These Easy Chickpea Flour Waffles are a delicious, gluten-free way to enjoy a healthy waffle recipe! They're both low in sugar and high in protein, making them a great choice for a lazy morning.
In my younger years, I was a waitress for a breakfast place where I saw firsthand how people fueled their morning.
I'm sure it'll be no surprise to learn that most people ordered either waffles or pancakes, usually with a side of eggs.
While I'd tried a pancake or two in my youth, I had never had a waffle!
After getting married, I learned my husband loves waffles, so I knew I had to come up with a good recipe for him.
In trying to compete with all of our allergies and still make something yummy and healthy, I decided to employ one of my favorite flours: chickpea!
These chickpea flour waffles are very satiating because of the high amount of protein, which also aids in blood sugar regulation. They also taste delicious!
Ingredients and substitutions
Flour - Use all chickpea flour (also known as garbanzo bean flour) for grain-free waffles, or use 3/4 cup chickpea flour and 1/4 cup brown rice flour for a crispier waffle. Bob's Red Mill is my favorite chickpea flour, as it has the best taste and texture.
Baking powder AND baking soda - The combination creates a golden, crispy waffle.
Salt, vanilla extract - Both add flavor; I also like to add in a few dashes of cinnamon!
Coconut sugar - This adds a little sweetness, but can be left out or reduced if you are on a low sugar diet.
Egg - One large egg is all you need; this contributes to structure.
Fat - Use melted butter or oil; I've had good luck with grapeseed, olive, and coconut oil.
Milk of your choice - I've used many different milks, including almond, Homemade Coconut, whole milk, and even half milk, half water.
How to make chickpea flour waffles
Mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in a separate dish (I just mix everything in my one pint measuring pitcher.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry mix and whisk just until incorporated.
Pour the batter onto a preheated waffle maker.
I have both a Hamilton Beach waffle maker, as well as this Cuisinart variety (which is my favorite!). I typically use 1/4 -1/3 cup of batter per waffle.
Repeat as needed to use up all the batter.
How many waffles you get will depend a bit on the size of your waffle maker; I typically get five good-sized waffles.
Recipe notes
For a crispier waffle, substitute 1/4 cup of rice flour for the same amount of chickpea flour.
For the milk, use a 'scant' cup, which basically means about 1-2 tablespoons LESS than a full cup.
Other breakfast options
Not into waffles? Try a few of my other favorite breakfasts!
Overnight Oats Without Chia Seeds
I also have Chickpea Flour Pancakes!
Easy Chickpea Flour Waffles
Ingredients
- 1 cup chickpea flour see Notes
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 Tablespoon coconut sugar
- 1 (scant) cup milk of your choice see Notes
- 1 large egg
- 2 Tablespoons oil (or melted butter) grapeseed, coconut, and olive all work great
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Begin preheating your waffle maker.
- Mix your dry ingredients in a bowl (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and coconut sugar).
- In another bowl, mix your wet ingredients (milk (a SCANT cup!), egg, oil, and vanilla).
- Whisk everything together until there are no lumps (the batter is on the thin side).
- Spray your waffle maker with a thin layer of oil (I use my Misto for this).
- Ladle a good 1/4 - 1/3 cup of batter for each waffle.
- Repeat as needed for your size waffle maker. I use a Cuisinart and typically get five waffles.
- Enjoy immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
If you have a chance to try this recipe, please leave a star rating and a comment below letting me know how you liked it!
kristen campbell
these were delicious! i made them with only the 2 teaspoons of sugar in the dry mix, and almond milk and they were so tasty straight from. the waffle iron- thanks for your recipe!
Erika Rosso
So good! I used all chickpea flour and applesauce instead of apple juice. They were great! My 5 year old also loved them.
Sheri
Hello,
I made up a batch using my new waffle iron (received it for Christmas) with a few modifications and they were GREAT:
- used a flax egg instead of real egg
- used water (no juice or milk)
- accidentally put in twice as much baking soda as called for.
Thanks for posting your recipe!
Tee
Tried these out. Not sure where I went wrong as I followed the directions down to a T and even set my waffle maker on the low setting. They flopped badly as they either stuck to the waffle iron or were too soft and floppy to the point where they broke when you tried to remove them.
Lauren
Sorry they didn't turn out for you; I would guess you needed more oil on your waffle maker!
priya
the same thing happened to me! i think they could have been better if I used more applesauce bc i used that instead of oil and i used more milk instead of juice and i also blended kale into the batter. will def try again
Ginny
I have made these 3 times this week. To my surprise chickpea flour alone, taste great compared to other GF flour options. Not grainy,or dry, nor like cardboard. I made it grain free by using only chickpea flour, I increased the quantity by 1/4 cup, for a total of 1 1/4 cup, I used maple syrup instead of coconut sugar because it's what I had. Very good thank you.
