Fluffy and Crisp Buttermilk Waffles
These classic buttermilk waffles are easy to make and come out big, fluffy, and crisp every time. It's a must-have recipe for turning an ordinary breakfast into something extra-special.
Whether you choose to top the waffles with the standard butter and syrup, fresh fruit, whipped cream, sprinkles, chocolate chips, or some combination… you are going to fall in love with this waffle recipe!
I didn't encounter the world of "real" waffles until I went to college and found the Belgian waffle station in the cafeteria. I relished my newfound freedom and ate my weight in Belgian waffles during my freshman year.
Nowadays, I'm partial to my square waffle maker because I have three kids waiting to eat, and the one-waffle-at-a-time approach isn't nearly as efficient.
I used boxed waffle mixes to make my batter for a long time, but I finally nailed the perfect homemade buttermilk waffle recipe. It's incredibly easy and makes the most delicious waffles I know you and your family will love!
Ingredients List
There is a high probability that you already have everything you need to make these classic buttermilk waffles.
Let's run down the list…
- Flour - To give the waffles structure.
- Sugar - For a little sweetness.
- Baking Powder + Baking Soda - For the all-important fluffiness.
- Salt + Vanilla - For maximum flavor.
- Buttermilk - For rich flavor and supreme fluffiness.
- Butter - Adds fat for tenderness and loads of flavor.
- Eggs - Bind together the batter and bring everything together.
Buttermilk Substitute
If you don't have buttermilk on hand, you can easily make it using a combination of regular milk and either lemon juice or white vinegar (this is referred to as "clabbered milk"); here's how to do it:
For this waffle recipe, add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or white vinegar to a 2-cup measuring cup, then add enough milk to make 2 cups. Stir together, then use as directed in the recipe. (You only need 1¾ cups for this recipe; you can discard the leftover buttermilk.)
How to Make Buttermilk Waffles
Homemade waffles are a great treat; making them completely from scratch takes only 2 or 3 minutes longer than making them with a baking mix.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients - Flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Whisk together the wet ingredients in a separate bowl - The buttermilk, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla get mixed.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk to combine. When whisking the batter together, do so gently and for only as long as it takes to incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry. Lumps are okay; you don't want a completely smooth batter!
- Spray the waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray and preheat until it is scorching hot - A drop of water on the iron should sizzle and evaporate almost immediately.
- Portion the batter according to the manufacturer's directions and cook to the desired doneness.
The last step is, of course, topping those beautiful golden brown waffles.
Waffle Toppings
There are so many wonderful toppings to choose from! Here are a few ideas:
- Butter
- Maple Syrup
- Fresh Fruit
- Whipped cream
- Nut butter or Nutella
- Jam or fruit spread
- Hot fudge sauce
- Sprinkles
- Chocolate chips
- Coconut
- Sprinkle of powdered sugar
What are your go-to waffle toppings?
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Make It a Full Breakfast:
- Oven-Baked Bacon
- Bourbon-Brown Sugar Bacon
- Perfect Scrambled Eggs
- Buttermilk Fried Chicken (chicken and waffles!)
- Fresh fruit
Waffle Tips
No one wants a soggy waffle! To make the most delicious fluffy-on-the-inside, crispy-on-the-outside waffles, there are a few important things to remember:
- Buttermilk - Much like pancake batter, buttermilk reacts with baking soda to create a wonderful rise, creating ultra-fluffy waffles. A little extra baking powder is included to ensure supreme lift. If you don’t have buttermilk, see the note above in the Ingredients section about how to make a substitute.
- Lumpy Batter – Don’t keep whisking until the batter is completely smooth; you want some lumps in there! The air pockets in the lumps ensure wonderfully fluffy waffles.
- High Heat Setting - Don't be afraid to crank up that temperature setting on your waffle iron; your waffles will NOT burn, but they will be significantly crisper when you turn up that setting versus leaving it low, resulting in soft waffles.
Serving, Storage, Freezing, and Reheating Instructions
Serving: If you are serving a group and want everyone to have warm and crisp waffles, place the finished waffles on a baking sheet in a 200-degree oven until ready to serve.
