I know, I know, we just talked about gingerbread two weeks ago, in a biscotti, hot chocolate-dipping format. It’s too soon! I completely agree with you. But this was a request; a commenter asked if there was a way to transplant the intensity of everyone’s favorite gingerbread cake into a waffle format. Asking me this is like asking a Muppet if they like to count. I live for this; I thought you’d never ask.
True enough, the so-called gingerbread waffles I browsed on the web seemed to be in name only; pale beige specimens, softly spiced, more gingersnap than gingerthud. Proper gingerbread should make an entrance, with no restraint in the ginger or molasses department. It should be dark and a little sticky. It should either be adored or reviled; there’s rarely any middle ground. Lucky for me, my family, both young and old, cannot get enough.
Pretty much everything about these will remind you of the Gramercy Tavern Gingerbread. The waffles are deeply spiced, colored, fragrant and yet harmonious and addictive. But, as I always strive for honesty here, I have to tell you that it might remind you of the worst part of the Gramercy gingerbread too — these guys really want to stick to the waffle iron. But they won’t. What they need is a little extra careful coaxing when you lift them from the waffle iron, little by little, being careful to avoid big tears (nobody will be the wiser to the small ones). You’re probably going to curse me a little. But, I want you to know that I would never put you through such a pesky retrieval if these were not absolutely, unwaveringly worth it. Plus, the moment they hit the plate, they begin to firm up. Within one minute, they’ll fulfill all of your waffle hopes and dreams: crispy edges, soft center, and a flavor that will make it impossible to have another winter holiday without them for breakfast ever again.
One year ago: Breakfast Slab Pie (the other way I’d feed houseguests for breakfast)
Two years ago: Cashew Butter Balls
Three years ago: Parsnip Latkes with Horseradish and Dill
Four years ago: Spicy Gingerbread Cookies
Five years ago: Mushroom Marsala Pasta with Artichokes
Six years ago: Seven-Layer Rainbow Cookies and Grasshopper Brownies, two of my favorite sweets in the archives
Seven years ago: My Favorite Peanut Butter Cookies
Eight years ago: Zucchini Latkes and Short Ribs Bourguignon
And for the other side of the world:
Six Months Ago: Frozen Coconut Limeade
1.5 Years Ago: Espresso Granita with Whipped Cream
2.5 Years Ago: Cold Rice Noodles with Peanut-Lime Chicken
3.5 Years Ago: Linguine with Pea Pesto
Deep Dark Gingerbread Waffles
These waffles use more sugar than any other I’ve made, but they don’t end up tasting excessively sweet because the sugar is necessary to balance the intensity of the molasses. That said, you absolutely will not need syrup on top of these, despite my suggestion of it in photos. Just a dusting of powdered sugar and maybe, if you’re feeling fancy, a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream or crème fraîche will make these even more perfect. Serve with a mixed citrus salad (favorites: 1, 2, 3) and crispy bacon, if that’s your thing. And if it’s not, you can send it here.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Yield: 15 small rectangular waffles; serves 4 to 5
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
1/2 cup buttermilk, yogurt thinned with a little milk, fresh apple cider or even stout beer
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted, plus extra for brushing waffle iron
Powdered sugar for serving
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, molasses, sugars, egg and butter until combined. The butter will likely firm up and make little white splotches throughout; this is a-okay. Pour the wet into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Heat waffle iron to a middle heat. Either brush waffle iron with melted butter or spray it lightly with a nonstick cooking spray. Ladle gingerbread batter into waffle iron until they’re about 3/4 filled out. Cook according to manufacturer’s directions. In my waffle iron, I like to cook them 1 to 2 minutes more.
To remove waffles: Open waffle iron. Wait about 30 seconds, giving them a chance to steam off a little. With tongs in one hand and a small spatula in the other, gently, carefully lift corners of each waffle section enough to slide the spatula underneath, then lift and slide some more until you can get the section out. Curse Deb, because these waffles are very sticky and eager to tear. Trust Deb, that they will be worth it. Spread them on a tray in a single layer to let cool slightly; within 1 minute, they should be crisp to the touch and easier to lift. Repeat with remaining batter. Try not to stack waffles — even though they’re firm, they will stick.
Serve immediately, dusted with powdered sugar and, if you’re feeling fancy, a dollop of barely or unsweetened whipped cream or crème fraîche.
Never enough gingerbread recipes! These look absolutely amazing. I’m trying to plan our Christmas breakfast and I now know exactly what we should make. What kind of molasses did you use? Dark or light?
I used Grandma’s Unsulphured, so I’d say dark, dark, dark.
These sound heavenly, but I think I’m more excited by The State reference. Hands-down the best skit from the entire series. Haven’t thought about it in years.
Santa, bring me a waffle iron!
Dumb question! These look awesome but I don’t have a waffle iron. (And since my kitchen and storage space is also tiny, I’m not planning on getting a waffle iron any time soon.) Is it possible to use this batter for pancakes?
Molly — I don’t think a year goes by that I don’t think about it, so I’m not sure what that says about me. :)
Jess — Not dumb, I was wondering the same. I didn’t try it; I feel like it might could work, however, and be a lot less pesky to remove. Definitely use a nonstick skillet, just in case, if you have one.
Woo-hoo! So excited about these!
I have been craving powerful gingerbread and this fits the bill perfectly.
It’s official. I need a waffle maker. I’ve never been much of a waffle fan (my father, on the other hand, loves them… making sure to pour syrup and melted butter into each square). Recently I’ve seen some pretty creative waffle recipes that have gotten me drooling.
And you can never have too much ginger anything.
What might Jacob have been taking notes on?
We’ll enjoy trying these out, for sure (and using gluten-free flour–will report back on that attempt). Thanks, Deb! And happy Hanukkah:0)
This is just what I was looking for. Of course, I have a small problem in that I have a belgian waffle iron. Think it would work? Just make a double batch or more. hmmmm….Thanks for the recipe. Very excited.
So excited to try these and I’ve got everything but the buttermilk :) Yay for gingerbread!
Gingerbread has been on the brain here lately too. Just made some soft gender-neutral gingerbread people cookies :) I thought the cookies made a pretty good breakfast, but these waffles, I think, would make a better one.
I know what my husband and I will be having for breakfast no Christmas morning!! I always grew up eating gingerbread cake with whipped cream, and just recently made one of your recipes. My husband and the husband of my friend had never had it and didn’t even realize it was a dessert. They both thought gingerbread only came in cookie form. Thankfully, they were both Team Gingerbread, especially for my husband because these will be in our kitchen soon! Topped with a bit of whipped cream, of course. So excited! :)
Is there a way to “pancake” these? I don’t have a waffle iron but they look amazing.
Brittany — I think he wanted to know how to spell yogurt.
Jeni — You could pretty much use any liquid, as I note. Even apple or cranberry juice.
Mandy — I didn’t try it, but I have a good feeling about it. I think it could work. Use a nonstick, if you have one.
Awesome! I have some molasses is getting no use in my fridge .. so that will do the trick!
Monica.
Do you think cake flour would work here?
I’ve been making waffles with cake flour and have noticed a big difference in the resulting texture: lighter, and more moist. Don’t know if these waffles would need it, but if you already had cake flour – would it be worth it?
Dominique — You could, but these are very, very tender and soft in the iron, which is actually part of the problem! They firm up as they cool. Anyway, you can, but I don’t think there’s any need for this recipe.
So I tried these in May, go figure. My partner is a huge fan of gingerbread and all seasonal food rules are off in a pandemic! The first two that came out of the waffle maker were a little rough, but tasted amazing. But I didn’t put extra spray on for the second batch and they completely came apart when I opened the waffle iron. Had to scrape out all the bits & wash them before using, so I gave up and tried making pancakes with the rest of the batter, which looked too thick, so I thinned out a bit with cashew milk. Another mistake! Should have left them thick, I guess. They were completely unflippable. So now I have some tasty, tasty crumble that I’m eating with yogurt & berries. The rest will be used for a topping for a fruit crumble!
Oh, heavens. I’m trying to imagine a version made with a stout beer (a vanilla stout, maybe?) and used as the base of a salty/sweet open-faced sandwich…what would be a fun addition besides bacon?
I can’t believe you actually mentioned “The Muppets” on your blog. Needed that today.
Anyhow, these gingerbread waffles are just stunning, I think I’m in love. We have a beautiful tradition of making breakfast for dinner with the family every Christmas Eve and then going to the Christmas Eve service as a family! Will be offering to make these!
Our breakfast tomorrow – which will make it 3 Christmas mornings in a row! I like to separate eggs for waffles, beating the whites and folding in to the batter. We use a Belgian waffle cooker – no problem getting them out whole. Doubling the recipe so we have lots to freeze. We add a drizzle of real maple syrup – sweet teeth, my wife and I! Thanks for this wonderful recipe.
This year is the first time I’ve been so gingerbread-obsessed and this is just perfect to continue feeding my gingerbread fix! Thanks for sharing, Deb. I’ve also been perusing your book for fun recipes to make for my family when I go home for the holidays- thank you!
Just was trying to think of a recipe to impress my likely future mother-in-law. This is it! Will dust with powered sugar. Maybe can make some gingerbread whipped cream for the top? That shouldn’t be too hard??
I find these absolutely fascinating and although I am already struggling to keep even half of my schedule, those have moved right to the top. We do have a myriad of different gingerbreads in Europe / Germany (and I have made the most enticing Swedish Pepparkakor for Christmas just a few weeks ago) but I have never thought about marrying them with waffles – kudos to the Gramercy Tavern & you. Happy Hannukah, Nicole
Gah! Slay me now! I seriously have Gramy’s cake IN the overn RIGHT now…and now this jumps onto my screen?! Eeeks!!! This has Christmas morning all over it! I might need to get a waffle iron….
