You need just 25 minutes for super customizable vegan waffles that are gluten-free, perfectly crispy on the outside, and fluffy in the middle. Plus, these oatmeal waffles can be meal-prepped, frozen, and then popped in the toaster for a treat every single day!
Vegan Chocolate Swirl Waffles
There isn’t much better than a heaping pile of waffles in the morning, topped with berries, syrup, and possibly even a cheeky drizzle of chocolate. Unfortunately, finding the perfect vegan waffles that are gluten-free and both crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside can be a bit of a nightmare.
Luckily, this recipe not only provides you with a great base vanilla waffle recipe, but I’ve even included a chocolate swirl option. I mean, who needs an excuse to add extra chocolate to their waffles?
After lots of testing (and lots of batter sticking to my poor waffle iron), I’ve now found the perfect recipe for gluten free and vegan waffles that never gives me issues, isn’t rubbery, and never sticks to the waffle iron.
Plus, you can even freeze the leftover waffles to pop into the toaster/oven for a treat any day of the week. Or even use this batter to make delicious pancakes (if you’re not too busy making Delicious Chocolate Stuffed Pancakes).
Healthy Vegan And Gluten Free Waffles
What I love about this oat flour waffles recipe, is that all the ingredient swaps that make them incredibly allergen-friendly for those who have different dietary restrictions. As well as those I’ve already mentioned above, these eggless waffles are also nut-free and soy-free.
All this combined leads to waffles that are still delicious, but far healthier than the ‘originals.’ There are no cholesterol-filled eggs, less fat, and fewer calories. I even managed to make this recipe oil-free to shave off tons of additional fat content.
That way, I don’t feel as bad when I absolutely slather them in syrup or chocolate sauce (which is inevitable, haha!).
Vanilla, Chocolate, or a mix of both
This dairy free waffle recipe is great because regardless of whether you want to make vanilla, chocolate, or mixed waffles – then this is the recipe for you.
If you’d prefer to omit the chocolate part of the batter, then feel free. You’ll still have a delicious base vegan waffle recipe. You can also use this plain batter to customize to your liking with tons of different flavor options. Check out my notes section below for some ideas.
Although, personally, I suggest giving the two-tone waffles a try at least once. They taste just as good as they look, and children will love them. In fact, my friend Kirsten @thehealthyhazelnut has let me know that these are the only waffles her children ask (or even demand) for now!
This Vegan Waffle Recipe Is:
- Dairy-free & egg-free
- Refined sugar-free
- Low fat
- Gluten-free
- Nut-free
- Crispy on the outside and tender in the middle
- Easy to make
- Healthier than regular waffles
- Customizable
- Perfect for breakfast, brunch, dessert, or a snack!
How To Make Gluten Free Vegan Waffles
All that’s required to end up with a plate full of delicious non-dairy waffles is to mix up the batter, pour it into the waffle iron, wait impatiently, and then eat. In fact, this entire recipe is made up of just five super-simple steps.
Step One: Combine all the wet ingredients in a mug or small bowl, mix, and set aside.
Step Two: Meanwhile, place the oats in your blender/food processor or electric coffee/spice grinder. Grind into flour (or use store-bought oat flour).
Step Three: Add all the dry ingredients to a bowl and stir to combine.
Step Four: Pour in the wet ingredients. Lightly mix with a spoon or fork, making sure not to over-mix. The batter will form some bubbles due to the lime/lemon juice reacting to the baking soda- this is normal.
If you’re making chocolate vanilla waffles, then simply split the batter in half and add the cacao powder, maple syrup, and plant milk into one of the bowls.
Step Five: Heat your waffle iron. Once hot, spoon some batter into the waffle machine. For two-toned waffles, swap out spoonfuls of the plain and chocolate mixture. Cook for around five minutes, or as instructed for your particular waffle machine. Opening the lid too soon will lead to a batter that sticks to the machine.
Your gluten free waffles are now ready to serve. Pile up with your favorite toppings and enjoy! If you’re making a large batch of these egg free waffles and want to keep them warm and crispy before serving, place in the oven at 200C/ 400F straight onto the oven rack.
For the full ingredients list, ingredient measurements, and nutritional information, then please read the recipe card below.
Storing Instructions
These vegan and gluten free waffles are freezer-friendly and can be stored for up to two months (although best in the first two weeks). It’s best to lay them in a single layer on a baking sheet and flash-freeze, before transferring to a freezer-safe, airtight container. This will stop them from sticking together.
You can then just pull them out as needed and pop in the toaster or oven (at 400F/200C) to re-heat.
How To Serve & Customize
There are tons of ways to customize these vegan waffles to your liking. Whether it’s adding something directly to the batter or what you serve them with.
I couldn’t possibly list all the ways you can customize the waffle batter. But here are a few of my top ideas.
- Combine lemon zest and blueberries or raspberries.
- Swirl in a bit of nut butter to the batter
- Add in some dairy-free chocolate chips.