Storage: You can store any leftover waffles in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Freezing: If you want to freeze leftover waffles, place them on a baking sheet in a single layer and put in the freezer until completely frozen. Then remove them from the baking sheet and store in a freezer-safe plastic bag for up to 2 months.
Reheating: Whether you’re reheating a waffle from the refrigerator or freezer, these are the best ways to return them to their original warm, crisp texture:
- Toaster or toaster oven: Use a medium-high setting to get them crispy again!
- Oven: Reheat in a 350-degree oven for 6 to 10 minutes or to desired crispness.
Check Out More Waffle Recipes:
More Classic Breakfast Recipes:
- Challah French Toast
- Dutch Baby Pancake
- Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes
- Baked Oatmeal with Apples, Raisins & Walnuts
- Monkey Bread (From Scratch)
Watch the Buttermilk Waffles Recipe Video:
These homemade buttermilk waffles are an easy classic that your family will beg for time and again. Make your weekends a little sweeter, or create a waffle Wednesday tradition for a special midweek treat!
If you make this waffle recipe and love it, remember to stop back and give it a 5-star rating - it helps others find the recipe! ❤️️
Fluffy and Crisp Buttermilk Waffles
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups (228 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1¾ cups (420 ml) buttermilk
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, butter, eggs and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently whisk to combine. Do not overmix!
- Spray a waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray, then preheat. Once the waffle maker is ready, add the batter according to the manufacturer’s instructions and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the waffle maker indicates they are ready. Serve immediately, or place in a 300-degree oven to keep warm. Leftover waffles can be wrapped in plastic wrap, placed in a ziploc bag and stored in the refrigerator for 2 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Notes
- Recommended Equipment: Breville Smart Waffle Maker or this single Belgian-style waffle maker
- Buttermilk Substitute: For this waffle recipe, add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or white vinegar to a 2-cup measuring cup, then add enough milk to make 2 cups. Stir together, then use as directed in the recipe. (You only need 1¾ cups for this recipe; you can discard the leftover buttermilk.)
- Lumpy Batter - Don't keep whisking until the batter is completely smooth; the air pockets in the lumps ensure wonderfully fluffy waffles.
- High Heat Setting - Don't be afraid to crank up that temperature setting on your waffle iron; your waffles will NOT burn, but they will be significantly crisper when you turn up that setting versus leaving it low, resulting in soft waffles.
- Serving: If you are serving a group and want everyone to have warm and crisp waffles, place the finished waffles on a baking sheet in a 200-degree oven until ready to serve.
- Storage: You can store any leftover waffles in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freezing: If you want to freeze leftover waffles, place them on a baking sheet in a single layer and put in the freezer until completely frozen. Then remove them from the baking sheet and store in a freezer-safe plastic bag for up to 2 months.
- Reheating: Whether you're reheating a waffle from the refrigerator or freezer, use a toaster or toaster oven on a medium-high setting, or reheat in a 350-degree oven for 6 to 10 minutes.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
[photos by Ari of Well Seasoned]
FYI, butter that is “melted and cooled to room temperature” is just solid butter, so you can probably safe yourself some trouble by omitting that instruction.
Actually, it is not. Butter that has been melted and cooled to room temperature should not feel hot to the touch, but rather lukewarm. It is still a liquid.
Room temperature would be 70 degrees. Butter is a solid at 70 degrees. If it feels warm and is still liquid it is over 95 degrees F – well over room temperature.
A better descriptor may be ‘cooled slightly’ or ‘cooled until just warm’
A great combination: equal parts easy and excellent!
I’ve made my share of waffles. I usually find a recipe and tweak it. I convert all recipes to bakers weights, so in grams. I converted this one and used my usual tweaks, plus one accidental and I got hands down the best waffles I’ve ever made. As written the recipe is fine. With my tweaks, these went next level big time.
I used, accidently because I just moved and that’s why I just looked up a reasonable recipe-I couldn’t find mine, high gluten flour. At first this seems like a mistake. Read on.
My other mods are to whip the egg whites to stiff peaks. I also whip the yolks to ribbon stage. These two mods I’ve adopted to all my baking. This, I believe, is what counters the use of high gluten flour. Forced air into what might have been a dense result. I also split the sugar between the whites and the yolks, and the same with the vanilla, when I whip them.