Looks fabulous. So dark and sultry. Love it. And certainly not too soon to talk about gingerbread again. I mean really, this is the only month of the year that we are allowed to go gingerbread crazy. So we gotta live it up!
Ohhhhhhh my gosh. These are totally happening on Christmas morning before my hubby and I make the 3 hour drive to my parents’. With whipped cream for sure.
Do you think the batter could be made the night before? Should be fine, right?
Cyndie — I wouldn’t make the batter before baking baking soda starts working the minute it gets mixed into the batter…
This makes me want to go out and buy a waffle iron! I like the idea of some stout for breakfast.
These really sound genius for Christmas morning, no doubt there… I know whipped cream will be the perfect topping for that, but all I can think about is dipping them in dark melted chocolate sauce later in the day as a snack, lol. {{don’t kill me for mentioning it!}}
Also, the whole family is gluten-intolerant so I will be attempting this with Thomas Keller’s gluten free flour mix. Wish me luck!
This is my kind of Christmas breakfast! I’m going to let me kids fend for themselves and make this just for me!
Lemon sauce. Good topping idea.
It’s official. I NEED a waffle iron. Going on the Christmas list, now!!
I have a ginger cookie recipe that calls for molasses and white sugar, and I have always used the darkest brown sugar I could find instead (because brown sugar is white sugar + molasses). As this recipe calls for all three of these things, is there a compelling reason I couldn’t use [math] 1.25 cups of dark dark dark brown sugar and call it a day? It would be way less messy than using molasses, wouldn’t it?
These sounds delicious but I’m wondering if you think they can be used in a Belgian waffle iron? I’ve always made recipes specifically for a Belgian waffle iron because you’re not supposed to put butter or oil spray directly on the plates; because of this, the recipes I use tend to have a higher ratio of butter to flour/liquid and I’m curious if you think this recipe could work or if it would need to be modified? Thanks!
I see your point about syrup kicking things over the sweetness edge, but would you like to share your thoughts on how some kind of citrus curd would pair with these? They don’t sound like they’d get lost underneath it…
What type of waffle iron do you have? It looks great! I have an old one that only makes 2 squares at a time, and with a family of 6, waffle day seems to take all morning! I would love to get one that makes more than 2 at a time, and yours looks like a good one. Thanks for any help you can give!
Hanna — I have one from Cuisinart but I don’t care for it at all; I wouldn’t buy one again without removable plates for cleaning. I’m actually thinking about getting a Griddler; they have separate waffle plates you can purchase. I was literally looking on Amazon this morning and it looks like both could be purchased for about $100 right now, and then you’d have a panini press, griddle, etc. I’m tempted!
Belgian waffle iron — I didn’t test it in one, but I don’t think it would be a problem.
Emily — I don’t think it’s necessary, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t if you’d like it.
Aunt Vixen — I’d only know for sure if I knew what the proportion of molasses to sugar was in your brown sugar; unless you’re making it yourself, we wouldn’t know. FWIW, when I make dark brown sugar, I use all of 1/4 cup molasses for 1 cup granulated sugar, which isn’t even close to the proportion of molasses to white sugar I use here (i.e. 1:4 vs. 2:1)
These sound dreamy!! I can’t wait to try them.
Thanks for sharing.
Everything about these are right. Omnomnom, just delish!
Umm…. YES!! These look UNBELIEVABLE.
YES!!! I was the commenter that requested this, and I am so incredibly excited! This is definitely what we’re eating on Christmas morning.
Deb: now if there is a way to make the (Gramercy Tavern) gingerbread in roll form… You know, for making Yule log and stuff. Do you have suggestion for that?
How fun and festive! I need to make these ASAP! :)
Merry Christmas a bit early!
Oh dang. These waffles sound amazing!
I’m thinking Gingerbread Bread Pudding needs to happen?
Never too much ginger (or cloves, cinnamon, chocolate, peppermint, eggnog, mulled wine or party snacks)! I love looking through Christmas recipes looking for inspiration for parties and little gifts for family.
Can you make the batter the night before? Is there something about the batter sitting around that changes the quality? I’d love to prep and then just cook the next morning.
I am so-so on gingerbread but always tempted to make that Gramercy Tavern cake for the holidays. Usually something chocolate, peppermint or another sort of festive dessert wins out. This is a great excuse to make dessert for breakfast! You’re the best!
Deb–I know this is off topic, but I have to ask. Do you really store all your pantry items in those fabulous glass jars? I can’t imagine using glass–I’d break it! What’s your secret?
We used to have a waffle iron/griddle/panini press thing that I bought because I very much wanted removable plates for cleaning. It made me cry and stomp, sometimes at the same time. It was awful because it didn’t get hot enough. I now have a double flippable waffle maker (Waring) and I love it. It is fast, nothing sticks and I don’t end up swearing or crying.
i don’t know what came over me since it is 2 in the afternoon here in Seattle but my and I just made a batch of these! I ran out of molasses so I subbed in some maple syrup to keep the same liquids ratio. When they came out they were pretty floppy but you are right, they firmed up after a few seconds! I had no sticking problems in my nonstick waffle iron. Thanks! My son and I are enjoying a fun holiday snack right now!
oh.my.god. I’ve been looking for a recipe like this, I cannot wait to try
My brother is the waffle fiend of the family so I know he’d flip if I made these for him!
My husband and I were just talking last night about having breakfast for dinner for Christmas eve. He smokes his own bacon from pork loin and I think these waffles and that bacon may be the ticket. Happy Holidays and stay warm and cozy!
Great one! Your recipe makes total sense to me [as a serious gingerbread fanatic]!
Those making the Gramercy Tavern Gingerbread Cake .. there are two recipes on Epicurious, the other one is called Guinness Stout Ginger Cake and that’s the one I’ve made .. love it. It calls for fresh grated ginger, in addition to the other dry spices. The one on Smitten Kitchen does not include fresh ginger.
Thank you to whoever that lovely commenter was who requested you give us this. And thank you for giving in :) This will most definitely be part of our Christmas breakfast this year! Hooray!
SK- I love you.
Waffles that don’t require any topping? Perfect :)
I was JUST debating the merits of having a waffle iron in the house. I was staunchly against. “A whole appliance dedicated to a not-so-common breakfast treat? What is wrong with cinnamon rolls or pancakes?” And…then this happened. My fiance is going to be so very grateful for this VERY convincing piece of evidence in support of a waffle iron. I think it would perhaps be a deal breaker for him if I knowingly saw this recipe and did NOT give in. Thanks, Deb! If you have room in your kitchen in Manhattan, I can make room in mine :)
I know I should be commenting on the food – which looks delicious btw (also your website is my go-to website for any and all recipes, never gone wrong) – but where did you get your containers for flour, nutmeg, etc? They’re so cute!
oh, deb, you’ve done it again. sinfully beautiful waffles that look so decadent – sweet, but not to sweet; dense, but not too heavy. delightful.
I made a version of gingerbread waffles a few weeks ago but I’m totally inspired to make them again using beer. Genius, Deb!
I take holidays away from a low carb diet so I can enjoy meals like these.
Looks perfect for Christmas Morning!
Love this idea!
These look delicious! My husband is getting a Swedish waffle maker for Christmas. And what’s more Swedish than gingerbread (pepparkakor)?! Do you think these would work for thin, crisp Swedish waffles?
@Stephanie — Could you post more information about the Swedish waffle maker? Perhaps a brand name or a link to an image? I’m curious! And envious! Thanks.
Yummm..these look so perfect..if only i had a waffle iron :(
Hi Deb, thank you so much for the extra-fab recipes lately, the gingerbread biscotti went down a treat with the kid’s teachers for their Christmas gift this week! I’m definitely making this one too, although it’ll have to be in a non-stick frying pan, and it’s difficult to get molasses for cooking these days in Ireland (mainly used here as an addition to horse feed!), so I’ll try out treacle as a substitute.
Christmas breakfast for sure. I don’t eat Gingerbread any other time during the year. But I go overboard in December.
These sound amazing. Do you think they can be made ahead, stacked between waxed paper and then reheated in over or toaster? I have a brunch to go to and would love to take them. Thanks!
I agree….ginger in gingerbread should make no less than a spectacular impact. These look divine! They might just convince me to get a waffle maker :-)
Merry Christmas!
Deb, it is too bad that you are resolutely non-commercial, because you could make a killing selling waffle irons!
I made the new recipe for endive salad for company last night and I got the last two endive in my grocery store. I should know better by now. I hope produce managers all over the world are tracking your blog to see what they need to stock!
Now what about gingerbread French toast…?
I’m thinking these need a dollop of lemon curd swirled with unsweetened whipped cream on top.
just decided what we’ll be having Christmas morning. thanks for your consistent inspiration.
ayami — The spice jars can be found here and elsewhere. I usually order clamp-top canning jars in different sizes from Overstock.com — they have a surprisingly large range.
Arlene — Not everything, but I’d say 75% of stuff and the rest is just because my husband has begged me not to buy any more jars. It began because I loved Ina Garten’s big class canisters for flour and sugar on her show. I found something that worked for me, as I mention above, from Overstock. Then I wanted to move over medium-sized items, brown sugar, rice, lentils, powdered sugar, etc. And I just kept doing it. Basically, if you have tightly overstuffed cabinets, they almost light it from within; it’s so lovely to be able to see everything and how much you have. Also, if you’ve ever had any kind of tiny weevil-y bug (not us, no, never) in your pantry, it nice to know they could never get into these. Re, breakage, not often! But, I’m also a huge klutz and will probably now jinx myself.
Anne — I wouldn’t recommend making the batter the night before because the baking soda begins to work as soon as it is mixed. (And baking powder, too, in part.)