Lauren
That's great Ginny, and good to know they work with just chickpea flour! 🙂
Shirley Brickner
I made these waffles this morning with a few modifications. I used all chickpea flour since my daughter cannot have rice flour. I also substituted 1/4 cup mashed banana for the egg (also an allergen for us). Instead of coconut sugar or Stevia, I used 3 tsp. maple syrup. The first waffle was mushy and didn't want to come out of the waffle iron. After that, I added 1/4 cup more flour to the remaining batter. The second waffle was better, but still soft. So, in a very unscientific move, I added another 2 Tbs. to the last of the batter. The third waffles was almost perfect! Next time, I think I will try adding a 1/2 cup extra flour to the batter and see how that works. The flavor is delicious and I couldn't taste the chickpea at all. Thanks for a great recipe!
Lauren
So happy you enjoyed it Shirley!
Sandra
I just made those. I have to go gluten-free and am now looking for recipes. I had some chickpeas in the house and made the flower in my Thermomix blender myself. Didn't add rice flour as I only had Basmati rice and thought its flavor would stand out. Apart from that I followed the recipe precisely. Well. The picture looks really great and I think you are an awesome photographer. The taste of the waffles made me cry though. Literally. I am sitting here crying. Maybe it is because I am afraid that in the future this is the kind of food I will have to eat. The waffles taste like dried hummus with cinnamon on top. Sorry, I don't wanna be rude and actually I think you are doing a beautiful blog here, but I needed to comment on this because I am just so disappointed...
Lauren
Well, Sandra, I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your waffles, but you deviated quite a bit from the original recipe! I've never ground my own flour and am unsure how that affects the flavor, though I imagine it does! If you ever try the original recipe with store-bought flours, I'd love to hear what you think.
Ida
Did you use canned (wet) chickpeas? Just curious
Lauren
These are made with chickpea flour.
Julie
Made these for dinner tonight. I used 1/4 c oat flour in place of rice flour (my son has an intolerance to rice) and used almond milk for all the milk/juice. All coconut sugar for the sweetener & butter for the oil. DELICIOUS! Thank you for the recipe! I pinned it! 🙂
Lauren
Thanks Julie, I'm happy you guys liked them! 🙂
carey
I just made these and they were awesome.! My son is allergic to eggs so just so people know, it worked well with chia seed replacment. I saw somewhere Lauren cant tolerate chia or flax anymore but it worked well and it was still crispy. The flavor was great and my kids asked for more! I am trying to keep sugar low so I just used 1 teaspoon of the coconut sugar and xylitol for the other teaspoon. I don't use maple syrup to keep sugar low but I topped it with blueberries and a bit of coconut oil warmed. They were great. I have tried so many recipes to no avail. Thank you !
Lauren
That's great Carey, thanks for the feedback on the chia egg! 🙂
Kathleen
Pinning this one, too, for my "use up the chickpea flour" list of recipes. 🙂 Thanks!
Lauren
Awesome Kathleen, I hope you enjoy both recipes (chickpea flour is one of my favorites to work with). 🙂
Thalia @ butter and brioche
Definitely craving waffles right now, these look delicious. Need to get my hands on some chickpea flour too.. thanks for drawing my attention to it!
Jill
This really makes me want a waffle iron! I make pancakes often but there's something special about waffles with their little square indents with pools of maple syrup.
Mike @TheIronYou
This post made me realize I desperately need a waffle maker. I've talked myself out of buying one for quite some time: I don't have space in the kitchen for another gadget, I will not use it enough to justify the purchase, this and that. But now I know I was wrong. Those waffles look just too good to pass up! 🙂
Marfigs
These look delish! I'm interested in the idea of a crispier waffle, because that's the best kind 😀 Weekend breakfast is now sorted!
Heather
I like brown rice. Either with just almond milk or add an egg. If there is leftover salmon, I'll add that and the rice in a frying pan with some coconut oil.
Deitra Wright
Great recipe! This is the second chickpea waffle recipe I have tried and by far the best. I am not a fan of the flavor of chickpea flour but the waffle was tasty! I still used syrup though to enhance the flavor for me. I used tapioca flour in place of the rice flour because it was what I had in the pantry, and I did not want to add more chickpea flour. I had no apple sauce so I used more coconut sugar and added water instead of more almond milk. (All of those were your suggestions of course. :-)) The waffle came out perfectly formed but soft. Could have been my setting but my last experience with the previous recipe, the waffle did not come out perfect and was not tasty even with syrup, so I a not complaining at all. Thank you for the recipe!