless oatmeal waffles:
- Add everything to a blender
- Blend it all up
- Pour the waffle batter into your well greased and heated waffle iron
- Let them cook then top with lots of delicious things!
Waffle Success Tips
These vegan oatmeal waffles are easy to make but following these success tips will give you the very best results:
- Getting waffles right can take a bit of experimentation because every waffle iron cooks a little differently. Follow my instructions the first time then tweak settings and time as you go next time.
- Do not use a non stick oil spray/cooking spray like Pam or Frylight on your waffle iron (or any other nonstick cooking surface). It might reduce calories, but the chemicals in it cause an invisible build up that is impossible to remove with washing. It quite quickly makes your non stick surface ineffective. I just brush my oil on with a silicone brush. If you want to spray oil, invest in an oil mister and fill it with any liquid oil.
- Don't be tempted to omit the nut/seed butter. The natural oils in it are essential to the success of this recipe.
- Make sure the waffle iron is very hot before you pour in the batter mixture. If it's not hot enough they will stick. When it says it's hot enough, leave it for an extra 5 minutes to be sure.
- Make sure you don't overfill your waffle irons. Pour into the center and stop well before it reaches the sides.
- Do not lift the lid too early. See my No. 1 tip below for more info.
My No 1 tip For Crispy Waffles That Don't Stick
My biggest tip for making perfectly crispy waffles that never stick is to not listen to your waffle maker. A lot of them have a signal for when the waffles are ready. Mine beeps. Some have a light that comes on. Your waffle maker cannot accurately know when your waffles are ready.
The way you can know for sure that they are properly cooked and crispy is to watch the steam escaping from the sides of the waffle maker. Do not even attempt to open it while there is steam coming out, even if your waffle maker is telling you otherwise. As soon as there is no steam present at all it is safe to open and you will have crispy waffles. Every. Single. Time.
Serving Suggestions
There are so many ways to serve waffles. Sweet and savory. Some ideas include:
- Vegan butter, a generous drizzle of maple syrup, and some fresh berries. Or try some vegan brown butter for an extra rich, nutty flavor
- Brush in vegan butter and dip in cinnamon sugar for a donut-type effect
- Vanilla Roasted Strawberries or Blueberry Lavender Sauce
- Vegan Lemon Curd with fresh or frozen raspberries
- Date Caramel with sliced banana
- Dairy-free ice cream or vegan yogurt
- Chocolate syrup, sauce, or chocolate shavings/chips
- Frozen Berry Compote
- Vegan Scrambled Eggs
- Vegan Chick'n or sausages and maple syrup
Storage Tips
Oatmeal waffles can easily be made ahead of time and leftovers can be stashed away for another time. That means you can treat yourself any time, not just on lazy weekend mornings!
- Prep ahead - Make the batter and cook the waffles as per the instructions. Allow to cool on a wire rack then store in a container in the fridge for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
- How to reheat waffles - To reheat waffles, simply put them in a toaster. If they are frozen you might need to put them through 2 cycles.
Recipe FAQS
There can be many reasons.
1. Maybe you didn't measure the ingredients properly. The ratio of fat to other ingredients in waffles is important. I recommend weighing your flour so you don't accidentally use too much and throw the balance off.
2. Did you grease the iron thoroughly with oil and not vegan butter. Vegan butter doesn't work well in waffle irons. Oil is essential.
3. Have you been using cooking spray on your waffle iron? You know like Fry Light or Pam? Did you know these sprays ruin non-stick surfaces? I don't recommend ever using them. If you want to be able to spray your oil it's much better (and healthier) to use real oil in a mister.
4. Did you wait until ever single bit of steam stopped coming out of the waffle iron before opening it as per my instructions? This is really important and will take a while. Usually much longer than the ready signal on your waffle iron.
5. If you followed all of the above and they still stick then it might be time to look at buying a new waffle iron.
That's fine. It's safer to use the weight measurement in that case though so you know you get exactly the right amount.
Yes. Use oat flour instead of oats and mix the batter by hand. Be sure to weigh the oat flour so you get the correct amount. Start by whisking the nut butter into the milk until smooth, then add the rest of the ingredients.Â
More Breakfast Recipes
Recipe
Oatmeal Waffles
Author:Ingredients
- 1½ cups (135 grams) rolled oats or quick oats , or the same weight of oat flour
- ¼ cup (4 tablespoons) nut or seed butter
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda in the UK)
- 1½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar , or lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract , (omit if you are using savoury toppings)
- ½ cup (125 grams) unsweetened applesauce , or pureed banana
- 1 cup (240 mls) plant milk of choice , add an extra 2 tablespoons if using mashed banana
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT
INSTRUCTIONS
- Thoroughly grease a waffle iron with oil (not vegan butter) and heat it to a medium setting. Once it reaches temperature let it sit for an extra 5 minutes to make sure it is really hot.
- Put all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
- Pour into the waffle iron, adding enough batter to cover it thickly without it coming out the sides.
- Put the lid down and leave to cook until there is absolutely no steam escaping from the sides. This is usually a good few minutes after your waffle iron tells you that they are ready. Ignore its signal and wait until any trace of steam stops. This is really important for crispy waffles that release easily.
- Carefully open the lid and remove the waffles. Put the lid down and let the waffle iron heat up well again, then grease again before adding the remaining batter. Cook as before.
NOTES
This recipe was originally published on June 11th, 2020. I've since rewritten the post to include more helpful information and now I am republishing it for you. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you for following A Virtual Vegan!
Anna Marie says
This is now our ultimate go-to waffle recipe!! I love how fast it is! No bowls to wash, and no wait time to let it rise. I have a high speed blender, so I start with the milk and an apple cut into quarters, blend until smooth, then add the rest of the ingredients.
Shaina says
I'm disappointed because my waffles tore in half when I opened the lid, even following all of the cooking instructions and greasing well. I did use tahini, though, which is quite thin and maybe that didn't help. Anybody else try with tahini?
Therese McMahan says
I just purchased a new "stuffed" waffle maker and used this recipe to make Cherry Pie Waffles. Even my omni daughter liked them. The waffles were fluffy and crisp. I was a little leary of the amount of vanilla but it was just the right flavor.
I will use oat flour in the future since I don't have a Blendtec or Vitamix. The batter was a little grainy but still cooked well and tasted great.
MJ says
The waffles were fluffy,crispy,and so easy to make.I doubled the recipe and only used half the amount of nut butter and it worked well…..THANKS!!!
Marie Altman says
I made these on Christmas Day~ they turned out perfectly. The ones I left in too long and thought we’re too crispy, softened up in a few minutes, so I definitely recommend letting them cook longer than you might think you should. They were great leftover too!