Starstruck — Funny, it’s been on my To Cook list for years. I know how I’d make it, I was actually just concerned it would be orange-brown and lumpy and not look very appetizing. :)
Sasha — Also on my to-do list! I might start with Dorie Greenspan’s new yule log recipe. It seems a little gentle in spice and color, but, I think you could make adjustments. (True story: I’m attempting a dairy-free Yule Log this weekend. Pray for me.)
Deb – good luck with the Yule Log!
I’m drooling over the indoor grill/griddle for all manner of cooking, but do you know if anyone makes one without teflon/PTFE/PFOA coatings?
I have a solution to the waffle removal problem! Enter Amazon Prime and the “Norpro 1975 Grip-EZ Grab and Lift Silicone Tong”. The best $20 investment in not singeing all of your fingertips on Christmas morning!
I’m thinking of using Egg Nog for the liquid. :)
i just tried making these it was a delicious disaster. i started with my belgian waffle make. the first waffle burned, since my “manufacturer’s directions” are to cook for 3 minutes. the second one, cooked at 1.5 minutes, was so soft it was nearly impossible to remove, however the waffle scraps we ate we delicious. i tried to salvage the rest of the batter by making pancakes but that didn’t work either – 3 small pancakes melted, oozed and merged into 1 giant that was nearly impossible to flip, but once that mess cooled a bit on the pan it was chewy/crispy like candy so of course we ate that too. i tried adding a bit more flour to stiffen things up, but then they were too thick and burned. haha the only part of this recipe that went according to plan for me was “curse deb”. don’t worry though deb, i still adore you :)
I have been making gingerbread waffles for years using a Dorie Greenspan recipe published in our local newspaper. It uses twice the egg and flour measurements you are using here and features more aggressive spicing (1/2 teaspoon dried mustard, 1/4 tsp each of fresh nutmeg and cloves). I like to use half whole wheat pastry flour in my gingerbread waffles — the flavor is undetectable, but it boosts the nutrition without sacrificing the texture. Also, I always separate any eggs I use in waffles and beat the whites separately, folding them in at the very end: this makes islands of egg whites, but they melt into the batter when cooked. Your powdered sugar garnish looks pretty.
Oh. Forgot to say. To make pancakes, I just thin out waffle batter with more buttermilk, or even regular milk.
These waffles were the perfect start to our Holiday Break! Thank you!
I could almost smell the gingerbread.
Another great Christmas brunch recipe, I cannot wait to try this receipe.
Yes! I just made Martha’s on Monday, and they were definitely lacking. Excited to try these.
In your second paragraph, did you mean “LESS gingersnap than gingerthud”?
I saw that you mentioned the temptation to buy the other Cuisinart waffle griddler? Do you think your overnight waffles would work well in those? I have yet to make the overnight waffles in the appropriate size waffle maker (mine is a Belgium). So I want a waffle maker that will make those types of waffles overnight. And what about an overnight/gingerbread waffle??
I just eat gingerbread for the first time a week ago and now i’m hooked! I’ll be making these for sure cos i’ve recently bought a waffle iron and i have to test it out! Well….i’ve found the recipe to do it with! I really love gingerbread! It’s so tasty, and i bet this waffles will be too! Thanks for sharing your recipe! You made me very happy. :-)
Deb, this is the best breakfast ever!
Love the flavors, perfetc for christmas.
Thank you so much.
Hi! I was wondering if you could let me know where to find the big glass storage jars pictured in this recipe? Thank you so much!
Get the Griddler *and* the waffle plates. I have both and they are awesome and the removable plates are easy to clean. :-)
a little stickiness won’t deter me from making these waffles. thanks!
These look so good! I was just looking for something Holiday-ish for supper! I think these fit the bill :)
Deb. Not meaning to burst your bubble in anyway, one of my favorite restaurants in Indianapolis back in the day (R.I.P. Something Different) introduced me to gingerbread waffles many years ago. But not as a breakfast item, as dessert: Gingerbread waffles, cinnamon ice cream, caramel sauce.
You are welcome. :)
Or…You could make these ahead, warm them up slightly, and use them as the base of a sundae like desert at your latke and trim the tree party on Sunday. I’m thinking vanilla ice cream and warm spiced apples or wet nuts or heating up the bottle of ginger syrup I bought and haven’t known what to do with.
I’ve just baked quite a few trays of gingerbread cookies. They are waiting in the kitchen to be decorated. Ha! Knowing my patience they will end up with some doodling all over or just eaten ‘naked’. This recipe seems so much more straighforward- make it, eat it. I guess icing sugar is optional, if you’re as impatient as myself! Maple syrup, anybody?
I asked for a waffle iron for Christmas. These might just have to be my inaugural batch (assuming I’ve been nice this year and I actually get one.)
I know what we’ll be making this Christmas morning! (Last year it was the Dutch Baby from your cookbook.)
Also, there’s a time and a place for soggy, limp bacon. The time is never and the place is in the garbage.
Best thing happened this week; one of my fb friends linked to this recipe. Love when people I like like other things I like. :)
I love waffles. These have to be delicious and so in the season.
These look absolutely amazing! I wonder how many cookie/cake recipes we can adapt to make waffles.
And I just used the last of my molasses to make your gingerbread snacking cake! I am obsessed with it this year, this is the third time I’ve made it in as many weeks. I may have to run to the store for more tomorrow, because I had also been browsing the intertoobs for a gingerbread pancake or waffle recipe and been disappointed by what I found. This looks like just the ticket.
From the trenches: these did NOT work with gluten-free flour, either as waffles or pancakes…in both incarnations, they were so fragile they burnt before being able to be removed (waffles) or flipped (pancakes). But this is hardly the fault of the recipe-writer, and I have high hopes for this as a “breakfast cake” baked at 350*…the salvageable pancake crumbs were delicious:-)
I was finally able to get them to work using cup 4 cup with the addition of an additional 1/8-1/4 cup of potato starch.
Soooooo good! Dip them in milk like a graham cracker—yummy!
So this is a total sugar bomb recipe, I was somewhat surprised. But I get the spicy balance, etc and don’t get me wrong it’s delicious. More upsetting was the general disaster this became, mostly because my high dolla all clad doodad is too small, thin, and a pain to clean to boot… An extra minute left them burnt, even at lower heat, and trying to make them pancakes became a sticky mess. I think the batter was just so sugary it was quick to burn and stick (also it was a bit thin). Bummer. But the mess was like gingerbread cookies, perfect flavor.
If you pancake these, just be sure to let them cook low and slow for much longer than you normally would (I also made with yogurt that I did not thin to make the batter slightly thicker). Unstable, but so delicious! Glad I didn’t give up just because I have no iron!
Just finished breakfast. Only had light brown sugar but no issue. Old waffle iron did great. Definitely need to wait to remove as they are very soft when you first open the wafflenator. Delicious gingerbread flavor with a nice crunch. Tried them with whipped cream, lemon curd, pumpkin butter and syrup. The syrup made them too sweet, but all others were good.
Thanks Deb! Merry Christmas!
For the record, I could not get these to work in my Belgian waffle iron. I couldn’t for the life of me get a cohesive waffle. My iron is a pretty cheap model though. My husband and I are sitting on the couch eating the scraps though, and they are still delicious.
Pancakes: didn’t work for me. As per other commenters, they caramelized so much on the griddle that they were like toffee. Too bad :( Wish I had a waffle iron!
Super delicious recipe. Didn’t work in my belgian waffle maker despite tweaks and made a mess of a pancake. The resulting crumbles were tasty though.
mmmm just finished making these as a practice round for Christmas, and they were delicious, but a total crumbly, sticky mess! Is it the amount of molasses that makes these so fall-apart-y? Maybe we just weren’t patient enough with our removal technique ;)
Oooh I love and hate the Gramercy Tavern Gingerbread. I just had a half-released-half-stuck-in-the-pan !@#$ two days ago. It’s destined to become a poached pear and gingerbread trifle. If these waffles go sideways I may have to turn them in to a waffle breakfast casserole. :)
really good but I’m having a problem to the first ones came out and scraps although the straps were delicious. I added about 3 tablespoons of flour extra after that. But I’m still finding them hard to get out. I am in a high altitude place. And using a Belgian waffle maker. Any ideas of what I should do?they are delicious and I really want to make it work for me!
Made these today for breakfast and was so thankful for the directions of how to remove them from the waffle iron! It was a bit tricky but once they were out and cooled, they were divine. I did use them in a belgian waffle maker and though it took patience they came out fine. I found that holding with the tongs to get them started then rolling them with the spatula helped. I took the rolled out individual waffles off the iron and unrolled them to cool. Did just fine and were delicious. Thank you for another rock star recipe. We loved them.
These came out perfectly in my belgian waffle maker. The key is to remove the waffles after 1 minute; otherwise, they’re way too hard. At 1 minute, they’re still quite soft, but harden up like you said they would. Paired with Frank Prisinzano’s perfectly hard fried eggs, it was a heavenly breakfast.
What a unique waffle! I love it. I’m certain my husband will too tomorrow morning. Spectacular pictures too! Happy Holidays;)
These were a delicious disaster. They stuck so horribly that I spent more time trying to remove the waffles from my waffle maker (this one: http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000A3PBWO) then I did cooking the waffles. No matter how careful I was or how much I sprayed the waffle maker, a lot of the waffle stuck to the waffle maker. I lost a lot of each waffle. So, while they were very good, I doubt I’ll make them again.
So I made double this recipe as pancakes for a brunch this morning. I wasn’t sure I would have enough for my guests. The batter was really thick so I loosened it with milk. Yes they stuck, yes they were super sweet and after some trial and error ( and some pam) I got them to turn over. HOWEVER, since I had so much batter left over I thought I’d put it in a cake pan and see what happened. IT IS A GREAT CAKE!!!
In the future, I think I may cut way back on the molasses and the brown and white sugar. I think the stickiness will subside and I could use some maple syrup on the table. great taste though!!!!
Made these and I heard a heavenly chorus of angels sing when I ate them.
