Cozy Gingerbread Waffles

Make a batch gingerbread waffles for cozy winter mornings! They’re sweet and spiced, topped with powdered sugar and a drizzle of syrup.

Ready for the best winter tradition? Make up a batch of these Gingerbread Waffles! There’s nothing cozier than the smell of ginger and cloves wafting through the kitchen. We’d rather eat our treats as breakfast than in cookie form, so we created this fun recipe which has turned into a December tradition. Slather them in almond butter and top with a little powdered sugar and maple syrup as a deliciously cozy breakfast treat!

Ingredients in gingerbread waffles

These gingerbread waffles are similar to our Perfect Waffle recipe, with a few added ingredients to bring in that gingerbread cookie flavor. They’re just sweet enough: the ideal sweetness for topping with another drizzle of maple syrup. Here’s what you’ll need to bring it all together:

All purpose flour and whole wheat flour: Whole wheat flour makes a light and crispy texture, so make sure to grab it at the store
Baking powder and baking soda
Sugar
Spices: ginger, cinnamon, allspice and cloves
Molasses: this is the kicker; molasses gives warmth and depth to the gingerbread flavor
Butter
Milk of choice, either dairy or non-dairy like oat milk or almond milk
Eggs

Belgian waffles vs standard

You can use this gingerbread waffles batter to make either Belgian or standard waffles. Of course, it simply depends on your waffle iron! Our personal preference is Belgian waffles, since they’re thicker and look more impressive. (Here’s the Belgian waffle iron we use.) What’s the difference?

Belgian waffles are twice as large as regular waffles. They’re 1.5 inches thick with a deep grid pattern. One serving size is half of a Belgian waffle, since it’s double the size of a standard waffle. When serving, we like to break them apart into wedges.
Regular waffles, aka American waffles are about 1/2-inch thick. If you’re making a standard waffle, the serving size is 1 waffle.

Tips on cooking gingerbread waffles

For these gingerbread waffles, we tried a new method for cooking them that makes ruffled edges. We love the look of these: and you can make more waffles in a single batch! This may be our new favorite method moving forward. Here’s how to do it:

Ruffled edges: Simply use a little less batter in your waffle iron: about 2/3 cup for a Belgian waffle maker or ⅓ cup for a standard waffle maker.
Full circular waffles: Use a heaping 1 cup for a Belgian waffle maker or a heaping ½ cup for a standard waffle marker.

Of course, these quantities depend on the waffle maker: so eyeball it and adjust quantities as necessary.

Toppings for gingerbread waffles

One thing we like about these gingerbread waffles? They’re just sweet enough but not overly saccharine. Make sure to add a drizzle of real maple syrup, required to accentuate the sweetness. We like to top them with nut butter to bring some protein to the breakfast and balance out the sweetness. It really makes them stick! Here’s how we recommend serving them, and then a few other ideas:

Pure maple syrup: Required to accentuate the sweetness
Powdered sugar: to get that snowy effect
Nut butter like almond butter, cashew butter, pecan butter or walnut butter
Berry jam or compote like raspberry compote
Pomegranate seeds
Whipped cream like homemade whipped cream
Greek yogurt sweetened with maple syrup

More Christmas breakfast ideas

And that’s it: we hope you love these gingerbread waffles! Here are a few more treats that would work as Christmas breakfast ideas:

Try cozy Gingerbread Pancakes
Make a festive Raspberry Braided Bread
Bake a big pan of Baked Oatmeal or Hearty Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole

Gingerbread Pancakes

Raspberry Braided Bread Recipe

Everyday Baked Oatmeal

Hearty Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole

This gingerbread waffles recipe is…

Vegetarian.