These classic paleo waffles are crisp on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside, freezable, and family approved! Gluten free, grain free, dairy free, refined sugar free, and easy to make.
Everyone has a “waffle memory”, right?! Special comfort foods usually involve special memories, and, when it comes to recreating paleo versions of old favorites, these memories are my motivation!
Now, for me, my memory involved Eggo toaster waffles rather than anything homemade, but memories are memories (and those Eggo waffles are pretty darn delicious, too.)
And, the waffles weren’t a breakfast memory, either. They were a second dinner/dessert for me when I was about 10 or 11 years old. Don’t worry, I’ll explain.
In 4th grade my family made a move from Queens (NYC) out to the suburbs (Long Island) and my mom had a much longer commute as a result.
Most nights she would come home somewhere between 7:30 and 8:30, and when she sat down and ate dinner, I sat down with her and ate waffles. Toaster waffles, drenched in pancake syrup (of course) became my hang-out-with-mom comfort food, and I believe the ritual lasted at least a year.
I’m not sure when or why it ended, but I can’t think about waffles now without remembering my second-dinner-waffle-ritual. It’s sort of a bittersweet memory, and makes me feel grateful for the gift blogging has given me – being able to work from home and be with my kids!
Anyway, since there’s no way I’ll ever be buying Eggo waffles again, I’ve been wanting to create really delicious, classic, homemade paleo waffles that my kids and husband actually like. Bonus if you can freeze them (you can!!) and toast them like the Eggos 🙂
I tested this waffle recipe about 6 times before feeling like I really had the final version. Luckily, they’re super easy to make, so 6 tries didn’t even kill me. In fact, since they’re freezable, nothing had to go to waste, not even the “fails”.
My goal was this – great taste (just sweet enough, not too much coconut flavor) and great texture (crisp outside, soft fluffy inside.)
During my Google research regarding making perfect waffles, I learned that many recipes will have you separate your eggs, beat the whites until stiff peaks form, and add them to the batter last.
I tried this with my last batch to see if it made a difference, and I did notice that the waffles came out lighter in texture, but not by a whole lot. Since it’s an extra step that adds to your prep time and requires an electric mixer, I would only do this if you NEED to make sure you do everything possible to get crispier, lighter waffles.
Otherwise, you can simply add the whole eggs to the batter and skip the instructions to beat the egg whites. The higher fat content in this waffle recipe, versus a pancake recipe, seems to be responsible for getting that highly desired crispy outside!
So, as for the kids, they actually only got to eat the frozen version (re-toasted, of course!) since I did all my testing during school hours. The result? Even my pickiest (the little guy) LOVED them. Phew!! I was almost scared to have them test, so much at stake! I hope you guys are ready for waffles, whether it’s breakfast, weekend brunch, or second dinner, or whenever you feel like it. Let’s go!
Classic Paleo Waffles {Grain Free, Dairy Free}
Classic Paleo Waffles {Grain Free, Dairy Free}
These classic paleo waffles are crisp on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside, freezable, and family approved! Gluten free, grain free, dairy free, refined sugar free, and easy to make.
Ingredients
- 3 eggs room temp, separated**
- 1/2 cup organic coconut milk full fat or light
- 6 Tbsp coconut oil refined, melted and cooled to almost room temp
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup blanched almond flour
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder *see note to make paleo corn free baking powder, if desired
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Instructions
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In a mixing bowl or large measuring cup, combine all the dry ingredients
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In another bowl, whisk together the egg yolks**, coconut milk, maple syrup, coconut oil and vanilla, then pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and mix by hand until well combined.
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If separating the eggs, beat the egg whites on high speed with an electric hand mixer until stiff peaks form, then fold egg whites into batter to combine.
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Heat your waffle iron and brush it well with coconut oil (I love this brush!)
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Pour batter into the center of iron, gently spreading just a bit before closing. Cook waffles according to your waffle iron’s instructions. This recipe will make about 4-6 servings but may vary depending on your iron. I use this round one and love it - no sticking!