These look great, but I love yeast-raised waffles (Marion Cunningham’s receipe), and wonder if this can be adapted?
I made these this morning in my Belgian waffle maker and they were great! Didn’t stick and were perfect. I loved the taste but they are more like dessert than breakfast waffles. I actually liked them with some cream cheese!
I made these this morning for my son, using my Waring Belgian waffle maker. I turned the setting a bit higher than I usually do because I read much too quickly over deb’s remark that she usually leaves them in an extra minute or two, so gave them more heat instead of more time. The result of that was waffles that were burned on the outside, stuck to the waffle maker despite plenty of oil and were in pieces. I couldn’t really clean the waffle maker until it cooled, so I figured I’d try pancakes. Once they were in the pan, spreading and not really firming up, it occurred to me to check the comments. Oh. Everyone says pancakes don’t work. Everyone is right. I ended up sort of moving them around the pan the way you would for scrambled eggs and when everything seemed sufficiently cooked through, putting them in a bowl. They were a mess, but a really delicious mess. Clearly, if I can get them to come out right, these are going to be amazing.
Kudos to those who could make this recipe work–mine were a disaster.So much sugar–mine burned. Burned and stuck. I spent a lot of time cleaning up the waffle iron and may not muster the courage to waffle for a long time.
I made these with my seven year old today, and we laughed hysterically while repeating, “We curse you, Deb!,” just as you predicted. Removing them from our waffle maker was nearly impossible, no matter what we tried. The tongs and spatula trick met with a mush of waffle pieces coming out of the grids, but when those ugly pieces cooled for a minute, they did crisp up just as you said they would. They were DELICIOUS, and we absolutely will make them again, but all nine of the waffles looked a mess upon release. Hopefully next time will be better! But I love the idea of making these as a cake, because the flavor was incredible. Thank you!
I was just thinking I needed to get my waffle maker out for some savory waffles. Mmm.
Made these tonight and wanted to share my experience after reading all the other comments. I used round (non-Belgian) Chef’s Choice waffle maker (the America Test Kitchen winner). It took some trial and error to figure out the best setting but I settled on the uniform texture setting at #4. The waffles definitely stuck but I sprayed the waffle maker for each waffle and eventually had 3 somewhat whole (i.e. not broken) waffles, using a spatula in one hand and a plastic chopstick in the other hand to loosen the waffle from the top iron. The waffles were really crispy once cooled and had really good flavor and caramelization but it was definitely more of a sweet dessert than a breakfast waffle (for my taste anyway). I think this would be a good batter for making ice cream cones. I couldn’t follow the recipe exactly because I realized too late that I didn’t have brown sugar so I just used half cup of granulated sugar and 1 TBS of molasses. Maybe my waffles would’ve been different if I had brown sugar.
These didn’t work for me either. The batter was delicious, but it stuck and burned and came apart on a well-sprayed waffle iron, and got all weird and sticky when we tried to make them into pancakes. I added more flour and that made it slightly better, but we still had mostly caramelized batter on the iron rather than anything resembling a waffle. I used apple cider, and so wondered if there was just too much sugar involved and if that was throwing things off–maybe it would have worked with buttermilk, thinned yogurt, and/or possibly a bit more flour. Will have to wait for another lazy Sunday to roll around again to find out. :)
Oh my, can’t wait to make these for Christmas. Your buttermilk waffle recipe is a family favorite. So amazing! I imagine this takes waffles to a whole new level! Woot!
I made these last week with gluten free flour and it was fine, texturally and taste wise – and didn’t stick to the iron. much. But there was SO MUCH sugar – I usually make waffles with no sugar, or just an 1/8 of a cup, so these were way sweeter than what we normally eat, to the point of being delicious cookies for breakfast. No complaints on that front, but I’m about to attempt them with a fraction of all the sweetners (heavily tilted towards the molasses).
still good with only 1/2 c sugar (about 1/4c molasses and 1/4 c brown sugar) plus an extra egg to compensate for the lower amount of liquid – but not as amazingly gingerbready…
Made these yesterday morning and they turned out perfectly! I just have an old, little waffle iron but I brushed it with melted butter between each round and the waffles didn’t stick. We loved the texture after they hardened up a bit!
To those who had the promised/threatened sticking issues — I’m still terribly sorry, even though I knew/warned they’re pesky and take saint-like patience to remove from some makers. I think I owe you guys a good dark gingerbread pancake recipe for next December, to make it right. I hope you were able to enjoy all that was salvaged. Gingerbread waffle trifle, perhaps?
Anna — I bought them from Overstock.com; they have a big selection of clamp-top canning jars.
Re, griddler + waffle plates — I’ve read some complaints that it never gets hot enough to make waffles. Has anyone with this combo found it to be the case? The last thing on earth I need is another not-great kitchen appliance.
Denise — No, I meant more. To me, gingersnaps have less of a thud/gingerthud than gingerbread and the gingerbread waffles I saw were pale and not very spicy.
I’m so excited about these! I love molasses and I love waffles. My husband’s been making your overnight waffles, which are just so very delicious. Do you think that recipe and technique would work gingerbread-ified based on this recipe?
Had the same issues with sticking and burning in both the waffle iron and the griddle as pancakes. We finally baked the remaining batter in the oven in a cast iron pan. That was yummy. My husband did comment that perhaps i should post “Did anyone consider funnel cake with this batter?”
I join the crowd of delicious salvaged pieces, but mostly disaster. BUT considering this is the only SK recipe I have ever had fail I’m not too devastated. haha I did add more flour which helped a bit, but I gave up in the end.
I made these yesterday in a belgian waffle iron and it wasn’t a problem. They came out AMAZING. I didn’t even have the problem of it sticking to the iron. I separated the egg though and added the white of one additional egg, fluffed the whites and folded it in. That made it soft and fluffy and a little less dense, which may have helped it not to stick. Served it with powdered sugar, unsweetened heavy cream, and raspberries. I will definitely make these again for my family at Christmas. They were simply delicious.
For those who are asking about making this ahead of time, I tried it and it worked out fine. We made these for breakfast Saturday, then cooked the rest of the batter for Sunday morning without any appreciable change in quality.
Oh, and by the way, I sprayed my waffle iron with baking spray (the stuff with the flour) and they came out a lot easier.
OMG OMG OMG…so good. I skipped the white sugar…they didn’t stick at all…but I do brush oil before each one. And it is an OLD waffle iron, just plug and take out…no switch.
so delicious I want to eat them all the time…
After a crazy week of fiendish holiday baking and candymaking, I decided it was time to cook something just for me. I’d been drooling over these waffles since you posted them. Wish I’d read through the comments prior to making them. I loved that once crispy they tasted akin to candied ginger with a rich, gingerbread flavor, but it was overwhelmingly sweet to me. About halfway through I added a little more flour and milk to try to balance the sweet and viola the sticking issue lessened considerably too, but they were less tender (Likely due to over mixing to incorporate the addition). I had mixed results trying both butter and then baker’s joy on my cheapy Krupps waffle iron.4 waffles crumbled, but did get 6 nice looking ones (4 after the additional flour). I appreciate the effort and creativity you invested, so thank you and happy Chanukah! Now do I leave the clean waffle iron out and try your wafflatkes? ;)
P.S. I so so wish there was a way to filter comments to view ones from folks who made the recipe. Your blog is so popular it can be difficult to find the helpful comments from the people gushing at how yummy it looks.
Re: waffle irons with removable/ reversible plates – I had one of those, and my experience was that it didn’t get hot enough for waffles. I don’t remember the brand, though, and I’m not sure if this would be true for all. Anyway, I ditched it for a “real” waffle iron.
Wow, looks delicious! Happy Holidays & Merry *early* Christmas!
Plan to serve try these on Christmas Eve and serve with this chocolate sauce: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Gingerbread-Waffles-with-Hot-Chocolate-Sauce/Detail.aspx.
That Muppet comparison is utterly hilarious! Thanks for including it!
We love waffles in our nest…I will have to pass this recipe off to the waffle king so that we may all enjoy–I bet we also won’t be able to get enough of these treats. Happy Nesting.
I don’t know what happened but these were a disaster. I think it’s because my waffle iron is from the stone age. I couldn’t get these out of my waffle iron, no matter how much I greased it, but I wanted to use the yummy batter. These do not work as pancakes, but you can make gingerbread cut outs if you use this almost identical recipe and adjust the flour, baking soda and butter. http://www.food.com/recipe/the-most-wonderful-gingerbread-cookies-80156
I suggest NOT MAKING THESE FOR THE FIRST TIME ON CHRISTMAS morning. Unfortunately I had the disastrous crumbly sticky (despite copious melted butter in my non-stick waffle iron) burn before you can get them results of several people above. Added more flour & tried them as pancakes. They burnt on the lowest setting before we could flip them. Came out like pan fried gingerbread cookies. So while they taste pretty good (aside from the burnt sides that do scrape off), I will never make them again, because I will probably still be getting the crumbs out of my waffle iron. The only SK recipe that I have had fail on me. It will be funny tomorrow, I’m sure.
Nauseatingly sweet. Whole family took a few bites and refused to eat anymore. Disappointed in a Smitten Kitchen recipe for the first time :(
Followed the recipe exactly and they were deep dark heaven on our tongues. Thank you for warning us that stacking does lead to sticking. We avoided a lot of grief thanks to that aside! Thank you so much for this recipe; I’ve tried a lot of yours, but this is the first time I figured I’d post the fantastic result I always get with your recipes!
I just tried them as pancakes. The first panful were way, way too thin, and burned before it was set enough to flip. I added some flour and tried again, but the amount of sugar in them made them burn even at a low heat before I could get them set enough to flip. Next time I’ll try to find the waffle maker (and make them ahead of time – trying to cook with 4 impatient kids means that waiting for one waffle at a time isn’t an easy option!)
