Gluten Free “Superhero” Waffles
I’m pretty sure that any superhero would be happy to enjoy one of these delicious gluten free waffles for breakfast! High in protein, healthy fats, and veggie-loaded, these waffles have everything you need to head into the day! Naturally gluten free and dairy-free, these delicious waffles are easy to make and are great for stocking your fridge or freezer!
Disclaimer:
I haven’t personally spoken to any superheroes recently to find out if these gluten free waffles are exactly what they have for breakfast, but I’m kinda guessing it is something along these lines.
Why? Because any superhero has a serious job that needs serious fuel. Right? I mean, superheroing is tough stuff that you need serious fuel for. And these waffles are full of exactly what any superhero (or 5 year old pretending to be a superhero) needs to save the day!
Why these waffles are going to make you feel like a superhero too
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day (or at least that is how the old saying goes). And while I don’t like to play favorites with meals (because I truthfully love food at all the times), I do take breakfast pretty seriously. I mean, it really does set the tone for my day. If I start the day hungry or with a high-sugar breakfast, I spend the day grazing, hungry and kind of a moody mess. And my family is the exact same way!
So I have learned that investing my time to make sure my family has an amazingly balanced breakfast is an investment in us having an awesome sauce kind of day.
Which is where these waffles came about. The need for a truly nourishing breakfast that I could veggie-load and pack with all kinds of greatness to send my family out into the day with…but that could come together quick and easy!
- Made from nutrient dense ingredients. Eggs. Nut butter. Spinach. Bananas. Sweet potatoes. Chia seeds. So much of natures fuel wrapped up into one delicious waffles.
- Quick and easy is definitely these waffles! Mixed totally in your blender with just a handful of seriously healthy ingredients you might already have on hand. You are going to feel like a kitchen superhero when you whip up these gluten free waffles for breakfast and watch how your family inhales them! t
- Great as part of meal prep. These gluten free waffles are great fresh, but they also freeze (and reheat) like a dream!
- Naturally gluten free, dairy-free, and naturally sweetened. And without any special ingredients you have to go hunting for.
- Adaptable. We all have different dietary needs, preferences or simply kitchen stashes! Below, I have included several suggested adaptations for making these gluten free waffles work for you and your unique life!
Veggie-Loading Hack!
Don’t feel like making sweet potato puree? Yeah, me either…and I usually don’t.
I love to keep a can of sweet potato puree in my pantry for easy veggie-loading when the pantry is looking a little bare or I just don’t have the steam to do a lot of work! You can find sweet potato puree (along with pumpkin and butternut squash puree) in the canned vegetable aisle of most grocery stores. Just be sure to get the can puree that is JUST the veggie without any added sugar or other weirdness.
If you can’t find the puree in your store, you can make it easy peasy ahead of time and store it in your freezer too! Just cook your sweet potatoes, peel, mash them up and pop them into your freezer for easy veggie-loading. I like to cook them easy peasy in my Instant Pot, but any cooking method you like best will do.
I will freeze my leftover puree in ice cube trays to easily portion them out in smoothies, soups or thaw out to add to this recipe too!
Want to make sure you always have spinach on hand for these Superhero Waffles? Check out my tips & tricks for keeping spinach fresh all week!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make these gluten free waffles egg-free?
Sadly, no. Trust me, I have tried! But these nut butter based batters just don’t seem to work with the traditional egg replacements that are a success in so many other recipes. If you are on the hunt for an egg-free waffle recipe, try my Vegan Beet Waffles. You can easily make them gluten free too with a cup-for-cup gluten free flour blend.
Can I make these waffles without a blender?
You could, but you would need to omit the spinach and add an extra 1/4 cup of sweet potato puree.
I don’t have a high-speed blender. Can I still make these waffles?
Sure can! I would blend the eggs, spinach, and sweet potato puree first to ensure the spinach truly gets pureed. Then add the remaining ingredients to the blender, give it another whhhhhiiiirrrrrrrr and cook them up!
My batter seems really thick/dry/way too runny! What happened?
It might be your nut butter. Natural nut butters will naturally separate as they sit on a store shelf: oil rises to the top & nut pulp sits on the bottom.
Often times, when people open a new jar of peanut butter or almond butter, they are in a rush and don’t take the time to throughly incorporate the oil back into nut pulp before putting the butter to use. Me 🙋🏼♀️. I have done this. Don’t be like me, TNNers. The result of a hastily stirred jar of nut butter is no good.
Super runny nut butter on the top. Super dry on the bottom.
So, please, take the time to stir that oil back into the nut butter before you start using a new jar. Just get a big spoon, turn on some tunes, dig down deep into that jar and stir stir stir stir until the butter has an even consistency. Pro Tip: I also have found storing an unopened jar upside down in the pantry helps mixing the oil but into the almond butter much easier.
Also, the consistency of nut butter can vary from brand to brand. Some will remove or add oil….which can mess with baking these waffles and other nut butter baked goods big time. I have found The Trader Joe’s and Kirkland brands to be awesome for baking and almost always use one of those.
Suggested Adaptation
- Make these gluten free waffles nut free! Use sunflower seed butter instead of nut butter! Since sunflower seed butter turns green when baked with baking soda (weird but true fact), this just adds to the green fun of these waffles!
- Skip the sweetener! Leave the honey/maple syrup out and let the banana do the sweet talking in this recipe! They will be less sweet, but depending on your tastebuds, that might be a-okay!
- Replace the sweet potato with butternut squash puree, pumpkin puree or even cooked and blended carrots!
- Use ground flax instead of chia. Whatever you have on hand!