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Serve with optional toppings such as berries, nut butter, coconut whipped cream and additional maple syrup. Enjoy! *See note about freezing for later use.
Recipe Notes
*You can freeze the cooked waffles and toast them in a toaster, toaster oven, or regular oven if you want to make these ahead of time.
**I’ve made these waffles with and without separating the egg whites and yolks, and the difference in texture is fairly minimal if you choose not to separate the eggs and beat the whites. If not separating, simply whisk together the whole eggs with the wet ingredients.
Nutrition
What I Used To Make My Classic Paleo Waffles:
Want More Delicious Paleo Breakfast Treats? Try One of these!
Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes {Nut Free}
Apple Cinnamon Pancakes {Nut Free}
Banana Blueberry Breakfast Cookies {Vegan}
Pecan Cranberry Orange Muffins
Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Bake {Sugar Free, Vegan}
Maple Pecan Banana Breakfast Bake {Vegan}
Sweet Potato Apple Breakfast Bake {Whole30}
Tell Me!
BEST waffle toppings?
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This is right on time was just thinking about making a waffle recipe thanks for saving me the work of having to come up with one lol? also is the serving size of 350 calories for one waffle or two??? girl got to watch the waist line if you know what I mean. I do love how you have nutritional calculations for your recipes it is very convenient. Thank you.
My waffle iron makes huge round waffles that break apart, so the serving size is not based on 1 or two, rather what I think is realistic based on what my family eats. For us, that was about 3 of the smaller waffles each, but you can easily adjust serving size based on your preference.
Thanks for sharing! Could you make these as pancakes ? Don’t have a waffle iron ?
Thanks!
These wouldn’t work as pancakes since they’d come out too thin an crispy I think. I have a few other pancake recipes on here to check out though 🙂
These look so crispy, fluffy and perfect! Now I have an excuse to pull out my waffle iron!
These turned out perfect with the whipped egg whites. Best waffles recipe ever! New to paleo and your website. I’ve tried 4 recipes and each one with out fail has been perfect! Thanks for making everything so tasty and easy! You are very gifted! Thank you thank you!?
Aw thank you! And I’m THRILLED these worked out for you! Whipping the whites definitely helps! Glad you’re enjoying the site 🙂
These are my new favorite waffles – so easy to make and they were light, crispy and delicious!
Do you have any recipes for baked goods that do not use Almond flour? My daughter is allergic to almonds. Love your recipes!
Wendy
Yes I have many! On the non-mobile version, just search “nut free” on the upper right in the search bar 🙂
Do you have a waffle iron that you would recommend?
These are amazing. I am now inspired to try more of your recipes.
I live the taste of these but the batter make them too soft and not crispy – it almost seemed my waffle iron was steaming then!
Also, what is the sub for baking powder if you want full paleo version?
LOVE these! They have become our new go to recipe, even approved by my non-paleo eaters. Thank you for the awesome recipe!
That’s incredible, love it when the non-paleo eaters go for it too!
i can’t eat eggs at the moment and i’m struggling to find an almond flour based waffle mix that will hold up without them…think this will work with chia eggs?
thanks!!
I’m really not sure since about the chia eggs unfortunately! if you do wind up trying it out let me know 🙂
Omg Made these this morning and amazing!!! Bought back my waffle memories from diners on summer road trips !!! Your recipes make paleo easy!!! Thanks 🙂
Yay! That’s incredible to hear 🙂
These were a hit at our house. They are very fluffy and delicious. My husband and son loved them, too. It’s a winner recipe!
I made these for my kids and they loved them! When I retoasted them from the freezer the inside of the squares of the waffle burned – what’s the best way to reheat them from frozen? I also made paleo baking powder because I didn’t have regular if that would be the cause?? I’ll use regular baking powder in my next batch. They are a HUGE HIT! Thank you!!