My son was home today hanging with sister so I wanted to treat them. I was going to make these on Christmas morning but found out he has to work from 6am to 3pm but since it’s cold and rainy out, why not now. Well, these were such a great hit that I had to make ANOTHER batch! My son who rarely eats 2 small waffle quarter rounds ate 2 large whole waffles and asked for more! I think the trick to getting them to come out of the iron whole is to first completely spray the WHOLE iron then let them steam off. Afterwards use a Teflon spatula to support them as you peal them up. Nearly all of mine came out in whole round waffles so patience! Fantastic recipe for the upcoming cold winter mornings.
I just made the waffles this morning. WON-DER-FUL! They stuck slightly more on the first one, not bad on the subsequent two. Because I have celiac and an egg allergy, I used my homemade gluten free flour mix, ground chia seed egg, and light coconut milk. Even the regular eaters loved them. They remind me of my mom’s Swedish brown bread.
we had these this morning for Christmas eve brunch. buttered our Cuisinart waffle maker and had no sticking problems. followed the instructions to let it sit for a minute or two. Delicious! true gingerbread taste. even cold these were awesome. made the citrus salad #1 too.. with crispy bacon. it was a hit! happy holidays SK
Between the non-stick finish on our Belgian waffle iron (Kitchenaid) and spray oil my husband had no sticking issues. They also cooked in about half the time of regular waffles. Yum yum!
These were fantastic! Used a good amount of oil and no sticking at all. To get them out of the waffle maker we folded them, similarly to how you would transfer a pie crust, and then unfolded on the plates. They were very sweet, so we went through a lot fewer waffles than we usually do, but these will definitely be a Christmas morning tradition. I love how crispy they get on the outside. Thanks!
“Santa” got us a Belgian waffle maker for Christmas, just so we could try these out. They are amazing! We had them this morning with crispy bacon and mimosas. The waffle maker is nonstick and we coated it with cooking spray, had no trouble.
My mom and I made these for Christmas breakfast with an old Belgian waffle iron (with only one heat setting) and they turned out fine, though they required some patience to get out of the pan. I ended up using two spatulas- a small one for prying up the edges, and a large one to hold the weight of waffle after most of it had been removed from the pan. We tried both applesauce and lemon curd as a topping, and they were both good.
It’s definitely a special occasion waffle, since it’s so sugar-heavy. I love the intensity of the molasses, though, and wonder if there’s a way to cut down on the other sugar and still have the waffle hold together.
Doesn’t seem to be a common problem but tried to make these this morning anD it was a total flop. First in the belgian waffle maker, after oiling it super well, the “waffle” broke in 2 when i opened the lid- not fully cooked inside maybe? The waffle pieces had to be picked out of the grooves with a fork and the exterior was burnt. Told myself it must have been the heat and urned the heat down from our usual 5 to 3 for try 2. Same thing happened. Remembered someone in the comments had mentioned using the batter for pancakes so gave up the waffle idea and tried the pancakes. Oiled the pan and gave it a go with one….when I tried to flip, it was too soft to lift so i left it a little more, then burned smell and smoke started coming out. Tried to lift again but still too soft to lift. Decided to just toss it in the garbage but couldn’t get it off the pan anymore with the spatula, it was a soft stuck burnt mess. Left it to soak in the sink so i can srub it up later. Tossed the rest of the batter. Not sure what went wrong as I read over the ingredients and instructions 2 afterwards but didn’t miss or mutilate any steps or ingredients……
Same problems as Ina, both waffles and pancakes. Did manage to get about one viable waffle out and that was DELICIOUS, but imo not worth the trouble. I may just take the spice proportions and put them in a normal waffle recipe…
Made these for Christmas brunch, today. I subbed coconut sugar for the white sugar, because we always have a surplus from homebrewing, and half-and-half for the liquid. Kept the waffle iron on medium-high heat and brushed it with melted butter before each waffle, then followed your advice and let the steam off before removing them with a spatula underneath. Very delicious!
Deb, seriously, thank you. This was an awesome brunch dish. I had no problems getting them out. I think they are better even a little overdone.
SO GOOD! Thank you!
As a longtime reader (and retailer of your book), and lover of every recipe I have ever made from here and your book, I felt compelled to add my two cents. I admit I was scared after reading the warnings, and the comments nearly made me abandon the plan to have these for Christmas breakfast. I made them this morning and they were divine, cakey, definitely spicy, delightfully sweet, and they released from our waffle iron with no problem (Breville on “Belgian” setting, 5 clicks on the how crisp/browned/whatever that setting is). I used Trader Joe’s coconut oil spray between batches and didn’t leave it in extra long, though I was fumbling around for tongs/plate/anything to get it out since of course I was also making the Spanish tortilla at the same time… I could see how it could be a disaster though, as every waffle iron/waffler/waffle maker is different. I say the recipe isn’t for the faint of heart but these were a huge hit and I will definitely make them again!
We made these for Christmas breakfast & they were 5 star delicious! I substituted GF flour mix & they were just fine. Thank you!
Made these this morning for my family and they were a big hit. I used GF flour and it was a very easy transition (280g GF blend). I did add about a tablespoon of psyllium husks with a bit of water in place of xanthan gum so that the waffles wouldn’t crumble. These waffles have a great flavor and I really love that they don’t need any syrup or anything. Will be making these for future Christmases I think.
I made these as pancakes in Christmas morning – everyone one loved them (I have a 6 and 4 year old). I accidentally used way more spice than called for which really balanced out the carmelized (looked burnt but tasted oh so good) flavor that the cast iron skillet gave them. We’ll be repeating these, and maybe buying a waffle maker too.
Made these Christmas morning and they were delicious. Not too much trouble, no cursing, in getting them out of the waffle iron if you follow Deb’s suggestions. I will say that I probably won’t make them again until we replace our little cheapo waffle iron with one that has removable plates though. Took forever to clean. The leftovers are wonderful with tea, like little waffle cookies.
I attempted making these with my family and they were an utter disaster. The batter tasted delicious, but because our waffle iron happened to be of the Belgian variety, we were screwed from the outset and left with nothing but charred, embedded gingerbread bits in our press. We then tried converting the batter into pancakes, but that, too, ended in failure as the resulting cakes fell apart at the slightest touch. I want very badly to make this recipe work but I don’t know what else I can do!
I made this and had no trouble with sticking. Perhaps because I found out mid-recipe that I only had about 1/4 cup molasses so I made up the difference with maple syrup. Super delicious and no sticking, so I can only recommend you do the same!
Oh, and I tried them in 2 different waffle irons, including 1 Belgian style and had no trouble with either.
I made these with slight modification this morning and they were AMAZING! I usually like recipes less sweet than written, so I skipped the white sugar and cut back the brown sugar 25%. I also did whole wheat flour for half the flour. Also added 1/8 tsp of allspice. I put plenty of butter on the waffle iron and had no problems with sticking. Thanks for this!
I made these for a breakfast party and they were loved by everybody!! Everyone asked me to forward them this recipe link. Deb, it went exactly as you said it would….. I was mildly cursing as I tried to remove these babies from the waffle iron, but after one bite I had nothing but aloha for you! LOL I took your suggestion and whipped some unsweetened cream, however next time I will sweeten the cream and use less powdered sugar on the waffles. Didn’t have any lemon curd made up, but I bet that would be good on these. I served some cara cara oranges on the side as a palate re freshener and that was quite good. I will 100% be making these again before winter is done. Mahalo Deb!!
P.S. I used a Belgian waffle maker and they came out great. For all you Waring Pro owners out there the 3.5 setting was perfect for me.
To Hatchington, I wonder if you used too high of a setting? Or if your waffle iron just runs too hot for this recipe? Because there is such a high amount of sugar in these, they are probably prone to burn. I hope you try again and experience a truly delicious waffle! :-)
oh my word. waffles and gingerbread, I APPROVE.
totally making these!
I made these on Christmas morning and they turned out very well! Your ginger snap vs ginger thud description is perfect for these.
I didn’t have any of the sticking problems that you describe with just a little spray of non-stick on my waffle iron.
The only change that i would make for the next time is that with my Cuisinart Belgian Waffle Maker set to medium the extra minute of cooking time that you need on yours caused mine to get a tiny bit burnt. In the future I will follow my machine’s timing precisely and I suspect that they will be perfect.
Extra tip: I mixed up all of the dry ingredients the day before to make a “gingerbread waffle mix” of sorts. It saved me a fair amount of measuring time in the morning.
Wow, these were wonderful! I generally don’t like waffles, but these were more gingerbread than waffle. Everyone agreed that these will be our new Christmas breakfast tradition! I definitely didn’t skip the “curse Deb” step–they are hard to get out of the waffle maker (but you’re right; so worth it). I ended flipping my waffle maker over to loosen it from the bottom halves, and then was able to flip it onto a spatula once I turned it back over. Thanks for this!
These were amazing and worth the trouble to de-stick from the waffle iron. Best waffles ever!!
We made these on christmas morning but they were a big disappointment. made a mess of the waffle iron (but not that hard to clean) but more importantly the waffles just didn’t have the right texture. they were very hard to remove and then firmed up but then they were so hard and crunchy.
Hi Deb,
I’m thinking of making these for a brunch and was wondering if I could do them before and then just reheat. Would they reheat well? Or will I be more than ever so slightly disappointed?
Just made these for my New Year’s breakfast. They worked fine for me! The secret, I think is to Pam the waffle iron between every batch and cook them until they almost burn. They do cool crunchy – more like toast than waffles. But I loved them and thought they were delicious! (I bet they’d be great warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream too!)
These? Were awesome. They are also awesome in my belly. Smoked thick cut bacon was such an excellent accompaniment that it made me think hey….the siren call of the jar of bacon grease in your refrigerator….might not be a terrible substitution for the melted butter…salty…sweet….