I like to take my time and make great food. It does take a little longer but have a great coffee, enjoy the time with your loved ones. It’s worth it.
Also I need to try this with actual buttermilk. I make my own with milk and vinegar. Another mod I’m antsy to try is the same thing with vinegar but with heavy cream to get that viscosity. Then I can use all the cream to make whipped cream as well for topping with fruit. Buttermilk is kind of expensive for a single purpose ingredient. I don’t like having that left and nothing I can do with it. Using milk and vinegar makes more practical sense, for me.
Crispy, light, a little tang. These were absolutely perfect. The best I’ve ever made.
Now in my head I can make my go to ratio for waffles 1:1 for flour to milk, with high gluten and 2 eggs. Baking powder and soda for most recipes is usually 1/2 to 1 tsp to one cup. More powder more rise. Careful with soda since it will add unwanted flavors. Salt and vanilla to taste and boom. Perfect. Butter is usually about 1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp to one cup flour. (yes I’ve converted all those to grams too but I’ll keep things consistent for this page)
Typo on the butter but it doesn’t matter. I’m pretty sure that is another reason these came out so crispy and perfect. It’ll be hard to remember that but I wrote everything down in my baking journal so I’m keeping this one.
Bake on!
Made waffles for dinner for my kids. They were a hit!
I am very pleased with your recipe! For half of the batter I added fresh cooked bacon crumbles and topped it with roasted cherry tomatoes & onions and a fried egg. It was delicious!
I cooked the rest and will have one later with strawberries and maple syrup. I love to make a compote of apples, pears, and cranberries this time of year which is a great topping as well, with toasted pecans.
Thank you for the well thought out recipe!
Made these waffles! Butter-Decadent !
Yummy
These were really good waffles! They were really soft, eggy, and had a great flavor and texture. I did find in my Belgian waffle maker (a Procter Silex that makes 1 large round waffle) this made 5 waffles, but there was a lot of overspill (my bad for overfilling the waffle maker) and I think I should have done 6 slightly smaller waffles. Also, it took more like 4-5 minutes per waffle than 2-3 minutes. I would definitely make these again with those adjustments.
Best recipe I have found!
Nope, terrible, WAY too much butter. Crunchy on outside, rubbery and raw on the inside.
These are delicious! My family and I really enjoyed these this morning!
I do have one question – when you say this recipe makes 5 large Belgian waffles, does that mean 5 sets of 4 squares (so 20 squares)? I assume so, because it would be odd to make 5 squares, and I got 16-17 squares out of this recipe.
Hi Wendy, I’m so glad you all enjoy these! So that’s referring to 5 of the large round waffles. I hope that makes sense!
I made these waffles and my family loved them. My son said, “I didn’t know you knew how to make pancakes AND waffles!” :) I definitely recommend leaving in the waffle iron until the light shows they are ready if you want crisp waffles.
Unfortunately this recipe didn’t work for me. They were too dense and did not crisp up. I have a go to recipe that I always use with regular milk, but I had extra buttermilk to use so I tried this one. The batter looked great, didn’t overmix, followed exactly. They had a good taste, just failed for me in texture.
I will use this recipe from now on. I was a little dubious about the indulgence of 1/2 cup of melted butter in the batter, but these turned out so delicious. We used whipped buttermilk (leftover from my kid’s error- they thought it was the whipping cream) which made them extra light and airy inside. I like my waffles plain with just a bit of butter, and the flavor of these waffles was wonderful. They also held up well for the toppings my family heaped on theirs- strawberries and whipped cream or butter & syrup. I’d need to double this recipe to have any leftovers for my family of 4 with 2 hungry teens.
Absolutely amazing!! I’ve made this recipe several times now, and every time they are so tender and so perfectly crispy! I used brown sugar and doubled it today, and mmmmmm the kids are double what they normally do :)
Wow the waffles came out super good, lovely brown colour and crispy. The house smelt wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing….we enjoyed it very much.