My kids, ages 10, 8, and 6 loved these. Because we are not completely paleo (just gluten-free), I subbed the coconut milk with whole milk and the coconut oil with butter. They turned out great and had the texture of regular flour waffles. Thanks so much for the recipe!
So happy you enjoyed them, and glad the subs worked out!
I attempted to make these thus morning cause all of your recipes I’ve tried have been amazing! But I’m not sure what happened with these! They pulled apart in my waffle iron and couldn’t peel them off! I ended up just making pancakes from the rest of the batter and they turned out delicious! Guess my waffle iron didn’t like the batter. Lol
Excellent! I made your lemon crumb cake last night and topped the waffles with the leftover lemon curd and blueberries. A perfect Sunday morning breakfast. Thank you!
The stars didn’t post the first time
I just made these are they are delicious! Thank you so much!!!! My daughter can’t have maple syrup right now so I substituted organic sorghum instead and it worked great!
So happy these worked out for you!!
By far the best Paleo waffles I’ve made – and maybe even best waffles, period, Paleo or not.
Best paleo waffles hands down! Now why does the Pinterest take me to your board instead of allowing me to pin the recipe on my board? I really want to save it for future use and rate it. Yum! Thank you, kid and husband approved (that’s hard to do!)!
Hmm, not sure why that’s happening with Pinterest! So thrilled you loved these though!
Made these today and both kids (3 & 5) AND THE HUSBAND wanted more! Im going to add some cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice next time for extra flavor, but these were great with just maple syrup. Thanks!
That sounds great! So happy you all enjoyed 🙂
Best waffles I have ever eaten turned out so good!!
I recently got diagnosed with Hashimotos and am new to this paleo thing. But I made these tonight and I honestly think they taste better than regular white flour waffles. I did use almond milk instead of coconut and it worked out great for me. Thanks for such a great recipe!
Awesome! Thrilled you enjoyed them 🙂
All your recipes are so really Good !!!
Waffles were excellent I added a 1/2 cup of organic frozen blueberries .. every recipe we have made of yours has been excellent .
Best gluten free we have eaten ..
Thank you
Best paleo waffles I have ever had! Made them exactly the way the recipe stated and they were fantastic. The whole family is begging me to make them again. Thank you 🙂
So happy to hear that! Glad you all are enjoying them 🙂
Omg! These were so so good. We could not tell the difference between these and the ones that I usually make with all purpose flour. From now on this is the only way I am going to make my waffles. Thank you so much.
Incredible, I’m thrilled you guys enjoyed them 🙂
Omg! Where have these been all my life! I have hashimoto’s and man oh man, I seriously struggle with grain free! These are amazing! And kid approved too!
These waffles are absolutely delicious! I just started eating more grain-free foods and was really wishing to make some paleo waffles and voila, found this recipe. This recipe is fantastic!
Hello how did u make the whipped cream
These were delicious! Thank you
These waffles were easy to make and yummy! I added a little bit of cinnamon and my family raved about them
Perfect! I did not bother with separating the eggs, and these waffles were amazing!
I LOVE these waffles so much, and my little brothers do too! I make them every week, and we always fight over the leftovers (if there are any?)
What a fantastic recipe! This is now my go-to since other keto and paleo waffles are floppy or odd tasting. Since we eat keying, I use butter and heavy cream instead, and this is perfect every time.
We finally found our perfect waffles!! A winner for the whole family! Thanks you so much!!!
My husband said people would pay top dollar at a restaurant for these. I didn’t separate my eggs any of the times I made these… truly not necessary. A few years ago before being grain-free I would make the Pioneer Woman’s waffles which required hand-whipping the whites (SO MUCH WORK!!) and seriously that would not make these better. We LOVE this receipe! I should add that I added fresh organic blueberries! And the second time no maple syrup, just a few drops of stevia. Next time I hope to grind almonds to make fresh flour. We’ll see how that goes. 😉 Thanks for such a yummy waffle recipe!
Made these for Easter brunch and they were a hit.
