Vegan Gluten-free Vanilla Cake Waffles. Yes, these really do have the flavor of a vanilla cake. They are dairy-free, naturally sweetened and made with wholesome ingredients. The flavor is off-the-charts delicious! Perfect for the weekend or for guests.
VEGAN VANILLA CAKE WAFFLES
Waffles that taste like vanilla cake, yes. I was in awe when I tasted the batter at how rich, creamy and vanilla-y it was. I could have just eaten it like that, haha. But they were so so yummy once cooked. My husband actually loves waffles more than pancakes and while he loves the Chai waffles and the Chocolate waffles, he is a much more simple flavor kind of guy and prefers plain vanilla when it comes to waffles or pancakes. So, I decided to make these more exciting than just a typical vegan waffle.
The secret to getting these to taste like vanilla cake is a good amount of vanilla, of course, and……cashew butter! I am a huge lover of cashew butter. I use it in a lot of my cookie recipes because it gives such a natural sweet vanilla flavor and knew it would be amazing in these.
In fact, these waffles are so incredibly delicious, I was just picking them up and eating them without syrup. They didn’t really even need the syrup.
But obviously they are the bomb with the syrup too.
HOW DO YOU MAKE VEGAN WAFFLES?
For this recipe, you need just 7 main ingredients (+salt):
- oat flour
- cornstarch
- baking powder
- lite coconut milk
- maple syrup
- raw cashew butter
- vanilla
These babies are vegan, gluten-free and the waffle recipe itself is oil-free. I do use non-stick spray for the waffle maker, otherwise they will stick bad.
I hope you all love these Vegan Gluten-free Vanilla Cake Waffles! Be sure to leave me feedback below after you make them.
OTHER VEGAN BREAKFAST RECIPES TO TRY
- Best Vegan Fluffy Pancakes
- Fluffy Vegan Blueberry Pancakes
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pancakes
- Cinnamon Roll Spice Oatmeal
- Strawberry Cream Cheese
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If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Vegan Vanilla Cake Waffles
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup (224g) superfine oat flour (I use Bob's)
- 4 tablespoons (32g) cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon (15g) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 13.6 oz can (360g) "lite" coconut milk, shaken well first*
- 6 tablespoons (120g) pure maple syrup or agave (may seem a tad high, but it does make 7 large waffles and just trust me, the sweetness is perfect for a vanilla cake flavor)
- 1/4 cup (64g) raw super smooth cashew butter
- 1 tablespoon (15g) vanilla extract
- 1 scoop OPTIONAL: vegan vanilla protein powder (I used Sprout Living "Vanilla Lucuma" use my code "thevegan8" to save 20%
- This is the waffle maker I use and love!
NOTE
- I recommend lite canned coconut milk, the Thai Kitchen brand for best results. This is the creamiest and best tasting coconut milk and will yield the best results, taste-wise and texture-wise. It also gives the best vanilla cake flavor, but if you must, then you can sub with cashew milk or soy milk, but just know the waffles will be slightly less rich and less moist. OR sub with another high fat milk like Malk almond milk.
Instructions
- To a large bowl, add the oat flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt and whisk well.
- To a medium separate bowl, add the milk, syrup, cashew butter and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Pour the liquids over the dry and whisk just until mixed and smooth.
- Now let the batter sit while you heat up your waffle machine. The batter will thicken some as it sits, that is normal.
- I used a 7 inch round waffle maker and got 7 large round waffles. Obviously, this will vary if your machine is smaller. If using the same size as my machine, I like setting 4 best.
- Once your machine beeps that it is ready and hot, spray with nonstick spray on the top and bottom plates. If you don't spray, they will stick. Even though it says "nonstick surface", mine stuck badly without spray. Add a scant 2/3 cup of batter being careful not to spread it too close to the edge to prevent overflowing. I always let it go about 20 seconds after the beep and then remove. I get the perfect crispy results. They seem soft right at first, but crisp up almost immediately once the air hits them after adding them to a plate. Yours may totally vary if you have a different machine.
- Waffles are obviously best eaten immediately, as they do soften if they are left out awhile. If I have leftovers, I just pop them into my toaster oven to bring back the yummy crispy texture! I love these with a drizzle of maple syrup.
Notes
Brandi, these were divine! A hit with all five kids and the omni husband. You are amazing!
Aww yay, really glad to hear that!! Thank you Alisa!
We were gifted a waffle maker for Christmas and I knew exactly where to look for a recipe!! These were the BEST waffles we’ve ever had!!! You would never even guess that they were gluten free – the texture was incredible – fluffy and not gummy or chewy. I made one minor adjustment by using tapioca flour instead of cornstarch because that’s what I had on hand. Ours is a Belgian waffle maker so we didn’t get as many waffles, but they were super thick and fluffy and absolutely delicious!! This will definitely be our go-to recipe!
Yay Mandy! Really thrilled to hear how much these were the best waffles you’ve ever had!! The cashew butter and oat flour really does make the yummiest cakey flavor, right?! Yes, tapioca works well in waffles in place of cornstarch, I’ve used it here too! Thank you so much for making them! ❤️❤️
I’ve been looking for a vegan waffle recipe and this one seems amazing but I don’t need to make it gluten free – can I substitute regular flour and if so, how much and will that change any other ingredients (like the starch)? Also, if I don’t have time to make up the cashew butter beforehand, is it okay to sub tahini as someone above mentioned that she did? Thanks so much – can’t wait to try!
Hi! I honestly do not know how much regular flour to tell you to use because I’ve only ever made it as written because the texture and taste is so delicious as written. Regular flour is much more absorbent. And as far as the tahini, I’ve never tried that either, it’s much more bitter so while that person may have liked it, I personally find it very strong in baked goods and it will leave an aftertaste here. It’s the cashew butter that gives such amazing flavor and cake-like flavor. Honestly, since you want to change the main ingredients, I think it may be easier for you to use a recipe that is already written using regular ingredients. There are tons of vegan waffle recipes online on google. I just can’t tell you what to change without having tested it and knowing if it would work well compared to how great these are as written. You can always experiment, but I can’t guarantee results. You would need more milk for sure since regular flour is more thick and drying.
Hi there:) You may have answered this already, but, do you think I could use my All Clad Belgian Waffle maker? If so, how long should I let them cook for?
Thank you so much!!!
Kristi H.
Hi! Sure I assume that would work, I don’t own one so I can’t tell you how long they will take but I think since they are larger than my waffle maker, it may make a couple less waffles but they would be bigger I think?
I made these “waffles” as pancakes this morning and they were good ! I used this Vanilla Bean Vegan (pea protein) powder and I was very full from eating 2 !!!
I even made your homemade cashew butter recipe this morning 🏋️❤️✨😃
That is amazing!
Wow! Just wow! These are the best waffles I’ve ever made. I substituted date paste for the maple syrup, and they were plenty sweet.
woohoo I love hearing that so much Annie, thank you!
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G !!!!!!!
Yay!!
Girl! Another winner! Soooo good. I didn’t have cashew butter subbed with almond butter. Next time I’ll use cashew butter but I can’t imagine they would be any better. Thank you.
Made your chocolate donuts again and the Belgian vanilla cake waffles for a brunch today for friends. They were over the moon. Couldn’t believe I made the donuts and raved about the waffles. You are my #1 go-to. 👏🏻
Woohoo! That’s awesome!
Absolutely delicious and the perfect texture! More and more evidence that Brandi can do no wrong!