With a heavy dose of ginger, cloves, and allspice, these Gingerbread Waffles with Yeast are the perfect way to spice up your morning breakfast routine.  Make the batter the night before, and in the morning, just cook them in the waffle iron.  Crispy and spicy, they’re heavenly dipped in maple syrup. 

Of all the recipes that I have on this blog and in my recipe binder at home, my recipe for Gluten Free Belgian Waffles with Yeast is the one that I make more than any other.  Breakfast for my daughter and me is protein smoothies and waffles.  It’s a happy start to any day.  And gingerbread?  That’s one of my all-time favorite cookies.  Gingerbread + waffles = AMAZING.

I love this waffle recipe, because you make it the night before and let it sit in the fridge overnight.  Then, when you wake up in the morning, just plug in your waffle iron and start churning out the waffles.  I live for the mornings when I make a batch of fresh waffles, because they are amazing straight out of the waffle iron.  Crisp edges and an airy crumb full of warm spices….. so good. 

And don’t skip the maple syrup.  The spices of the Gingerbread Waffles paired with the cold sweetness of maple syrup taken right out of the fridge is incredible.  In our home, we serve maple syrup in a small bowl next to the waffles, and we dip the waffles into the maple syrup.  This method works wonderfully, because 1) you can control the amount of maple syrup you’re going to eat so you don’t overdo it with the sugars, and 2) the waffles don’t get soggy sitting under a flood of maple syrup.  Plus, who doesn’t love to dip things into a sweet sauce?  It brings out the kid in all of us.

The only note I have to add is that you might notice that cinnamon is not on the list of ingredients.  That’s because cinnamon inhibits the growth of yeast.  So I just left it out, and I upped the amounts of the other spices.  The result is a Gingerbread Waffle that is very ginger-forward and has a beautiful warm sharpness of spicy flavor.  Without the cinnamon, the ginger is really the star here, and as an ardent ginger fan, I love that. 

P.S.  I love eating waffles every morning, but I only make them once or twice a week.  After I remove the waffle from the waffle iron, I let all the waffles cool completely on a cooling rack.  Then I put them in a plastic bag and store them in the refrigerator.  Each morning, I pull out the waffles I need and pop them in the toaster.  You could also freeze them.  Just be sure to press the “defrost” setting on your toaster when you warm them up.

I hope you’ll love these waffles as much as my daughter and I do (and our cat – did I mention that one of our cats steals waffles from our plates and eats them?)!  Please let me know how they turn out for you in the comments.

Why You’ll LOVE this Recipe:

• Gluten Free
• Dairy Free
• Nut Free
• Low-FODMAP
• No refined sugars
• Make-ahead recipe

Ingredients for Gingerbread Waffles with Yeast:

• Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour
• cornstarch
• kosher salt
• instant yeast
• ground ginger
• ground cloves
• ground allspice
• ground nutmeg
• almond milk or oat milk
• coconut oil
• maple syrup
• vanilla extract
• eggs

Notes on Ingredients:

Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour – My go-to Gluten Free Flour blend.  It’s ineffable.

Cornstarch – We’re replacing some of the flour with a proportion of cornstarch to make the waffles lighter.

Kosher salt – For flavor.

Instant yeast – This is what makes these waffles rise.

Ginger, clove, allspice, and nutmeg – This blend of spices works perfectly here.  You might notice that cinnamon isn’t included in the mix.  That’s because cinnamon inhibits yeast growth.  It’s not needed anyway – without the cinnamon, the flavor of the ginger really comes forward with all its warmth and spiciness.

Almond milk or Oat milk – Almond milk and oat milk are both low in fat, and that makes them a good choice here so that the waffles don’t get too dense or too tender.  Tenderness is a nice attribute in a lot of baked goods, but we don’t want too much tenderness in our waffles.  Using oat milk makes this recipe nut free.

Coconut oil – Using coconut oil helped to get the right texture.  I’m not exactly sure why, because it’s high in fat.  But when I used shortenings that are lower in fat, they didn’t work as well.

Maple syrup – I couldn’t make the waffles work without some kind of sweetener.  Something needs to caramelize to make a bit of crispy edge.  Maple syrup is my preferred choice for a natural sweetener, and it’s a no-brainer for waffles since you’re probably putting it on top anyway.

Vanilla extract – For a more complex flavor profile.

Eggs – Eggs give the waffle binding and structure.

How to Make Gingerbread Waffles with Yeast From Scratch

Warm the milk, and melt the coconut oil.  What’s the difference between the verbs “warm” and “melt”?  I put the milk in the microwave for about 30 seconds.  You don’t want the milk to get hotter than 110 F.  I put the coconut oil in the microwave for about 45 seconds until it was completely melted.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, salt, yeast, ginger, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg.

Add the warm milk, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and eggs.  Whisk to combine.  Don’t worry if it’s not completely smooth. 

Cover the mixture with a towel or a beeswax wrap.  Put the mixture in the refrigerator, and refrigerate the batter overnight.

The next morning, preheat your waffle iron (high temperature if your waffle iron has temperature settings) for at least 10 minutes.  If your waffle iron is not non-stick, spray it with nonstick vegetable oil spray.

Pour a generous ½ cup of batter into the waffle iron.  If you want truly uniform waffles, you can measure out 180 g of batter.  The trick with the batter is that you want it to reach the edges but not be oozing out of the waffle iron.  If there’s too much batter, the waffles get too thick and bready, not crispy and airy. 

Close the lid and bake until the waffle is golden brown and until the steam has stopped coming out of the waffle iron.  For my waffle iron, this is 6 minutes.  Yours might be different, so check it at 6 minutes, and add 1 more minute at a time until the waffle is golden brown and crispy.    

Remove waffle from waffle iron using a rubber spatula.  Cool on a rack until ready to serve.  These waffles are divine when eaten hot and dipped into maple syrup.  Enjoy your amazing breakfast!!!

More Sugar Free Breakfast Recipes

Gluten Free Belgian Waffles with Yeast

Paleo Blueberry Pancakes

Paleo Chocolate Frosted Donuts

Lemon Scones – Gluten Free Sugar Free Dairy Free

Best Gluten Free Biscuits – Sugar Free Dairy Free