Today’s gingerbread waffles come together with a handful of basic kitchen ingredients, plus plenty of deep, warm gingerbread spices. They’re crisp and light right out of the waffle maker, and taste fantastic with maple pecan syrup, sugared cranberries, and/or a flurry of confectioners’ sugar on top. What could be better on a winter weekend morning?
One reader, Kimmy, commented: “These were so festive and delicious! The pecan syrup was the highlight for our family—the flavor went perfectly with the waffles! ★★★★★“
Another reader, Hailey, commented: “Absolutely delicious gingerbread flavor without being overpowering. I ate them completely plain because it was so nice! They were light and fluffy… Can’t recommend these enough for the holidays! ★★★★★“
I have to admit, I don’t whip out the waffle maker often. When I’m serving something luxurious (and sweet) for breakfast, I usually turn to this baked cream cheese French toast casserole. But that’s what helps make homemade waffles extra special; they’re not an everyday breakfast, so when you serve them, they’re REALLY appreciated. Do you make homemade waffles often?
I’m certainly glad I have a waffle maker, because of recipes like this (and also for pumpkin spice waffles!). These spiced gingerbread waffles are my new favorite reason to get out the neglected appliance. And if you enjoy these by the fire with snow falling outside, you’re definitely winning at winter breakfasts. 😉
Here’s Why You’ll Love These Gingerbread Waffles
- Crisp outside and chewy-soft inside
- Excellent gingerbread spice flavor that really comes through
- Not overly sweet, so maple pecan syrup is a perfect (and easy) topping
- Makes for a special holiday breakfast
- Can be made as gingerbread pancakes, too!
I used my buttermilk waffles recipe as the base. They’re a shade darker, thanks to the molasses, brown sugar, and spices. I added molasses, and therefore a little more flour. I slightly reduced the sugar, switched it to brown, and very slightly reduced the buttermilk. With each test batch (there were 3!), I added more and more spices so you really get that spice flavor, like a batch of gingerbread cookies or gingerbread cake.
Most notably, I skipped separating the eggs. This is a handy step for extra fluffy waffles, but I didn’t notice much of a difference here. The batter is already quite light.
Let Me Show You How to Make Them
Making a homemade waffle batter is easier than you think, and tastes so much better than a packaged mix. If you can turn on your waffle maker, and mix ingredients together, you can make waffles.
- Preheat your waffle maker. Here’s the waffle maker I own and love. If you’re looking for seasonal shapes, I love these mini snowflake and gingerbread person waffle makers.
- Combine the dry ingredients.
- Whisk the wet ingredients together and combine it all. Combine but do not over-mix! Some small lumps are fine—don’t worry about that.
- Pour batter into greased waffle maker. Close the lid and cook the waffles until crisp, which only takes about 4 minutes in my waffle maker. All waffle makers are different, so keep an eye on your cooking waffles and check often. Repeat with remaining batter.
Keep waffles warm as you cook the rest: If serving all of the waffles at once, transfer the cooked waffles to a wire rack on a baking sheet and place in a preheated 200°F (93°C) oven to keep them warm until the whole batch is ready.
Here’s the wet ingredient mixture. Pour it all into your dry ingredients:
Some small lumps are fine. Pour into your preheated and greased waffle maker:
Can I Make These as Gingerbread Pancakes?
Yes, please do! My team and I tested this batter cooked as pancakes, and they were also delicious. Pancakes have a softer, spongier texture than the crispness you get with waffles, but the flavor is exactly the same.
Optional Maple Pecan Topping
You can serve the gingerbread waffles with a simple pat of butter and your favorite syrup, but I especially love them with toasted pecans and warm maple syrup.
Toast the pecans in a saucepan on the stove for just a few minutes, then add the maple syrup to the pecans in the pan and let it warm through (doesn’t take long!), before spooning the mixture over the top of the plated gingerbread waffles.
I also added some sugared cranberries for garnish (what I use to garnish this pumpkin pie), and a dusting of confectioners’ sugar. The snowy sugar and sparkling red berries make this breakfast extra festive for the holidays.
Of course all of these toppings are optional, so feel free to pick and choose your gingerbread waffle’s destiny. They’re also fantastic topped with lemon curd (lemon and ginger are a fated match… see these gingerbread muffins) and homemade whipped cream! Or you could make a batch of homemade candied pecans for topping, too.
Other Winter Breakfast Recipes
Gingerbread Waffles
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes (includes batches)
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 4-inch square waffles
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Gingerbread waffles come together with a handful of basic ingredients, plus plenty of deep, warm gingerbread spices. They’re crisp and light right out of the waffle maker, and taste fantastic with maple pecan syrup. Try them as gingerbread pancakes, too!
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1/4 cup (50g) light or dark brown sugar (I use dark)
- 1/4 cup (60ml) unsulphured or dark molasses (do not use blackstrap; I prefer Grandma’s brand)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 and 2/3 cups (about 400ml) buttermilk*
Optional Maple Pecan Topping
- 3/4 cup (90g) pecan halves
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) pure maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat waffle maker on medium-high heat. Preheat oven to 200°F (93°C). Place a wire rack on a baking sheet; set aside.