Happy they worked out!
I made these waffles today. I only had 3/4 cup of blanched almond flour on hand so substituted the rest with cassava flour. I separated the eggs and whipped the whites. I also added fresh blueberries prior to cooking in the waffle iron. They were outstanding! Didn’t taste grain free at all- light and fluffy with slightly crisp edges. I’ll make these over and over again!
I’m thrilled it worked out well for you!
Love these every time we make them. DEEEELISH! So quick and easy, too! The only thing… the serving size is a little confusing. We get about 3 and one half waffles (when we add blueberries and chopped pecans) using our Oster waffle iron which makes a 6-7 inch waffle.
It’s tough to get an accurate serving size since every waffle maker is a little bit different. The recipe in total makes about 6 servings, in my opinion, which is what the nutrition info is based on.
very good waffles and I love that I can freeze them and put in toaster.
Made this, LOVE THIS!!! So excited I found something my whole family likes. Going gluten free is so hard but finding recipes like this makes life a little easier!! Thank you so much! Now I am off to find a gluten free sandwich bread recipe!
These were fantastic. A bit of work but so worth it.
I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve made this recipe or served it to friends – it has become a staple in our house! So perfectly crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside. Thank you so much for sharing it!
Made these for Father’s Day, and they were a 5 plus star!! I added 1 cup of blueberries and used butter instead of coconut oil. Yum!! Even my gluten loving son said they were great!
Yes, best Paleo waffle recipe I have tried! Easy on my stomach to digest. Thank you!
Love this recipe! Thank you! These waffles are delicious, and they freeze well. I just pop them in the toaster for a quick breakfast!
This Recipe has been my “go-to” for waffle Sunday’s for quite a while now. They are perfect and I have made up to 6 “batches” at a time to feed a crowd.
What would you say I should alter to make this into a pancake mix?
Thank you for the amazing recipe!
Is there a substitute for tapioca flour? New to Paleo cooking and not sure what works. Thank you
Hi Dee, arrowroot can be used a sub for tapioca in some recipes, (not sure if it would work in this one, haven’t tried). Hope this helps!
I had been making another waffle with cashew, but lacked the crunch. Came across this recipe and made it last Saturday. This is the best waffle recipe I have come across and whipping the egg whites took hardly anytime. This recipe makes enough to have for several morning when you’r pressed for time. These are awesome with the coconut butter I made with cinnamon and stevia.
These are hands down the best paleo waffles I have ever had! I am allergic to dairy and wheat and have been trying all sorts of recipes. The rest of my family loves these and they are picky eaters. Thank you for sharing, I will definitely make these again.
So good! I made a few substitutions as I cannot stand the flavor of coconut where it doesn’t belong. Palm shortening for coconut oil and almond milk for coconut milk, and I didn’t separate the eggs. And they are incredible! Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
I didn’t have any tapioca flour, so I subbed coconut flour.
I also added an extra tbsp of maple syrup, and I added a lot of milk because it wouldn’t pass in my waffle iron, it was fairly thick.
Turned out great!
Awesome, dependable waffle recipe! Love being able to make them in advance and freeze them. They are perfect toasted from the freezer! Also, if you have a Belgian waffle maker with deep pockets, these fluff up even higher and make lovely Belgian waffles (which freeze and re-crisp just as well)!
These are so yummy! Crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside! I added 2/3 cup of fresh blueberries, and they still came out perfect.
Just as good as a classic waffle. I even froze the leftovers and they were still just as good two weeks later.
This recipe was fantastic, but I completely changed it with great success!
We have lots of allergies and diet restrictions over here so almond flour and coconut were out.
This is what I did in a doubled recipe:
5 eggs (unseparated)
3/4 cup cashew milk or soy
3 tbsp olive oil + 1 tbsp of ghee
2 tsp vanilla
2 cup cashew flour + 1/2 cup walnut flour
1/2 cup Arrowroot powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
Mix wet all together first
Add all dry on top, and completely incorporate, let sit for 10min on counter
Thank you so much! Keep up the good recipes
Wow! These are great! Light, airy and delicious!