Made these for Christmas Eve bfast. They burned but did not stick too bad (came out okay) in my waffle iron. They were really tasty but way too sweet for us. We served them with unsweetened whipped cream. I like the idea and I think the reason they had that nice crispy texture was because of the high sugar content but I have to try to find a less sweet gingerbread waffle.
Oh my word! I made these for my own very-late breakfast shortly after arriving at my parents’ home for the holidays (they were still working, bless them), and they may be the best thing I have made from your blog – and I’ve been making your recipes for years now! I am planning to make one more batch on my own waffle iron before the new semester begins Monday. Wrapped and frozen, I love to pull out waffles to pop in the oven in the morning before work – these will join the last few eggnog flavored ones that linger from early December.
As a side note, I did spray their waffle iron with cooking spray all but one of the times, but these didn’t seem to stick at all even when I forgot. What they did do was fall apart easily as I handled them from the iron to the plate, then harden at funny angles if not left laying extremely flat. And: You were right, they don’t need syrup. Not even powdered sugar! SO sweet.
Related question: how do you deal with the waffle iron’s plates? To me they seem cast-iron-ish and I have just been running mine under hot water but not scrubbing (got it at a thrift store this fall, no instructions), but my parents’ machine (older than I am, and could be the same model as mine) still has its manual and it says the black is a coating, and to soak the plates in hot soapy water before washing well.
I picked up the Costco sized pizzelle packet, and now I’m wondering about gingerbread ice cream.
I normally take smitten kitchen recipes as gospel, but this was a level 5 disaster. When I tried to open the waffle maker to take out the finished waffles, all of the batter stuck to the top and bottom of the griddle rather than actually forming into a waffle. I smoked up my whole apartment while I frantically tried to scrape the mess off the still-hot iron. Tried to turn them into pancakes, and they all ran together and burned. Gave up and poured the batter down the disposal, and it was so sticky that it clogged the sink.
It’ll probably be funny tomorrow, but man was this a mess.
Am I missing something? Should I be adding flour? Turning the waffle iron to its lowest setting? Meditating? Repenting for my waffle sins?
I tried these this morning. I’ve made various versions of gingerbread waffles. I loved the spicing in these, but did not want to use as much sugar/molasses as the recipe calls for. For me, using 1 1/2 cups of sweetener (sugars, molasses) to 1 cup of flour makes the waffles overly sweet. Besides, I don’t want to pass up any opportunity to use maple syrup on top!
I reduced the molasses to 1/4 cup, the brown sugar to 1/3 cup, and omitted the white sugar. They had the right amount of sweetness for me and the gingerbread spiciness was not compromised. They turned out just right. I have an older electric Hoffritz Belgian non-stick waffle iron that works like a dream and had no sticking problem.
Most waffle irons should not be sprayed with a cooking spray. It builds up over time, cannot be adequately removed and affects the cooking surface. Just brush a little butter or oil on the waffle iron before pouring in the batter.
These were a disaster in my Oster Belgian waffle iron; fine in my Betty Crocker one. Crispy, intense. One thought: the crumbs plus crumbled bacon would be AMAZING sprinkled on ice cream. :)
I made these twice for my husband and two toddlers. They arenot just our favorite waffle recipe, but in fact our new favorite breakfast.
Both times I made it they were delicate to get out of the calphalon waffle iron, but didn’t stick at all. Got crunchy on the outside like ral Belgian waffles. Yum!!!
I also ran out of different ingredients both times. First time I didn’t have any eggs, so I mashed up a banana and it worked great. Second time I had about a quarter cup of molasses only and I subbed some brown sugar and a bit of water in its place.
So delicious and quite forgiving!
I made these waffles this morning and they are fabulous. I had no issues with sticking and the texture was perfect. Slightly crunchy on the outside and cakey on the inside. I did reduce all of the sugars: 1/4 cup of molasses, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and one tablespoon of white sugar. This was plenty of sweetness for me. Thanks Deb and Happy New Year to you and your family.
Made these this morning. Yum! Had no problem getting them out of my Philips waffle maker. Used powdered sugar but next time will try unsweetened whipped cream as the powdered sugar was too sweet (and I have a major sweet tooth).
We made this for Christmas breakfast and I have to admit they were truly delicious. It’s the kind of luxurious tasting breakfast dish you expect from Boucheron yet so easily made in your own kitchen! They weren’t as fussy as I was expecting them to be as I had minimal trouble getting the waffles out of the waffle iron. As Deb indicated, the waffles are still soft when done, but once you remove them from the iron they crisp very quickly.
I also agree with Deb that it’s completely unnecessary to put maple syrup on them. In fact you probably don’t even need confectioner’s sugar as the waffles are sweet enough and you don’t want to mar the ginger flavor too much. But we did have some leftover brandy butter from the plum pudding the previous night, and I smeared some on the waffles and I have to say the brandy butter (just butter creamed with brandy and confectioner’s sugar) and the gingerbread waffles was a marriage made in heaven. Devine and decadent.
Gingerbread is quite possibly my favorite. I would have never thought of combining them with waffles…
I think I will end up giving these a shot when I have all the ingredients ready. I’m not sure how well it would work with syrup though; maybe just a nice whip cream would work.
Had these for our Boxing Day waffle brunch – love them!
This was a DISASTER for me. Like other people said, it turned to burnt toffee instead of waffles or pancakes. There is no way to control heat on my waffle maker, so it went straight from goo to burnt candy, there was no possible intermediate stage to remove them.
Very disappointing, and even more disappointing to see that it worked for some people. I followed the recipe exactly, and I still had to throw out my waffle maker after this.
The first two were delicious but then things went quickly downhill in terms of trying to get these fragile beauties out of the waffle iron. Be prepared for some delicate work and then a very thorough scrub of your waffle iron.
Oh man, I made these as part of a holiday buffet brunch, alongside your breakfast latkes and some bacon and fruit, and what a success! Delicious, and it was delightful that the waffles crisp as they cool, which meant that I could cool them on a rack for a couple of minutes and then put them out on a platter for the taking and they were just as delicious as the moment they came off the iron. Regular waffles tend to get kind of meh quickly. Not that these sat on the serving platter for more than a couple of minutes, at least until everyone was sated. Highly recommended.
I made these for Christmas morning, and they were so sweetly delicious, it was like eating candy. So good! The only thing was that I doubled the batter, and it seemed to mess with the ratio of ingredients a bit. After ruining the first couple waffles, we added 3/4 cup more flour and one more egg, and that seemed to do the trick — the waffles held together much better, and came out of the iron much more easily. Thanks for a great Christmas morning breakfast!
How much do your flour and sugar glass canisters hold?
Many of smitten kitchen’s recipes have made their way into our permanent meal rotation. I love your sense of humor, Deb, and I feel like your recipes challenge and inspire me without intimidating me. Sadly this recipe did not work as pancakes, even with more flour added, even with the heat turned super low. Twas a bummer but we came full circle and ended up baking them as muffins and rescued the rest of the batter. Delicious as muffins. Thanks for continuing to inspire my cooking/baking!
We made these last night and loved them! We tried vanilla yogurt on some of them and applesauce on others. What a treat! We’re going to have them with vanilla ice cream for a dessert-for-dinner recipe when we have something to celebrate next! Thanks, Deb!
I merged this recipe with one for Applesauce Pancakes (from http://southernfood.about.com/od/pancakesandwaffles/r/r80910k.htm – not my own recipe but I’ve always tweaked it with unmeasured spices and loved it), using the molasses and double the spices from this recipe since that one has 2c flour, and adding a bit of white sugar from this recipe to that one as well (and using yogurt instead of applesauce this time ’cause I couldn’t be bothered defrosting any), then cooking the thick batter over a low-med temperature so the middle would get done before the outside burned. Pretty good, and less cookie-like than the waffles, which were also superb but a bit sweet for me for breakfast. As a single, I also love keeping the batter in the fridge and making one per day in my small frying pan – a whole meal in one go for 3-5 days in a row. Ah, comfort and convenience food!
Delicious! I made these waffles for breakfast yesterday and I could not eat them fast enough. So good. They were a bit flimsy taking them out of the waffle maker but using a spatula as you suggested worked out perfectly. The leftovers heated up great too.
This recipe killed my waffle iron. I’m so disappointed. Yes, I read your warning but decided to continue because my waffle iron has always been flawlessly non-stick. These waffles were a disaster. We didn’t even get one we could eat, despite prepping the iron with oil before loading it up. My lovely husband spent 45 minutes carefully cleaning the waffle iron afterward which leads to the worst part of my story. This morning I made your pumpkin waffle recipe (our favorite! the one I cook about every other week.) and the first pumpkin waffle was hopelessly stuck to the iron. I’ve given up hope on this iron. I’m glad it was a cheap Black & Decker because I’m gonna have to buy another one. As I said, I never had any problem with waffles sticking before the dreaded gingerbread waffles.
Many of your recipes are favorites of mine, and I will keep reading your blog but I really feel this recipe needs MUCH more testing and tweaking to be ready for prime time.
Deb, please rename these waffles “Gingerbread Crack”. We just had them for the third time in two weeks. Mid-bite, my super picky 4-year-old laid her head against my leg and said, “Mom, I LOVE this.” By the way, today I omitted the white sugar and added only 1/4 C of the brown and it was still wonderful.
Yeah, these were pretty darned amazing. Loved that you were generous with the ginger. Thank you!
The only change that i would make for the next time is that with my Cuisinart Belgian Waffle Maker set to medium the extra minute of cooking time that you need on yours caused mine to get a tiny bit burnt. In the future I will follow my machine’s timing precisely and I suspect that they will be perfect.
These ended up being too sweet for our taste. I guess with both sugars plus molasses they had quite a lot to basically caramelize in our (belgian) waffle maker. Probably would’ve been really tasty for dessert with some ice cream.
