My kids are waffle fanatics. I personally prefer pancakes, but when you’re making breakfast for five it’s best to go with the crowd… and the crowd in our house adamantly cheers “WAFFLES!” at least once a week. I know that when most people think of waffles on a hectic weekday morning they think eggo – but I promise that these whip up in barely more time than it takes to toast a ready-made waffle, and they are infinitely more tasty!

I originally found a variation of this waffle recipe on allrecipes and I used to make it just as written, but when Edith came along and was allergic to all dairy products I started looking for ways to make the foods that we love, but in a way that both I as a nursing mom to a baby with a dairy allergy and our food-loving kids could be happy with. The secret, as it turns out, is almond milk! Soy milk in recipes can make baked goods taste a bit, well, soyish but almond milk has very little in the way of distinct flavor, and it is nice and creamy which is delicious! My recipe also makes half as many waffles – as we would hardly ever eat a full batch of the original recipe, and my waffle snobs prefer fresh waffles to reheated (even though I think they’re great toasted the next day!)

If you know me at all you’ll know that I hate to get a bunch of dishes dirty unnecessarily while cooking – while I love to make things I definitely don’t love washing dishes – so I’ve devised a way of making my homemade batters with only one bowl and measuring implements. Most recipes will have you mix wet and dry ingredients separately, and it’s for good reason. The more that you mix up flour with liquid ingredients, the more that gluten is formed, which can make things dense and chewy – it’s the reason that every muffin recipe ever written implores you not to over-mix. To make a batter without over-mixing while still making sure that all of the rest of the dry ingredients are well incorporated, I’ve taken to modifying ever so slightly and mixing all of the wet ingredients thoroughly, then adding every dry ingredient but the flour, mixing well and then, at the last minute adding in the flour and giving one last stir. There is, of course, also still the issue of the leavening – in this case baking powder, which begins to be activated as soon as the liquid touches it – but I find in a recipe like waffles or pancakes where the whole thing start to finish is done in 5 minutes or less, it doesn’t make much difference.

For me, the secret to the world’s fluffiest waffles is tons and tons of whisking. I whisk the liquid ingredients into a proper frenzy before adding the dry ingredients (except for the flour, don’t forget to wait on the flour!) then giving it another big whisking before adding the flour and giving one last stir.

My batter is always crazy light and bubbly, but it makes some of the fluffiest waffles known to man!

I’m providing two versions of this recipe today – and I liken the difference between them to the difference between a sinful nutella crepe and it’s slightly less decadent cousin the galette de sarrasin (buckwheat crepe). They’re both delicious and I personally would eat either one any day of the week – but some days you might feel just the tiniest bit guilty that your nutella crepe isn’t ticking all the nutritional check-boxes and long for something with ever so slightly more of a nod to health. In that case go for the wheat waffle with slightly less oil. I discovered that these waffles would still turn out with zero oil during a hectic morning when I omitted it entirely. In this version I add a little oil but not quite as much – it’s still delicious (especially with some jam like my kids eat them) but never quite *as* delicious in my opinion as the original waffle (topped with whipped cream, of course).

Sinfully delicious dairy-free waffles
Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

Directions
In a large bowl, whisk one egg until foamy. Add almond milk, vanilla and vegetable oil and whisk thoroughly again. Once mixed, add in sugar, baking powder and salt and whisk a third time. Once all dry ingredients are well incorporated, add in flour and mix until just combined. Pour into pre-heated waffle iron. Follow your waffle-maker’s directions for cook time. Mine are done right when the steam starts slowing noticeably from the sides of the waffle maker. Top with freshly whipped coconut cream and enjoy!

Tasty dairy-free wheat waffles
Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/8 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

Directions
In a large bowl, whisk one egg until foamy. Add almond milk, vanilla and vegetable oil and whisk thoroughly again. Once mixed, add in sugar, baking powder and salt and whisk a third time. Once all dry ingredients are well incorporated, add in flours and mix until just combined. Pour into pre-heated waffle iron. Follow your waffle-maker’s directions for cook time. Mine are done right when the steam starts slowing noticeably from the sides of the waffle maker. Top with your favorite jam and enjoy!