Some were super crispy-crunchy, some were softer. I doubled the recipe and kept them warm in a 200 degree oven, so not sure if it was that or maybe cook time?
They were sweet enough without syrup.
Breakfast for dinner, anyone?? Yes!!
Turned out awesome. I did whip the egg whites. Great chicken and waffles!!!
These waffles were very easy to make and delicious! Delicately crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside- huge hit with my family including my picky 9 year old! I printed the recipe to add to my binder- I’m sure we’ll make these often.
These look so good! Can I use regular almond flour or does it have to be blanched? Thank you!
Perfect!
Yum yum!
Yum yum! So glad I can finally eat waffles again!
OH WOW. Jaw drop. These are soooooooo amazing!!! Absolutely perfect. Thank you, Michele!
Just wanted to tell you how much my husband and I LOVE these waffles. One of our favorite brunch treats! Thanks for a great recipe.
I can’t find the recipe for paleo baking powder I used to buy one at Whole Foods and they’ve stopped carrying it
My son loved them!
Best recipe yet!! Especially since my ASD kiddo ate them. Makes great pancakes as well.
Great recipe! I topped mine with sliced bananas and Rx butter – quite yummy!
This was the best paleo waffle recipe i have made so far. I added some crumbled paleo bacon, chopped pecans and a little almond milk and they were oh so good!!!!
Hello, I was wondering if you can substitute Normal milk for the Coconut Milk, we have a Raw Dairy Farm so our fat Content is much Higher
I wanted to love these but mine turned out very very dry.
These were wonderful! I took an extra step by separating the eggs, whipping up the egg whites, and folding them into the batter. The result was a very light, crispy, yet delicately cake-like-in-the-middle waffle. The waffle was very tasty, as well. This is a definite go-to recipe when we want waffles!
I forgot to rate the recipe when I reviewed it — sorry! It’s a definite 5-star winner!
I love your story about eating your second dinner with your mom!!!💕
I’m eager to try these out – are the calories listed for 1 waffle?
These are the best grain free waffles. I’ve made them over and over again. I use eggs right out of the fridge and I do not separate and they always turn out light and fluffy with a little crisp on the outside. Perfect! Thank you!
I loved the waffles. I used the 3 eggs and whisked them together instead of separating them and they still came out good. I may use coconut spray the next time I make these as I had lots of coconut liquid left over. I plan to make this again and will try them without the 2 tablespoon of maple syrup as they were pretty sweet especially after I added maple syrup on top. I’m new to eating paleo and trying out recipes. I’ve made a couple from you and they have been excellent. Thank you for sharing!
This recipe is a staple in our household of 6. Kids all LOVE these waffles!!!! Super easy to add other yummy ingredients too, love them with cinnamon! So glad I found this recipe, made the transition to a grain free household super easy!!!!!!
Can this be made without maple syrup and are they crispy / crunchy
We make these every Saturday morning!
Question: Is a serving one waffle or two?
Don’t know where I went wrong… batter was so dry. I had to add a lot more milk than the recipe requested.
I read this waffle recipe while laying in bed at 3:30am. It’s now an hour later and I’m making waffles. Omg! So so good!!! Worth getting out of bed in the middle of the night for! Gonna make the cinnamon sugar ones next. You are a genius!!!!
Forgot to leave stars. Also, I used a Dash waffle maker that makes 4 Lego sized waffles. I have found that with this waffle maker you need very little batter in each. Just spoon in and spread thin coat. They come out crispier that way too. And I used the whole eggs, not separated.
I changed this a lot and it turned out amazing. I did 7 eggs to up protein. Did 1/2 cup Tapioca starch instead of 1/4. I added a 1/2 cup coconut flour. Skipped the coconut milk. Only did two tablespoons of coconut oil to cut out the fat. These were still crispy. So amazing.