I made these yesterday for brunch during our snowy Pennsylvania weekend. They were an absolute hit! Even the stickiness of the waffles in the iron won’t deter us from making them again. With some fresh berries on top, they were absolutely delicious. They will definitely be added to the holiday rotation next year!
I made these waffles in December and they came out perfect. I loved the sticky/chewy exterior and tender interior. And wow the gingerbread flavor is fantastic!
Sunday, I tried this recipe again. And failed miserably. Like several other posters remarked, my waffles split open and stuck to the top and bottom of the waffle iron. I tried three times, scraping all the waffle bits off in between. The second and third times, I tried using lots of Pam instead of melted butter on the plates. The third time, I tried cooking the waffles a little less. Same results.
BUT I was able to salvage the batter by pouring the rest into a hot non stick skillet and then popping it in the oven. One giant pancake instead of a lot of waffles.
Any ideas Deb on why the waffles split open this time around? I used new baking powder and baking soda.
Thought these would be perfect to try out after googling “how to make waffles without a waffle iron” (apparently you can just pour the batter on a grill pan). Like everyone else, it burned quickly and made a sticky mess. So I tried it as a pancake in a nonstick pan, but it spread like crazy and was difficult to flip. So I added 1/2 c of flour, and that seemed to help with the stove turned down to low. I got a couple good pancakes before I ran out of batter. Hope that helps anyone having a 911 moment!
I made these today (but have been thinking about them since the recipe was originally posted) and I only want to eat these for the rest of my life. I made them exactly it was written and they were great. I used exersised patience as I eased them out of my Pam sprayed iron. Fabulous. Thank you so much.
I’ve tried a few recipes from your blog but DAMNNN this one is GOOD!! This recipe alone is worth buying a waffle iron for!!
Could you PLEASE make more waffle recipes? Or list ones you like? Thanks !
Oh, my! This is the most wonderful breakfast. I added just enough flour to make pancakes, and they were so incredible:)
Thanks!
Another burn victim here! And on my first Smitten Kitchen recipe attempt! What a failure! I wish I’d read the comments first.
Cleanup is a super duper major messy bummer. And I’m hungry without waffles in my tummy. Do I dare try any other recipes??
Like Jaime, I did exactly the same. Waffles were a disaster mess so I moved to pancakes and that turned into a bigger pile of mess. We served it up on a plate of random bits of waffle and pancake slop topped with whipped cream that was flavored with maple syrup and orange zest and it was a disgusting looking mess- that was still delicious. However I have a huge mess to clean up and won’t dare try this again! ;-)
I made these this morning to compare with another Gingerbread Waffle recipe that I like (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/21018/gingerbread-waffles-with-hot-chocolate-sauce/?internalSource=search%20result&referringContentType=search%20results) and this recipe didn’t seem to have enough flour when I cooked the first two waffles (they were very limp and burned), so I added more flour (about 3/4 a cup) they seemed to do okay.
Made these for a birthday breakfast yesterday. The flavor is incredible. I think it would be a great dessert with spiced poached pears and some creme freche. My waffle iron is a disaster, though. Be sure to butter the iron between each waffle.
The texture of these was terrible – so soft. It’s like you just cooked gingerbread cake batter in a waffle iron. Aside from the shape, they are not waffles.
doubled this recipe for a joint Christmas & birthday breakfast this morning, and the waffles were absolutely heavenly: crispy edges, tender insides, fabulous spice and molasses flavor. (5 minutes in our lightly greased nonstick waffle maker worked like a charm.) we topped them with warm homemade applesauce and a scant amount of maple syrup – highly recommend.
These were amazing!!
So yummy! I’ve made these several times and never had a sticking issue (knock wood). Letting them sit for a little bit after opening the iron gives you something to hold on to. I served them tonight with whipped cream and pomegranate seeds. The crunchy sweet/sour taste was a perfect addition.
This recipe was a disaster for me, though fortunately it didn’t slay my waffle iron (unlike more than a few commenters), just produced a bunch of inedible, too-sweet pucks. Seems like some folks have lucked out and made tasty waffles, and that’s great for them. But, I feel like there should be some sort of disclaimer at the top of the post, warning that there is a not-insignificant chance that this recipe might waste a bunch of ingredients and possibly kill your iron. First ever bad experience with a Smitten recipe!
I concur! Holy shit what an unexpected disaster! We’ve been had! LOL
These were an unmitigated disaster in my Krups Belgian waffle maker. Leave them too long, the burned. Try to take them out earlier, and the bottom stuck to the bottom and the top stuck to the top. What a waste.
Unmitigated disaster is right! I had the same problem! So frustrating. Tried to salvage as pancakes but they burned even on low heat…Too much sugar in the recipe I think.
Giant fail on Christmas morning… top stuck to the top & bottom to the bottom of the iron. Crumbly bits I pulled out were tasty, but obviously there was no presentation in that.
Tried to recover the meal by throwing some batter in a pan but they don’t work as pancakes either. I used bobs red mill gf ap flour and followed the recipe to a tee otherwise :( Sounds like I wasn’t the only one though…
Hey Deb, just made these babies! I have to say, I was super reluctant after reading all the comments. But these guys came out well for me!! I have 2 different waffle irons, a circular skinny one and a squash Belgian one. I tried the batter on both with almost no issues. The first round were perhaps a little over done but definitely not burnt. But I learned after that and the rest came out wonderfully! Thanks for giving me another use for the beauty that is molasses! Oh! And I also used a 1:1 substitution for the all purpose flour with some whole wheat pastry flour :)
These were delicious!!! I made them in my cheap little plug-in waffle maker, made sure to butter the surface (which I don’t normally need to do), and to be careful about lifting out the waffles. Beautiful and crispy and so tasty.
Unsweetened applesauce on top? Lemon curd?
Lemon curd would work; maybe lightly barely sweetened cream or a dollop of creme fraiche? I’m basically all about the dairy products with gingerbread.
I made these for breakfast. You have created a monster, Deb! I heartily recommend these with a little scoop of frozen vanilla “whipped cream.” So delicious! Thanks for the treat today!
I should have read the reviews as well before I made this. I also had terrible trouble with sticking and burning. I have a Waring Pro and it does the job but this just was a mess. I turned the rest of the batter into pancakes so the kids did eat something from breakfast. Bummer. Usually these recipes are spot on.
What kind of waffle maker did you use?
I made these yesterday. At first I put my Belgian waffle maker on high and burned the first two. Then I did as you instructed and turned the heat down to medium. All the rest came out beautifully. They didn’t stick and although they were soft and difficult to pull out whole, after sitting on the plate for a minute they were beautifully crisp and delicious.
These are incredible. I love their intense flavor and how crispy they get after sitting for a minute or so.Thanks for the recipe,
Cold, winter days make me intensely crave gingerbread and these have a great gingerbread flavor.
Deb gave all the best instructions–she’s not kidding about middle heat on the waffle iron (I burned my first one, since I’ve never cooked waffles on anything other than “high” on my iron) and the fact that they’ll be delicate when you try to get them out of the waffle iron (I used nonstick coconut oil spray and they didn’t stick to the iron at all though)! I would make these again for a special occasion, but personally found them too sweet for Friday breakfast. It’s a little bit like gingerbread cake in waffle format. I got exactly 6 waffles on my cheap, circular Belgian waffle maker.
Success here! Made these in my Krupps Belgian waffle iron and followed the instructions to the letter. Buttered the iron, top and bottom (which I don’t normally do). It was a little difficult to tell at first when they were done, but they came out soft and wimpy but then crisped up as they cooled. They were almost more like a cookie than a breakfast food though. So sweet! Delicious, but better for dessert next time!
Thanks (I think 😉) for the insta reminder about these. They are incredible, why have plain waffles when you can have deep dark gingerbread. The doorman in my Bldg is the lucky recipient, the only way I know of so we don’t eat them all at once – #nowillpower
Thanks (I think 😉) for the insta reminder about these. Made exactly as written. They are incredible, why have plain waffles when you can have deep dark gingerbread. The doorman in my Bldg is the lucky recipient, the only way I know of so we don’t eat them all at once – #nowillpower
You’re right this is so good! Luckily the waffle did not stick, probably the butter, it was easy to remove. This is now the new favorite breakfast in my house. Thank you for the recipe.
Fantastic recipe. Made it exactly as described but halved for two people. Once you oil the iron (non stick spray great for getting into the crevices) no hassle at all. Had with bacon, definitely benefitted from salty counterpart. Delightful!
I [completely inadvertently] omitted the sugar in these and they still came out great. I imagine it kept them from crisping up as much, but it also kept them from sticking. We each put just a bit of maple syrup on our waffles and all agreed that we will continue to omit the sugar when we make them again. They were delicious!
These gingerbread waffles were everything you promised and more. Christmas morning with coffee and mimosas? Yessiree! Thanks for the great recipe!
We are HUGE fans of your pumpkin waffles in our house and I made these today hoping to add another waffle to our holiday rotation. Although the flavor was yummy, I learned the hard way that these really do need to be eaten immediately. They were soft and slightly sticky out of the waffle iron, as promised (your recommendations for removing the waffles from the iron were spot on), and once cooled for a minute has a nice crisp to the surface, but as they sat while I cooked all up for my family of 4 they continued to harden and became too crunchy/chewy for our tastes. We normally freeze any leftover pumpkin waffles and they reheat beautifully. I think these waffles have a much shorter life span, though still tasty, are best eaten when cooking and serving only one or two at a time.
I just made these while home visiting my parents. I’m so glad I didn’t try to make them on Christmas morning… this was a huge mess!! The flavor is amazing, but they’re so lacy and wispy and utterly fell apart. They stuck to the waffle iron and we ate them in crumbled piles of deliciousness. They win for flavor, but not for execution. Maybe we’ll try making pancakes out of the batter next time. I always trust Deb implicitly and NEVER alter her recipes, but this was a bummer.