- Make them chocolate! Add 2-3 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the blender and you have some delicious chocolate superhero waffles!
Kitchen gear I used to make these superhero waffles
I get asked all the time what blender and waffle iron I use and suggest. And, trust me, I have tried lots of them! These two products are what I used to make these gluten free waffles and many of my other veggie-loaded recipes!
This post contains affiliate links.
Other veggie-loaded breakfast recipes I swear superheroes would eat…
- Blueberry Avocado Muffins
- Blueberry Cauliflower Oatmeal
- Cheddar Mushroom Kale Frittata
- Veggie-Loaded Chocolate Protein Muffins
- Baked Apple Sweet Potato Oatmeal
- Carrot Zucchini Instant Pot Oatmeal
Did you try these superhero waffles and now you’re hungry for more? Mhmmmm. I thought so.
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Gluten Free “Superhero” Waffles
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup natural peanut butter, or almond butter
- 1 medium very ripe banana
- 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup loosely packed spinach
- 1/4 cup sweet potato puree, or pumpkin puree or butternut squash puree
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds, or ground flax
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- oil for greasing
Equipment
Instructions
- Heat up waffle iron and brush a little oil on both the top and bottom griddle.
- Combine all remaining ingredients in your blender. Run until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the food processor if needed and run to ensure that all ingredients are incorporated.
- Pour about 1/4-1/3 cup of batter onto the griddle, just enough to make a pool in the middle of the griddle. I find that if you over fill the waffle maker, the waffles will not cook through or will require more cook time.
- Close waffle iron for about 2-4 minutes (depending on how hot your waffle iron cooks). You will know your waffle is done when steam stops coming out of your waffle iron and the waffle looks golden brown on the outside.Waffles may be a bit soft when fresh out of the waffle iron, but should hold together. They will crisp up after a minute or two.
- Enjoy warm with maple syrup, berries, sliced fruit, honey or chia jam. Let leftovers cool and store in fridge for up to 4 days or in freezer for a month.
How do you prepare the butternut squash puree?
Hi Michaela!
I shared my tips for butternut squash puree in the post under Veggie-Loading Hacks! Hope it helps!
Thanks Taesha! Loving on your muffin recipes. My son and I now have muffin making weekend. The other day he filled the blender to the top with spinach when making, what we call, Grinch muffins 😉
Tried this tonight. What did I do wrong?? Followed it exact, but waffles turned out mushy. Tried as a pancakes instead, even more of a disaster. Tasted delicious, none the less, but ….. ..
I know you were going to make your own puree, did you drain the cooking liquid off before pureeing? I know if I don’t, the puree is much too thin.
I’m so sorry they didn’t work. I’m looking over my recipe to make sure there are not any typos and I can’t see any!
Hi Michaela,
I just wanted to touch base with you and let you know I made these again to double check my recipe and they worked beautifully.
So, let’s trouble shoot!
-these waffles seemed to do best cooked at a high heat. So if your iron cooks at a lower temp, it might need longer to cook.
-They do best when cooked small. I noticed that when I over filled my waffle maker, they didn’t cook all the way through well. Or again, might take forever to finish cooking.
I’ve added some of these comments to the recipe to hopefully help others!
I made these two days in a row for my family. My four year old loved them. We are hooked!
I found you and your blog two weeks ago through Instagram! Since then I have made 3 recipes! Green muffins, almond butter/ zucchini/ Burberry muffins and this morning your super hero waffles!!! I use to pride myself on my daughter eating everything since she started eating solids she tried and seem to love anything we put in front of her now at 19 months things have changed but she has loved every single thing I have made from your blog!! Thank you!
I don’t see the egg free option, do you just use flax eggs?
I used chia eggs several time, but removed it from the suggestion because some people didn’t have success for some reason.
Hi there! Is there a way I can omit the nut butters? We have a peanut/nut/sunflower allergy in our house. Thanks!
Can the butternut squash for sweet potato?
Yes!
Like!! Thank you for publishing this awesome article.
I actually made this waffle recipe this afternoon and my kids so love it! Thanks a lot for sharing!
Loooooove this recipe so much! Thank you as always for your incredible work! Currently making these ahead of a camping trip and we will just reheat and serve with butter and a little extra maple syrup! YUM
How do you feel about adding cacao powder to these waffles? And in your expert opinion, how much would you recommend to add if I were to try it? Thank you!!!!!
I feel good about it! I’d start with 3 tablespoons
Hi can I leave out the chia and flax seeds? My kids are extremely picky and refuse veggies. I need to be as tricky as I can be. And my youngest has SPD. His aversion to textures is killing me.
Hi Amanda! Yes, they should still turn out find without the chia and flax! I hope he likes them and you have a new breakfast he enjoys!
Is there something I could sub for the banana?
Applesauce usually works great as a sub for bananas in many baking recipes.
Interesting. My 4 year old said he didn’t like them but ended up eating all of them and my 2 year old ate most of his and then said he didn’t like them. They weren’t as crispy as I would have liked and I wouldn’t make them if they weren’t healthy because they are a little weird but I love the ingredients so I will definitely try them again.
My kids and I enjoyed these! I used sweet potato and love that it’s more filling for breakfast than other options. Thanks for another good recipe.
So glad you enjoyed them! I love this recipe for the same reason.
I am wondering if I can sub the banana for something? Applesauce maybe? My youngest has lots of allergies including bananas. They are on a huge waffle kick right now so trying one so full of good stuff would be a huge win!
Applesauce works like a dream in place of banana in most baking recipes!