A squeeze of lemon gives these whole wheat vegan waffles a lovely buttermilk flavor and light texture. A great healthy weekend brunch!
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Fall happened for me last night. I stepped off the plane at Midway Airport (in shorts) and immediately thought “they really have the AC blasting here.” Until I realized, oh wait, that’s just Chicago.
As I write this, I’m sitting in the kitchen I grew up in (with a few sweaters on), thinking about some of my warmest fall memories… Saturday mornings with pancakes and waffles are definitely at the top the list. Crisp, cool air, hot waffles… and most likely the Muppet Babies on TV in the background.
Make-Ahead Vegan Waffles
These vegan waffles are great right off the waffle iron, but lately (especially because I’ve made so many test batches), I’ve been freezing the extras for easy-waffling any day of the week. Let them thaw just slightly and then pop them in the toaster. Because sometimes you want a waffle on a Wednesday.
What’s in these vegan waffles?
This vegan waffle recipe uses whole wheat pastry flour, which I love because it’s whole grain but not too dense. I used my non-dairy milk of choice – Almond Breeze – with a squeeze of lemon to create a vegan “buttermilk” flavor. A dash of cinnamon and a splash of vanilla give them warm depth of flavor, while coconut oil adds richness and flax and baking powder make them nice & puffy.
These vegan waffles are soft on the inside, crisp on the outside, and best with maple syrup and tons of fruit!
If you love these vegan waffles…
Try these pumpkin waffles, banana pancakes, or zucchini bread next!
Whole Wheat Vegan Waffles
- 1½ cups Original Almond Breeze Almond Milk, at room temp
- 1½ tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 cups loose-packed whole wheat pastry flour (or white/wheat mix)
- 2½ teaspoons baking powder
- 2 tablespoons ground flax meal
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons cane sugar
- Teeny pinch of sea salt
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- Maple syrup & butter (vegan butter)
- Seasonal fruit
- Preheat your waffle iron (I use setting #5 on mine - the second to highest setting)
- In a small bowl, combine Almond Breeze and lemon juice. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, flax meal, cinnamon, sugar, and salt).
- To your small bowl (with the almond milk), add the melted coconut oil and vanilla and whisk together. Then pour your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined (don't over mix).
- Spray your waffle iron with a little cooking spray and scoop in the batter. I let my waffles cook for about a minute after the beep for an ideal crispy-on-the-outside texture.
- Serve waffles immediately (while they're piping hot!), with butter, maple syrup and fruit.
- Let leftover waffles cool and freeze for easy weekday waffles later.
If you love the flavor of whole wheat, then this recipe is great! It’s lightly sweet with a nutty flavor. For my nieces and nephew who aren’t used to whole wheat, I tripled the sugar and added double the vanilla. I will note that I think I scooped the flour too densely as there was not enough liquid. But that’s ok, I just added another 1/4-1/2 c. Milk and it worked perfectly.
This was such a great recipe! I double because my small humans are waffle fiends. I didn’t have everything on hand (such is life, am I right!?!) so I didn’t use lemon and my flour blend ended up 3:.5:.5, whole wheat flour, brown rice flour, and almond flour. I didnt have the low liquid issue others seemed to have. My batter was tight; everything incorporated a-o-k! They turned out great! Thank you for the recipe!
I made these this morning! They turned out delicious but as others have mentioned, I had to add a lot of extra milk to get the right consistency, the first waffle I made was very grainy and dense, the batter was way too thick. after adding probably 3/4cup more milk they were perfect. I also used 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar since I was out of lemon juice. My toddler gobbled them up.
I had been wanting to buy a waffle maker for awhile, and I finally pulled the trigger after I found this recipe. Admittedly there was a little bit of inexperience with the waffle maker for me, but I had to throw the first batch of these in the trash. They were hard as a rock. The batter was too thick/dry and would only fill four squares instead of 8, so they were way too dense. As another commenter mentioned, I had to add an extra cup of liquid to get the correct consistency with a second batch – those turned out great! Especially good with the toppings – earth balance, maple syrup, strawberries, and blueberries. I’ll be putting these in the freezer and enjoying them throughout the week ?
Wow, these are fantastic! I had some whole wheat pastry flour I wanted to use up, and I love having a batch of waffles frozen to pop into the microwave. This recipe was so easy! And they turned out absolutely amazing in my waffle iron. I omitted 1 tbsp of the sugar because I like adding sweeter toppings to my waffles. I’ll be making these a lot, thankyou!
Hi Madeline, I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Waffles were good but I had to add a whole cup of almond milk to get a waffle batter consistency.
I don’t use any of the conventional vegan milk brands because they contain stabilizers that act like laxatives. I tried this recipe using Westsoy soy milk and sprouted whole red wheat flour, and in spite of my forgetfulness, it came out great. I forgot to add lemon juice, but added a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar at the end. And I forgot the salt. [sigh] (PTSD memory problems.) Next time I will try a non-soy nut milk and add a tablespoon of starch, like tapioca. Waffle came out fluffy.
Oh yeah, and instead of adding the flax with the flour, I let it soak in a half cup of milk for a good long time. Does this mean I didn’t follow the recipe? I guess so. Still. Proportion of ingredients produced the right viscosity of batter for a waffle maker. So many other recipes are too liquidity requiring extra flour. But not this recipe. Hence five stars. Excellent. Thank you!
Hi Kiai, I’m glad the batter came out perfectly! I often use lemon juice and apple cider vinegar interchangeably so I’m glad that worked out for you. Thanks for coming back to comment!
Just made these, and they turned out really well – very light and fluffy. They have just the right amount of sweetness without adding syrup. No need to oil my ceramic waffle iron; there was no sticking. The only modifications I made were using an unsweetened almond milk from Whole Foods, and sucanat in place of the cane sugar, which has a 1:1 substitution ratio. For me, this recipe made 3 Belgian waffles. This is only my second attempt at vegan waffles, the first being with ground oatmeal and banana…which was not good. I don’t think I need to look any further.
Thanks for the yummy recipe Jeanine.
Hi! I just bought your cookbook and am SO excited to read through it, your blog is amazing!! One quick question – is the almond milk supposed to curdle when you add the lemon juice? That happened to me and I assume its so it has a thicker texture, but I want to make sure it’s okay to use!
Thanks.
Just discovered your “Love and Lemons” blog. I am vegan and always trying
healthy and delicious new recipes, so I appreciate this new find. Your photos are wonderful and recipes look amazing and easy to follow. I’m looking forward to more of your posts. From Kelowna, British Columbia – the west coast of Canada.
When I saw this recipe I ran to buy a waffle maker. Because I was looking for a healthy waffle for long time. I make the waffles and believe me they are delicious and simple to make. But the most important very healthy.
What can I sub for the oil? Could I sub an equal amount of unsweetened applesauce?
You could try (or just try cutting the oil in half) – I think they’d be a bit dry without any oil.
I have had success with replacing oil in pancakes with unsweetened applesauce so I am going to try subbing the coconut oil for the applesauce as it will save me a lot of saturated fat and calories and hopefully will not effect the taste.
what can I sub for the oil? Could I use an equal amount of unsweetened applesauce?
Took the survey!
Took the survey, your blog is amazingly beautiful and filled with a variety of things
Survey complete!
Did the survey–happy to help! I need more waffles in my life, too!
ha 🙂 thanks!
Love your tip for creating vegan “buttermilk”. Thanks!
Thanks for taking time to ask for our thoughts! Survey complete … aaaand these waffles look delightful!
thank you for taking a minute to give your thoughts!
Survey done ! 🙂