- Add hemp seeds for additional protein and nutrients (about 1 tbsp)
- Make the waffles savory by omitting the maple syrup + vanilla and blending in greens like spinach to the batter—possibly even nutritional yeast, etc.
How to serve
Along with some of your favorite fruits, some maple syrup and/or chocolate sauce (like the one I mention in this post) are some traditional options.
You could also serve with a quick homemade fruit coulis/compote, like this Strawberry Compote recipe. Just combine fruit (like blueberries, or raspberries) with a little water, starch, sweetener, and lemon/lime juice in a pan and simmer into a thick sauce.
Other options include whipped coconut cream, ice-cream, coconut flakes, crushed nuts, etc. Treat your waffles like a Sundae, and you have a never-ending list of toppings to choose from.
Recipe Notes
- I recommend measuring out all the ingredients using kitchen scales and grams.
- You can use cornstarch or possibly also tapioca starch in the place of the potato starch.
- This batter doubles up like a pancake batter, too.
- You can substitute the plant-based milk of your choice. However, any low-fat milk will require 1 tbsp of oil to be added to the batter, to avoid sticking.
- This particular gluten-free flour blend, which includes rice flour, has always given me consistent, successful results. While it is possible to substitute other GF flour blends, they will all affect the batter differently, so I can’t guarantee the results.
- I’ve never had this issue – however, a friend once let me know that if you find that your waffles aren’t quite crisp enough to your liking. Put them in the toaster after the waffle maker, and they will crisp right up.
- If you have the time, I suggest leaving the waffle batter to rest for 5-10 minutes while the waffle iron heats up. This gives your oats a chance to soak up some moisture and will make an even better interior texture.
If you give these gluten-free vegan waffles a try, I’d really appreciate a comment and rating below. Also, don’t forget to tag me in re-creations on Instagram or Facebook with @elavegan #elavegan.
Vegan Waffles
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (80 g) white rice flour or brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup (45 g) oat flour GF if needed (or simply grind oats in your blender)
- 1/3 cup (52 g) potato starch or cornstarch
- 1 tbsp chia seeds ground (or flax seeds)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
Wet ingredients:
- 2/3 cup (160 ml) light coconut milk (see notes)
- 1 tbsp lime or lemon juice
- 2 tbsp maple syrup or agave syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For two colored waffles:
- 2 tbsp (12 g) cocoa powder or cacao powder
- 1 tbsp maple syrup or agave syrup
- 1 tbsp plant-based milk
Instructions
- You can watch the video in the post for visual instructions.I recommend measuring the ingredients in grams on a kitchen scale.
- Combine the wet ingredients in a mug and put aside.
- Process the oats in an electric coffee grinder/blender or blender. Blend until they turn into flour (or just use store-bought oat flour).
- Add all dry ingredients to a bowl.
- Add wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir with a spoon or whisk until just combined (don't overmix). The batter should form some bubbles because the baking soda will react with the lime/lemon juice.
- Heat your waffle machine (I use low to medium heat). Once it's hot, lightly brush it with oil, spoon 2-3 tbsp batter (per waffle) in it, and cook for about 5 minutes (or as per the instructions of your waffle machine).
- For two-colored waffles, split the batter into two parts. Add the remaining ingredients (cocoa or cacao powder, maple syrup, plant milk) to one-half of the batter and whisk. Spoon a little light batter into your heated waffle machine and then some chocolate batter.
- Serve your waffles with maple syrup, a chocolate sauce or fruits, and enjoy!
Notes
- If you're not a fan of coconut milk, simply use your favorite plant-based milk. However, any low-fat milk will require 1 tbsp of oil to be added to the batter, to avoid sticking.
- The recipe makes 4 thick, large waffles. Nutrition facts are for one plain waffle (without the chocolate part).
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
Simple and Delicious Vegan Cookbook by ElaVeganCLICK HERE to order!If you are using Pinterest, feel free to pin the following photo:
Simply amazing 🙂 It’s been so long that I’m looking to go eat some vegan waffles but I didn’t find anywhere. I came across your recipe and just made it 🙂 my oldest boy loved it too 🙂 thank you ❤️❤️
That’s awesome, Stephanie! So glad they were a hit! 🙂
Worked perfectly!
Thank you
That’s awesome, Lisa! 🙂
They were absolutely amazing! Thank you Ela for another wonderful recipe <3
You are very welcome, Sylwia. 🙂
These are hands down the best waffles I’ve ever eaten!! Crispy, full of flavor and healthy. Thank you for another great recipe.
I am so glad they turned out delicious, Laura! 🙂
Thank you for this recipe! I can have neither rice nor oats, but I found a few perfect substitutes. I kept the ratios the same, except for liquid – doubled it. Also, adding oil is key! Plus, patience. I cook the waffles at medium for 4-5min, then crank it up to max for 1min, or so to get that crunch.
I always use tapioca starch and flax meal.
Substitution A: almond flour instead of rice, coconut flour instead of oat. These yield more dense waffles, but drench them in syrup and they are absolutely fabulous.
Substitution B: amaranth flour instead of rice, coconut & almond (50/50) instead of oat. These have been absolutely triumphant!