- Make the gingerbread waffle batter: In a large bowl preferably with a pour spout, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
- In another large bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, and molasses together. Whisk in the eggs, and then the buttermilk, until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk gently until combined. Do not over-mix. Some small lumps are OK.
- Grease the preheated waffle maker (I use nonstick spray). Pour about 1/3 cup of the batter into each well of the waffle maker (or less if your waffle maker is smaller) and close the lid. Cook the waffles until crisp, about 4–5 minutes. (Follow the cooking instructions for your waffle maker.) Transfer the cooked waffles to the wire rack and keep warm in the preheated oven as you cook the rest. Repeat to cook the remaining batter.
- Meanwhile, as the waffles cook, make the optional maple pecan topping: Place the pecans in a saucepan or skillet set over medium-low heat. Toast the pecans for just about 4–5 minutes, stirring the whole time, because pecans can go from toasted to burnt in a matter of seconds. When they’re giving off a subtle toasty scent, turn the heat down to low and pour in the maple syrup. Leave it on the stove for just a minute, until the syrup is warmed through, and then remove from heat.
- Serve the waffles immediately with warm maple pecan syrup, or your choice of toppings.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Waffles are best enjoyed freshly made. I recommend freezing any leftover cooled waffles. Waffles can be frozen for up to 3 months, then warmed in the toaster.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Mixing Bowls (preferably with a pour spout) | Whisk | Waffle Maker or Mini Snowflake and Gingerbread Waffle Makers | Saucepan (for optional maple pecan topping)
- Buttermilk: You can substitute whole milk for buttermilk if desired. However, if you’d like the tangy flavor, which I highly recommend, you can make a DIY buttermilk substitute. Add 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice or white vinegar to a liquid measuring cup. Add enough milk to make 1 and 2/3 cup. Whisk together, then let sit for 5 minutes before using in the recipe. Whole milk is best for the DIY sour milk substitute, though lower-fat or nondairy milks work in a pinch. Do not use nonfat milk.
- Waffle Maker: You can use this recipe in either a Belgian or traditional waffle maker or iron. The suggested cooking time is just a suggestion. Follow the cooking instructions for your specific waffle maker.
- Can I make these as gingerbread pancakes? Yes! No changes to the batter recipe. Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat. Coat generously with nonstick cooking spray or butter. Once hot, drop about 1/4 cup of batter on the griddle. Cook until the edges look dry and bubbles begin to form on the surface. Flip and cook on the other side until cooked through, about 2 more minutes. Coat griddle/skillet again with cooking spray or butter for each pancake or batch of pancakes.
- Other Topping Suggestions: Lemon curd; whipped cream; sugared cranberries; dusting of confectioners’ sugar, sifted
Reader Comments and Reviews
Made them for Christmas brunch!
These are insane. I used whole wheat flour, pumpkin pie spice (no cinnamon on hand), almond milk w/ vinegar and even a tbsp of frozen grated ginger in addn to ground and a bit of freshly grated nutmeg and wow. Served with bourbon maple syrup. Slightly chewy and richly spiced and gorgeous. Air fry before serving for a couple min. to add crisp! In gingerbread heaven. Ty!!!
Absolutely delicious and simple recipe. Will make again. 🙂
Could I use the pumpkin pie spice mix from the website rather than mixing a whole new batch of spices? What if I added extra ginger to it? Would it pretty much be equivalent?
You can use pumpkin pie spice and add extra ginger, yes.
Can I make these with whole wheat flour?
Hi Amber, you could certainly try using some whole wheat flour in place of the all-purpose flour, but the texture will be heavier and perhaps even a bit dry. We’d start by replacing a small amount, then adjusting for more/less in future batches. Hope you enjoy them!
These are the best waffles! I make them every time I make sugared cranberries because they go so well!! Crowd pleaser for sure! This time I left them out all day but froze them before going to bed. Is that ok or should I have frozen them sooner?
Hi Em, so glad you love these! We’d recommend freezing any leftover waffles after they’ve cooled completely.
I made these for my family’s last holiday breakfast before everyone headed home from our week together. They tasted like Christmas and were DELICIOUS! Many commenters warned that they are not crispy, and when I removed them from my waffle maker they were not. BUT, when resting in the oven as others cooked, they crisped up perfectly while remaining a little soft in the middle. The oven is an important final step. I put the leftovers in the freezer to have for breakfast in the days ahead, and I saved the recipe for next Christmas! YUM!
The flavor of these waffles with whipped cream was really yummy. They never were crisp though, which was a bit disappointing.
If you follow Sally’s tip, “ Transfer the cooked waffles to the wire rack and keep warm in the preheated oven as you cook the rest.” they come out perfectly crisp.
