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Gingerbread waffles make a great Christmas breakfast. This cooperative, lightly sweet batter has just the right amount of gingerbread spice.
Why we love this recipe
During the holidays, nothing evokes coziness quite like the scent of gingerbread wafting from the kitchen. Gingerbread waffles make a fantastic Christmas breakfast or brunch, and they’re great any time during the chilly fall and winter months.
The recipes I found online before developing this one seemed to fall into two camps: pale, anemically spiced waffles that were gingerbread in name only, and hardcore, super-sweet, uncooperative waffles that stick to your waffle iron and create enemies among those not 100 percent committed to an all-gingerbread lifestyle.
I wanted a recipe that would truly satisfy the gingerbread spice craving while still doing the things that a good waffle recipe should do: release easily from the waffle iron and play well with toppings like powdered sugar, good maple syrup and lightly sweetened homemade whipped cream.
This is it.
What you’ll need
Here’s a glance at the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe.
- I like to use a combination of all-purpose flour and white whole wheat flour (or whole wheat pastry flour). You can use all-purpose only if that’s what you’ve got on hand.
- A simple, generous, and well-balanced mix of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove provide the gingerbread spice.
- A combination of whole milk and sour cream work a little bit like buttermilk does in a waffle recipe, while also contributing some fat content. This helps tenderize the texture and smooth out the flavors of the plentiful spices.
- Molasses plays several roles in this recipe. It contributes: a complex, earthy sweetness, acidity (which works with the leavening agents), and liquid.
How to make it
Here’s an overview of what you’ll do to make a cozy batch of gingerbread waffles. You can see the steps in action in the video that accompanies this post, and get all the details in the recipe card below.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.
- Pour the wet over the dry and mix until just combined.
- Cook in your waffle iron. That’s it!
Expert tips and FAQs
I’ve been using this one (pictured) for years now, and I absolutely love it. It makes four 4-inch-square waffles at a time (from about 1/2 cup of batter each), and does a great job yielding consistently excellent results. For these gingerbread waffles, I use the medium-dark setting. For basic waffles, I put it right in the middle, and they’re always just right.
Gingerbread waffles come together quickly enough to make them feasible as a holiday breakfast or brunch. You can even whisk together the dry ingredients the night before and proceed from there in the morning, if you’d like to be all amazing type-A prepared on day one to enable some amazing type-B chill time on day two.
Like all waffles, they’re best straight out of the waffle iron, so I don’t recommend doing more prep than that in advance.
That said, leftovers do freeze beautifully and will keep well in an airtight container in the freezer for a year. Pop them straight into the toaster or toaster oven to reheat and re-crisp.
More favorite Christmas breakfast recipes
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Gingerbread Waffles Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups (240 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 cups (226 grams) white whole wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt?
- 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 8 large eggs
- 2 cups (475 ml) whole milk
- 1 cup (240 grams) sour cream
- 12 tablespoons (168 grams) unsalted butter, melted
- 6 tablespoons (120 grams) molasses
Instructions
- Preheat waffle iron.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, sour cream, melted butter, and molasses.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together until just combined. A few lumps are okay, just try to avoid any substantial pockets of unmixed dry ingredients.
- Spray waffle iron lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
- According to the maufacturer's instructions, pour batter into waffle iron and cook. In our waffle iron (recommended below), I use a scant 1/2 cup batter for each waffle and set the iron to medium-dark for this recipe.
- Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar, maple syrup, and/or lightly sweetened whipped cream.
Notes
- I like to use a combination of all-purpose flour and white whole wheat flour (or whole wheat pastry flour). You can use all-purpose only if that's what you've got on hand.
- You can whisk together the dry ingredients the night before and proceed from there in the morning, if you'd like to be all amazing type-A prepared on day one to enable some amazing type-B chill time on day two. Like all waffles, they're best straight out of the waffle iron, so I don't recommend doing more prep than that in advance.
- If serving waffles all at once for a party, feel free to turn your oven to 200°F and add waffles to a baking sheet set on the center rack to keep warm and crisp while you cook the rest.
- Leftovers freeze beautifully and will keep well in an airtight container in the freezer for a year. Pop them straight into the toaster or toaster oven to reheat and re-crisp.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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