Waffles

A waffle should shatter slightly when your fork goes in, then give way to something steamy and tender underneath. Most gluten-free waffles skip straight to soft, which is a texture problem rather than a flavor one, and it comes down to how the batter is put together. This recipe separates the eggs and folds whipped whites in at the end. It is one extra bowl and about two minutes of work, and it is the difference between a waffle that sags and one that stays crisp on the plate. Four ingredients, one of which is Pamela's Pancake & Baking Mix, and breakfast is done in twenty-five minutes. So good, no one will guess they are gluten-free, the way Pamela's has done it since 1988.

Why You'll Love These Waffles

• Four ingredients. Mix, eggs, water, oil.
• Crisp outside, tender inside. The whipped whites do it.
• Twenty-five minutes start to finish, most of it hands-off at the iron.
• They freeze and toast beautifully. Make a double batch on Sunday.
• The same mix does pancakes, biscuits, and more, so nothing sits unused in the pantry.

Why Whipped Egg Whites Make Better Waffles

Most waffle recipes have you dump everything in one bowl and stir. This one separates the eggs, whips the whites to stiff peaks, and folds them into the batter at the end. Here is what that buys you.

Air that survives the iron. Whipped whites carry a structure of tiny air pockets. When the batter hits a hot waffle iron, those pockets expand and set, giving you a light interior rather than a dense one. Chemical leavening alone cannot do this, because it produces gas in bursts that escape.

A crisper shell. A lighter interior means more of the batter's moisture escapes as steam during cooking, and less trapped moisture is exactly what crispness is.

Two minutes of extra work. Separate the eggs, whip the whites with a hand mixer, whisk the rest together, fold. Fold gently, with a spatula, until you no longer see white streaks. Stirring at this stage undoes the whole point.

If you are short on time you can whisk the whole eggs in, and the waffles will still be good. They will be denser, and closer to a pancake in a waffle shape.

How to Get Crispy Gluten-Free Waffles

Crispness is the thing people most want from a waffle and most often miss. Five things get you there.

Get the iron properly hot before the first waffle. Batter poured onto a warm iron steams instead of searing, and the crust never forms. Wait for the indicator, then give it another minute.

Cook longer than the iron tells you. The ready light is a timer, not a doneness cue. Go one to two minutes past it, until the steam coming out of the sides has slowed to almost nothing. Steam stopping is the real signal.

Do not stack them. A stack of hot waffles steams itself soft within a minute. Move each one to a wire rack as it comes off.

Hold them in a low oven, on a rack. 200 degrees F, rack set over a sheet pan, uncovered. This keeps them crisp while you cook the rest, which a plate under foil does not.

Use a little more oil than feels right. Fat in contact with the iron is what fries the surface. A tablespoon in this batter is doing real work.

Can You Make Waffles From Pancake Mix?

Yes, and Pamela's Pancake & Baking Mix is built for it. The waffle recipe is printed on the bag and it is the one on this page.

The difference between the pancake version and the waffle version is fat and eggs. Waffle batter wants more of both, because the iron is cooking from two sides at once and the extra fat is what crisps the surface rather than just cooking it. That is why this recipe uses two eggs and a tablespoon of oil where the pancake version uses less.

The mix these are built on Pamela's Gluten-Free Pancake & Baking Mix Leavened and ready to go, with almond meal and cultured buttermilk for body and tang. Waffles, pancakes, biscuits, and more from one bag. GFCO-certified.

Water or milk? The bag calls for water and that is what this recipe uses. Milk works and gives slightly deeper browning and a richer flavor. Use whichever you have.

What These Waffles Contain

These waffles contain egg, dairy, and tree nuts.

The dairy and tree nuts come from the Pancake & Baking Mix itself, which contains almond meal and cultured buttermilk. That does not change no matter what you substitute, so these cannot be made nut-free, dairy-free, or vegan. The recipe adds two eggs on top of that.

The mix is produced on equipment that also processes soy.

If you need dairy-free, egg-free, or vegan waffles, use our dairy-free waffles made with 1:1 All-Purpose Flour instead. That recipe is built for it.

Everything from Pamela's is certified by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization, and made in a certified gluten-free, peanut-free facility.