Wow! Gorgeous and delicious! I always want the waffles to be crispy and they never are if out of the box. I even tried making Belgian waffles once from an online recipe and they went limp as well. So this is a really terrific recipe. My kids love them with just a small dusting of powdered sugar.
Made this waffle and it was DELICIOUS!!! Crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside!
The taste and texture was extremely eggy and tasted nothing like a waffle. Followed the directions exactly. I wish I’d made a half batch to try it because I had to throw the whole thing out since they wouldn’t freeze well.
Seriously delicious. I wish it was a little crisper. Next time I’ll rest the waffles in the oven at 200 for about 15 minutes.
Delicious, delicious, delicious 😋 I was looking for a good buttermilk waffle recipe, once again, you didn’t disappoint. Wonderful flavor. Exactly what I look for in a great waffle! Thank You! Just an idea for those having trouble adding the melted butter…I always slowly add the melted butter to wet ingredients while whisking. Blends beautifully and no lumps 👍🏻
These were really good and I love that they make just enough to have a manageable amount of leftovers. There was another waffle recipe I always followed, but it makes too much. Your recipe is now my go-to. Thanks for a great recipe!
Michelle these are the best waffles! I have been a faithful viewer of your blog since you originally posted these in 2013 but it took yesterday’s email for me to say okay I am trying these tomorrow. They are light, fluffy and so full of flavour. Thank you so much for another great recipe.
These are truly the best waffles I have ever made and I have made many. They have become our “house waffle.” They are so good even though I reduce the butter in the batter by half. They are crispy on the outside in a perfect way and soft on the inside Thank you!
The waffles are delicious, I usually beat my egg whites separately and fold them in just before I cook the waffles. Your recipe is easier.
I’m lucky my kids didnt have any nut allergies because peanut butter goes on pancakes, waffles, toast and tortillas plus bananas and apples and celery in our house!
These were delicious! I loved not having to separate eggs…just more work and they came out perfect. Cranked my waffle maker up to #5 out of 6 high, and they were nicely crisped, yet still very fluffy.
Next time I’m going to use brown sugar in place of white sugar to see how that works out. I always do it with my pancakes and we love it!
Wonderfully easy recipe with amazing results!
My daughter likes to top her waffles with vanilla yogurt and frozen blueberries OR nutella and strawberries. So yummy! I’ll definitely be giving these waffles a try :)
I used mostly oat flour (1¼ c, then ½ c regular flour) and salted butter, but reduced salt to ¼ tsp. Came out great, once cooked, but when i mixed the wet ingredients, I got chunks. The buttermilk was not bad, I’m thinking the melted butter may have been too warm for the other cold ingredients. Still, super-yummy!
I an in the UK, and made this with Greek yogurt with a splash of lemon juice in place of buttermilk. The batter was of a spooning, not pouring consistency, but the waffle maker squashed it out and the resultant waffles were fantastic. We are frequent waffle eaters and I usually Google a recipe and make a different one each time, I will be writing this one down!
The wet mixture gets lumpy every time I try this. Right when I start to whisk the wet ingredients little lumps form and fill the bowl. Is the buttermilk curdling? Is this normal? What am I doing wrong? Not sure if the batter is still okay to use when this happens.
I think maybe it’s the melted butter hardening up once it hits all the cold ingredients… It happened to me too. Once cooked, I couldn’t tell. Maybe next time try making sure all ingredients are room temp before mixing???
Hi Rick, It’s exactly what Debra mentioned – it happens to me sometimes when making pancakes and waffles if the melted butter hasn’t cooled down quite enough, but it never seems to effect the end product. I would just try to make sure the butter is totally cool and/or bring the other stuff to room temperature. Enjoy the waffles!
I’ve used this recipe a few times now and it’s been great, except for the couple of times where I’ve over mixed. As the directions say, it’s very important not to overmix! They freeze and reheat well in the toaster oven. Instead of pouring maple syrup over the waffles, I mix a bit of melted butter with warm maple syrup in a tiny tiny ramekin and dip my waffle into it.
These are the BEST waffles! Crisp on the outside, delicate and fluffy inside, delicious all around. I make the whole batch and freeze the leftovers between sheets of waxed paper. Reheated in the toaster oven, they make for a quick and yummy mid-week breakfast.