All of the recipes on Occasionally Eggs are made with alternative grains, with no conventional wheat. That most often means ancient grains like spelt flour – there are hundreds of recipes featuring spelt on OE – but also gluten-free grains like oats and buckwheat. These gluten-free sweet potato waffles are made with a single type of flour (oat flour) and I think it makes them even more appropriate for breakfast. No starches or overpriced flour blends needed.

Using something like oat flour makes for a more flavourful waffle as the grain base adds an extra element, rather than essentially tasteless white flour. Baked sweet potato brings a bit of sweetness, and cinnamon and vanilla complement it. The sweet potato flavour is noticeable and not hidden in these waffles.

For a couple more waffle recipes, try my spelt sourdough waffles or (also spelt flour) dairy-free waffles with whipped egg whites. If you need more gluten-free breakfasts take a look at these gluten-free banana pancakes made with whole-grain buckwheat flour.

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Sweet potato: if you’re into a bit of batch cooking, and bake sweet potatoes in advance, that’s great. Otherwise I recommend keeping one half behind next time you bake them so that you can make these waffles.
• Oat flour: use homemade oat flour or slightly less store-bought flour (it’s more finely ground). If necessary, make sure the oats are certified gluten-free.
• Honey: you can use another liquid sweetener if preferred. I haven’t tested with sugar but it should be fine.
• Milk: I always use oat milk. Any milk (other than canned coconut) can be used.
• Coconut oil: liquid oils made for softer, slightly chewy waffles in testing. Choose refined coconut oil if you don’t want a slight coconut taste. I tried with non-dairy butter (the Naturli block) and it worked well.

Step by Step

Step 1: mash the sweet potato in a large bowl, then whisk in the other wet ingredients.

Step 2: whisk in the dry ingredients to combine.

Step 3: spoon the batter into a hot waffle iron.

Step 4: bake until golden. Timing will depend on your iron.

Recipe Notes

The waffle iron pictured is a Belgian-style iron with deep squares. I haven’t tried this recipe on the more typical northern European heart-shaped irons that are much shallower but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.

This batter doesn’t spread much when baking, so expect the waffles to be about the same width when they come out as the batter was when it went in (they will rise, but just spread a little bit). If you’re using cup measurements rather than weights be sure to test a waffle first before relying on this information, because cups are never as accurate as weights.

How to Store

Storage: keep the cooled waffles in a sealed container for a couple of days at room temperature. Reheat briefly in the toaster to crisp them up again before serving.

Freezing: transfer fully cooled waffles to an airtight container and freeze for up to two months. Thaw directly in the toaster on the lowest setting or thaw at room temperature before toasting to reheat.

Expert Tips

• Use baked potato: you can sub steamed or boiled sweet potato for baked, but the flavour won’t be as good. Baked sweet potatoes add a slight caramel note to the waffles.
• Add extra spices: if you want a punchier waffle, you can use a spice blend in place of the cinnamon or add an extra dash of something like nutmeg or cloves. Pumpkin spice is an obvious choice and a chai blend would be nice too.
• Trust your waffle iron: you know it best and with recipes like this, I can only give a rough guide on how long it will take to bake the waffles. Every iron is different and each will have times and temperatures that vary.

More Sweet Potato Recipes

Vegetarian Sweet Potato Cottage Pie
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Sweet Potato Flatbread
Black Bean Sweet Potato Chili