Chai Spiced Apple Waffles are a delicious treat for breakfast filled with little apple bites and chai spice for a wonderful way to wake up in the morning.
My middle child is obsessed with homemade waffles like these vanilla blackberry waffles. He always asks for them but when we moved this last time I got rid of the waffle iron I’d had since we got married. It was in desperate need of being replaced!
We like to serve these with buttermilk syrup or apple syrup although my kids are also perfectly happy to have them with a dusting of powdered sugar.
Table of contents
Ingredients
Pantry supplies:
- flour
- sugar
- baking powder
- salt
- vanilla extract
- coconut oil
Shopping list:
- milk
- eggs
- chai spice
- apples
Substitutes:
You can use any style of milk- coconut, soy, or almond milk for this. Also, you can use any neutral oil like vegetable, canola, or sunflower oil instead of the coconut oil.
What is chai spice?
We get chai from India from the Hindi word for tea, but chai in the US refers to masala chai which is typically made up of a blend of cardamom, cinnamon, and ginger mixed with black tea that is steeped in milk. It’s a very earthy blend that smells absolutely amazing.
I got a chai spice blend from the spice house for frequent use because we love it and use it for recipes like this chai spiced Bundt cake.
What to serve these with?
If I’m going to go to the effort to make waffles, I like to make a whole spread, perhaps in hope that the waffles will last a little longer and we can reheat them for breakfast another day.
How to use the Nordicware stove top waffle iron
I love Nordicware and have several of their Bundt pans. They have a stove top waffle iron that is low profile and that it fits better in my cupboards. It’s also really simple to use but I’ll walk you through the process and share some tips I’ve found to get those nice and crisp waffles.
- Make sure your waffle mixture is all ready to go. You will use about 1/2 cup waffle batter per waffle section.
- Lightly brush both sides of the inside of the pan with canola oil. Use a pastry brush or one of those canisters that sprays oil instead of cooking spray.
- Begin heating one side of the waffle iron over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Flip the iron to being heating the other side.
- Open the iron and pour about 1/2 cup of batter into each waffle well.
- Close the iron and set a timer for 2 minutes. When the timer runs out, carefully flip the waffle and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
Top Tips
How to keep waffles crispy?
Keeping waffles warm, and dry, is a key to keeping waffles crispy. I like to set my oven the lowest setting it will go and place the waffles on a cookie sheet to keep warm.
Storage and reheating tips
Keep waffles in an airtight container or bag for 2-3 days in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer.
To reheat a frozen waffle, place waffles in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes in a 350°F oven or until crisp.
Top tips for cooking with kids
Most waffle irons are suitable for children to use but the biggest concern most likely would be overfilling the pan and batter spilling out.
You can reduce the chance of this by doing your own test waffle and figuring out how much batter is needed per waffle. If you don’t have the opportunity to do that, opt for a less is more approach until you can figure it out.
Also, if your child would like to try cutting the apples, you can make it easier by cutting the apple in half first or cutting the apple up into smaller sections for them to then cut.
See here for more tips on cooking with kids!
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Recipe
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons chai spice
- 3/4 cup apple diced
Wet ingredients:
- 1 3/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
To make the batter:
- Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the diced apples in with the dry ingredients and toss to coat.
- Combine the wet ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Add wet ingredients to the dry mix and mix just until there are no large clumps. Do NOT overmix. Some small lumps are normal.
To cook the waffles:
- Make sure your waffle mixture is all ready to go. You will use about 1/2 cup waffle batter per waffle section.
- Lightly brush both sides of the inside of the pan with canola oil. Use a pastry brush or one of those canisters that sprays oil instead of cooking spray.
- Begin heating one side of the waffle iron over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Flip the iron to being heating the other side.
- Open the iron and pour about 1/2 cup of batter into each waffle well.
- Close the iron and set a timer for about 3 minutes. When the timer runs out, carefully flip the waffle and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
Do we have to use coconut oil?
No you can use regular vegetable oil or an equal amount of melted butter.
I’d love waking up to a breakfast like this.