You are right these are beyond amazing, but messy to make. I used a chocolate Bock beer for my liquid are they are dessert for new year’s eve, thank you!!!
Loved them! I am a gingerbread fanatic and thought they were delicious, especially loved the texture after they cool off for a few minutes. They do stick but it still worked out for me using my cheap proctor silex waffle maker and buttering between each waffle. I think they would make an excellent dessert, a bit too sweet for brunch.
I absolutely ADORED these. I did not have any issues with the waffles sticking using butter or non-stick spray (I tried both to see if one worked better than the other, I didn’t find either was better or worse). They are a bit flimsy to remove from the iron but, like magic, crisp up within a minute of removing them. They are deep, dark, sweet and intense! Total winner.
I’m a huge fan of the Gramercy Tavern Gingerbread, so couldn’t resist trying these. I’ve made these three times this week in a Belgian-style waffler, using stout as in the cake recipe. First time, I didn’t have quite enough molasses so I made up the difference with dark corn syrup and left out the white sugar to reduce the sweetness. They were a real delight. The second time, I used the full amount of molasses and sugars, but the molasses seemed more prominent than I liked. So the third time I again used two syrups (110 grams molasses, 55 grams dark corn syrup) and again left out the white sugar. That suited! One can freeze and then toast the extras, though it requires care lest they burn. Served with crème fraîche on the side is a delightful dessert.
These are wonderful! They really do crisp up after. Super yummy.
How do you make them so consistent? I messed it up and tear them getting out of waffle maker.
First, they’re definitely a pain so it’s not just you. I tend to do as I describe above: open the lid. It lets the steam out so they firm up a bit. Then gently ease them up, first the corners, then sides. It comes out more easily when I take my time. I think the trapped steam in the irons as they cook make it harder for them to set up.
Can the batter be made the night before?
No, once the baking soda is mixed in, you’ll want to use it.
The flavor of these waffles is spot on. We sprayed our waffle iron well, so didn’t have any trouble with sticking. Our struggle is that the waffles are so tender while in the iron that they didn’t hold together when we tried to lift them out, no matter what we tried. Our compromise? Picked up the waffle iron (with hot pads), turned it over and tipped out the waffle. Not pretty, and they didn’t crisp up quite as they did for others, but they were absolutely delicious. They need no butter or syrup, though a sprinkling of powdered sugar was beautiful. Served with a side of bacon and juice. Delicious!
gotta say this is a miss for me. wayyy too much molasses, the batter is too wet, and the texture of the cooked waffles was not good. ended up throwing everything out.
I only have a one-waffle maker and three kids, so I made these as pancakes. I didn’t realize I didn’t have enough molasses (I added enough milk to make it a pancake batter) and I completely didn’t even see that I was supposed to add two types of sugar (the risks of morning cooking with three helpers who bicker as much as they help) and they were still a hit. I will try them again with the right amounts of molasses and sugar, but even still, we all liked these and the house smells like Christmas.
They look delicious! My son sent me this! I think this is a big hint!
I made these using apple cider instead of buttermilk, omitted the granulated sugar and though they were still wicked sweet, they were absolutely gingerbread nirvana. They do love to tear–I could only get about half a waffle out of the iron at a time, limited by the size of my spatula–but I had some with a little vanilla Greek yogurt on top and have ascended to the next higher plane of existence. I write to you from the great beyond. Most of the waffle-quarters are going to end up stashed in my freezer, and my future self is already grateful. Thanks for this recipe!!
Yum! I also omitted the granulated sugar and the sweetness was still sufficient. After reading the comments I threw in 2 additional flax eggs to ensure it all stayed together and they didn’t give me any issues on my cheapo plug in iron with lots of cooking spray.
Have you tried this as a pancake at any point over the years? Do you have any advice? I googled the difference and learned that waffles have more sugar and oil than pancakes, so I went with that, and had mixed success.
I left out the white sugar (per my finding about pancakes being less sweet), mixed the rest of the dry ingredients, and split the result by weight into 4 parts since I’m single, putting 3 of them into baggies. (I love having single-lady-pancake dry stuff ready for the weekends.) I tried to mix up 1/4 of the wet stuff, though less of the butter to cut down on oil (per Google again). Gotta admit that the butter and egg weren’t super exact, but I enjoyed having roughly 3/4 of an egg fried up as a side dish, lol. The finished texture was amazing – fluffy yet dense, and full of flavor. The trouble was that I couldn’t really flip it. Eventually I got it over in messy pieces, and it tasted great even if it was not pretty.
I think next time I’d put in less yogurt/whey and molasses, and then cover the frying pan right away instead of as an afterthought near the end. The lid got a ton of condensation on it, so these were definitely quite moist. Didn’t need ANY sugar or syrup, just a glass of juice or milk on the side!
Well. This was my first MAJOR smitten kitchen fail. And major cooking fail in general. The waffles split and stuck to my waffle maker. Then I tried to salvage into pancakes but they just burnt. Had to give my very hangry toddler a freezer waffle and now I have no dinner and this is one very sad, very pregnant, woman who just wanted to feed her gingerbread and waffle craving.
Because the pandemic is stupid, my fourth grade students and I made these today in class and whoa! These are out of this world good!
Last week we made the pumpkin waffles (also amazing) and I was confused about why that recipe had 4 eggs and this only one. After reading the comments about it being difficult to get the waffle out of the iron, we doubled the eggs, separated them, mixed the yolks into the wet ingredients, beat the whites into stiff peaks, and folded them in. I got this idea from the buttermilk waffle recipe, and I really think it paid off. These waffles ARE tender, and I took a couple out too soon, but otherwise they came out well. Thank you for such an amazing recipe, Deb!
Waffle failure. I followed the recipe exactly. Made in a cuisinart waffle maker. I don’t know if the batter is too wet or too high sugar content but then they just disintegrated
I loved the recipe! i want to test for christmas coffee with my family. later I’ll tell you if it worked!
Well, I thought these looked really good, but we don’t have a waffle maker, so I thought we could make them into pancakes. We doubled the buttermilk and tried. They basically just stuck and never became pancakes. Eager to salvage the batter, which was delicious, I sprayed a muffin tin and poured them in! We baked them for about 12 minutes at 375. Then we let them cool. Served them inverted with creme fraiche. They were quite dessert-like, but still very good. So if you are struggling with the waffle version, I’d suggest the cake option. With eggs or bacon or fruit, you can call it breakfast. They tasted really great!
wow this was a disaster. the sugar basically just liquified and there isnt enough dry in there to make it form a shape. i tried both with cast iron waffle maker and as a pancake. a sad christmas morning attempt
Merry Christmas! Made these this morning and they were great. They are something you only want once a year maybe, so rich and pretty sweet. We cut back on the sugar because we are cutting back on sugar, and we made a quick lemon sauce to pour over. Hope you and yours are enjoying the holiday season.
This is definitely not the consensus opinion, but I actually preferred these waffles the next day very slightly warmed from the fridge with a little bit of yogurt and fruit. They were chewy and sticky and perfect for sweet snacking.
These were great. I reduced the sugar by half because I knew my kids would cover them in maple syrup no matter what. I used medium heat and lots of butter on the waffle iron and they didn’t stick too much though it was a delicate process getting them out. Nice for a change of pace to our usual waffles.
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I made these this morning for Christmas breakfast (2022). My kids, 4 and 8, love gingerbread, and these were a huge hit. I served them with whiped cream, although my oldest is a gingerbread purist and only wanted powdered sugar on his.
I added too much butter. I melted a couple extra tablespoons to use on the iron and then accidentally used the entire amount in the batter. So 5 instead of 3 tablespoons. I added an egg white just in case it was going to make them fall apart. This definitely affected the texture. Mine were super soft coming off the iron, but didn’t tear or stick in the slightest (I have a non stick iron and also used avocado oil cooking spray). As they cooled they firmed up, although I suspect I didn’t get the crunchy outside because of the unintentionally modified recipe. They were awesome nevertheless and pretty simple to make. Definitely will be on the menu for future winter breakfast/brunches. I might make them for new years.
I also wanted to mention that my iron typically takes 6 mins plus at high for perfect waffles but these were ready in about 5 in medium heat. So I guess that extra butter and egg white made quite a big difference…
I followed directions exactly and THANK YOU for the explicit directions for removing the waffles from the waffle iron! Yes they were soft and fragile at first but crisped up beautifully. The flavor was spot on and my house smelled delightful! The next time ( which will be soon ) I hope to try using whole grain pastry flour. What do you think?
These were amazing! They’re very rich. I think that half of a full size waffle would be as much as most people would eat for breakfast. They’d make an excellent dessert as well, topped with a little ice cream, perhaps, and some sugared cranberries. Definitely a winner! (PS, I made them with gluten free flour from Bob’s RedMill – the 1:1 baking mix, and they were great.)
I’m so sad, this was the first complete failure I’ve experienced with a SK recipe. The issue was not sticking – the waffles simply did not hold together whatsoever. Leaving them longer just leads them to burn (rapidly), even on the lowest heat. I tried them as pancakes, but they just spread to high heaven and I knew I couldn’t play with the heat without burning them.
Allison, I followed the direction of using a small spatula slipped under the waffles while carefully removing from the waffle iron. I didn’t think they would firm up as they were quite sticky but they definitely did and were crispy and delicious.
Thank you for your reply, Carol! Unfortunately even just gently lifting a corner to get the spatula underneath made the waffle completely fall apart. Perhaps it was something specific about the brands of ingredients I used (though I used the same molasses as Deb), but no amount of gentleness could even allow me to get them out and onto a plate/rack in a few pieces, let alone one. Glad to hear you had success, though!
These are our Christmas morning tradition, and this year, I’m happy to report that I was able to skip the *curse Deb* step because I got a new waffle maker—the one you recommended. They slid right out of the grids without any coaxing. Hooray!