Hello lovelies,
today I am sharing my recipe for these apple chia waffles with you – the best vegan waffles I have made so far. Crispy on the outside, moist and sweet inside, exactly the way a waffle should be. At our house they land on the table at the weekend, when everyone is still in pyjamas and no one is in a hurry. For the rest of the week, my apple recipes from breakfast to dinner have plenty more ideas.
We ate them topped with coconut sugar, caramelized pecans, apple slices, pomegranate arils and the first wild strawberries – they grow right in front of our house and the girls picked them specially. Perfect for a waffle Sunday with the family, or simply on any day you love waffles as much as we do. When the brunch table needs something savory next to all that sweetness, I bake vegan pretzel balls, little yeast-dough bites that get their shine from a baking-soda bath.
For the apple slices on top I like a sweet variety that tastes good raw. Which ones those are is in my rundown of apple varieties from sweet to tart.
What makes this recipe special: the waffles are completely egg-free. Instead of egg, soaked chia seeds bind the batter so the waffles hold together beautifully while baking. Together with the finely grated apples they stay lovely and moist inside, while a splash of sparkling water gives them their crisp outside. Those same seeds turn into my black chia pudding with activated charcoal overnight, deep black in the glass and served under light yogurt and dark berries.
Chia seeds
Chia is the secret star in the batter: the tiny seeds swell up in the liquid and turn into a natural binder – the perfect egg replacement for vegan baking. As a bonus they bring fiber and valuable omega-3 fatty acids, so the waffles are not only delicious but also pleasantly filling. I wrote a whole guide on what a filling breakfast does for kids' focus, if you want to go deeper.
A well-preheated waffle iron is key. Only once it is really hot do you add the batter, batch by batch – that is how the apple chia waffles turn golden brown and crispy. They taste best, of course, fresh from the iron, straight onto the plate and off to the breakfast table.
If you love these apple chia waffles, my breakfast kitchen has more crispy treats waiting for you: for a fruity, spiced twist I adore my crispy orange-carrot waffles, if you prefer a skillet version my apple pancakes are just the thing, and for a sweet afternoon I recommend my waffles with strawberry-mint sauce. I would be so happy if you bake these waffles – leave me a comment and let me know how they turned out.
Chia seeds also work as an egg substitute, by the way: exactly how the chia egg works is in my guide to how to use chia seeds. PINTEREST
Mix the batter with soy milk and these waffles earn their place among my breakfast ideas with plenty of protein, where you will find the other 11 too.
The flour is swappable here too, by the way: the buckwheat guide explains why waffle batter works even without any wheat flour.