Made this for Christmas morning today! Family loved it! Prepped the dry ingredients the night before to minimize prep time in the morning. Followed recipe as is, did the trick for the buttermilk with vinegar and came out delish! Everyone loved it!
These are very soft/soggy. I like my waffles crispy!
If you follow Sally’s tip, “ Transfer the cooked waffles to the wire rack and keep warm in the preheated oven as you cook the rest.” they come out perfectly crisp
Hi Sally! I love your page, it’s always my go-to when it comes to cookies and other desserts.
I used this recipe yesterday to make pancakes and wasn’t expecting it to make such a big batch, I used 1/3 cup for pouring the batter instead 1/4 and I think I got around 30 pancakes! They were delicious but there’s only 2 of us and I’d hate for them to go to waste. Is there any way to make the recipe make less pancakes? Or can they be frozen? Never heard of freezing pancakes, only waffles but I’m running out of options and I despise food waste especially when it’s something I made from scratch.
Thank you so much Sally and have a merry Christmas!!
Hi Nadia, they can be frozen! Up to 3 months.
I made these this morning to kick off a family fun day of local Christmas activities. They were delicious! I loved the flavor but prefer waffles a little crisper. I have another waffle recipe I love that is not gingerbread and it calls for whipping the egg whites separately then folding into the batter as the last step of mixing. Would that technique work with this recipe? Thank you for all your amazing recipes!
This recipe looks delicious! I’d like to make it for breakfast on a busy weekend morning. Can I make the batter several days in advance and store it in the fridge to save time on the morning I’ll be making the waffles?
Hi Jenny! We don’t recommend making the waffle batter ahead of time because it won’t rise/puff up properly when cooked. Waffles can be frozen for up to 3 months, then warmed in the toaster, if you would like to fully make them ahead of time.
Thank you for the quick reply! I’ll mix the dry ingredients now but wait to put it all together until the morning of.
Love this recipe! Especially for the Christmas Season! We actually subbed a few ingredients bc we didn’t have them but still turned out amazing! I did a flax meal egg replacement and vegan buttermilk. So yummy!! Next time I’ll try the OG recipe.
-1 tbsp of flax and 3tbsp of water per egg
-1 and 2/3 cup of almond milk and tbsp of ACV
-if too soupy, add 1/4 cup of flour, no more than 1/2 cup
I’m so glad you tried, and commented about, using flax egg! I use flax egg for our usual everyday waffles and figured it would be fine. So happy to see someone already did it successfully. Merry Christmas!
Perfect for the holidays! Fast, easy and flavorful.YUM.
This recipe is wonderful! Perfect for the holidays, the spices make it so flavorful that I would eat these plain!
Great breakfast waffle! Made icecream sandwiches with the left over waffles!
Hello!
Would it be possible to substitute the molasses for golden syrup?
Its very difficult to find molasses in australia.
Excited to try this!!!
Hi Tilda, we haven’t tested it, but if you do, keep in mind that the flavor will be different. There’s not a great substitute for molasses that will still give you that signature gingerbread flavor.
Do you have treacle in Australia? You can sub treacle, it is very similar. I often use treacle instead of molasses because I prefer it. In Canada you can get both.
These were great! I had baked so many cookies I only had whole wheat flour and I used egg replacer, but they still came out delicious and perfectly crispy on the outside. I used the butter pecan syrup I had already, but the toasted pecan topping recipe sounds good too. I’ll be making the dry mix with a little jar of molasses as part of a brunch basket for a friend.
I’m asking here since I can’t find anyway to leave a comment on your chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe. I think the ability to leave a comment on that particular recipe is broken.
I didn’t see ant instructions for how to melt the room temperature butter. How kong are you supposed to put it in the microwave for?
Hi Nick! That will depend on your microwave. Just heat it in short bursts (20-30 seconds), stirring in-between each, until the butter is melted.
Hi Sally,
How do I cut this recipe in half? Excited to try but don’t need the leftovers!
Hi Tuyen, you can halve the recipe by halving all ingredients.
Do these taste a lot like molasses? If so do you have recommendations for molasses substitute? My mom is not a fan of molassss and i’d love to make these for christmas morning!
Hi Cass, we have these regular buttermilk waffles that you might be interested in instead. Let us know if you try them!
Absolutely loved this recipe!! I tried it this weekend and my family is asking daily for them. The sugared cranberries complimented the sweet and spicy notes. These were very light and fluffy but left them in a bit longer for my hubs who likes them a bit crispy on the edges. Thanks for this recipe Sally!
My waffles were dense. Is that how it’s supposed to be or any tips on how I can make a lighter waffle in the future?!
Hi Felicia! Make sure not to over-mix the batter and properly measure the flour – spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
Easy-to-follow recipe – comes together quickly. Made delicious, fluffy, but not crispy, waffles. I left the last waffle sitting in the waffle iron, after the timer sounded, while I finished setting the table and that one had a crispy exterior – so that points the way to a longer cooking time. So, that’s what I’ll do next time – ’cause there will be a next time for this recipe. Thanks, Sally.