I have also used psyllium powder instead of flax meal once and it turned out great.
Very interesting, Vai! Thanks a lot for sharing. 🙂
i love it. Best recipe ever!
Hi Ela,
May I ask which waffle maker you use? Thanks! 🙂
Sure, Kristina! I use this one: https://amzn.to/3yB0zGu
Happy holidays! 🙂
Hi, I really want to try this recipe. My son is allergic to gluten, eggs and chia/flaxseeds. Is there any way I could omit the seeds without it altering the waffle recipe? Many thanks.
Hi Sara, if he isn’t allergic to psyllium husk, you could add 1 teaspoon of that. The recipe might work fine without any binder, however, if you just omit it, then I would recommend slightly reducing the milk. 🙂
After a few years of eating GF, I finally found a recipe for waffles that live up to what I expect! These waffles aren’t dense, nor are they doughy in the middle! Amazing texture and flavor!
Wonderful! So glad they turned out great. 🙂
As always the recipe was delicious and healthy (: I didn’t have any rice flour so I used almond flower instead. I also substituted the coconut milk for oat milk. I have a Belgian waffle maker and I had to cook them for about 8 minutes so they didn’t separate
Hi Katie, so interesting the recipe worked with almond flour. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Hi Ela,
The consistency was very good but the cocunut was to overpowering for me
Thanks!
Hi Hana, did you use full-fat coconut milk? Lite coconut milk normally does not have a coconutty taste. Also, did you read the recipe notes?
“If you’re not a fan of coconut milk, simply use your favorite plant-based milk. However, any low-fat milk will require 1 tbsp of oil to be added to the batter, to avoid sticking.”
Hello,
Thank you for the recipe. Could you please tell me if you grind chia seeds ?
Hello Maggy, yes, it’s mentioned in the recipe (chia seeds, ground). 🙂
Hi, one of my girls is allergic to oats… Can I simply use all white or brown rice flour? Or maybe 1/2 cup GF flour or chickpea flour? Thanks!
Hi Kalen, I think chickpea flour or GF flour should work. Buckwheat flour or quinoa flour works fine too. 🙂
Good to know! Thank you so much 🙂
You are very welcome. 🙂
Just wanted to let you know that I tried it with both the buckwheat flour and chickpea flour as a substitute for the oats. When I used buckwheat flour, the outside did not crisp up and the center was too soft. In my second attempt, I used chickpea flour to replace the oats and it worked out really well. The outside crisped up and the inside was fluffy. The waffles were delicious!! Thank you so much for the recipe!
Sounds great! I am so glad it turned out delicious with chickpea flour too. 🙂
Is there a purpose for the sweetener? There has to be as I keep seeing so many receipts and they all have sugar of some sort in them.
Could I leave that out or is it pivotal to the integrity of the waffle?
Thanks, your recipes are really the best!
It’s just for taste. You can leave it out if you want to make savory waffles. 🙂
These waffles are – by far – the best ones I’ve ever made. Amazing taste and super crispy! Thank you Ela!
That’s awesome, Christine! I am so glad you loved them! Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
Hello Ela!
These waffles taste wonderful! However I’m not rating it yet, just because they were not crispy and that may be an issue with the waffle maker and it wouldn’t be fair to you…
I tested many vegan waffles and absolutely none of them were crispy, even after carefully reading the blogger’s instructions and the waffle maker’s. I tried like you said to low-med heat, but they were very white and soft, so for the next batch I tried higher and longer (7 min) and they were a little bit crispy but not noticeably.
I tried grease the maker with coconut oil then a baking spray, no difference.
Do you have more tips or troubleshooting for crispy waffles?
As usual, thanks for a super tasty recipe, I’m so grateful for you and your blog.
x0x0
Hello Eva, I am so glad you like the taste. 🙂
I am not sure why yours aren’t as crispy, because my waffles are always nice and crispy. However, maybe you could try reducing the oat flour and add a bit more rice flour. I remember the very first time I made waffles, I used just oat flour, and they turned out super soft and not crispy at all. So maybe if you use a lot less oat flour, yours will crisp up a bit. 🙂
Thanks a lot Ela, and as always you are quick as ever!
I’ll try and tell you about the result!
I added Biscoff spread for one waffle (it’s vegan and amazing) and homemade salted caramel on the other (I’m from Brittany, France so it’s a must xD)
Thanks again and take care!
omg these look absolutely divine! I haven’t had waffles in agessssss and I’ve only started recently exploring gluten free options. I think this will make the transition easier 🙂
Great, I hope you will like them. 🙂
Amazing taste. I can’t tell that they are vegan!
Tiffany
Phlanx’s Marketing Specialist
I am glad they turned out delicious. 🙂
Am so thankful for this recipe. My allergy kid and other one like this. I stopped making traditional waffles after realizing how crunchy and crispy these are! I Make it so often
Fluffy, crunchy and just delicious! The kids loved them! Thank you!
Yay! So happy they turned out delicious, Raya. 🙂