Quick Yeast Waffles

Let your friends in on it:Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Share on Yummly
Yummly
Email this to someone
email
Ready in 90 minutes and your new go-to recipe, these Quick Yeast Waffles are crispy, airy, tender, tangy, and have just a hint of sweetness.
Ready in 90 minutes and your new go-to recipe, these Quick Yeast Waffles are crispy, airy, tender, tangy, and have just a hint of sweetness.
Ready in 90 minutes and your new go-to recipe, these Quick Yeast Waffles are crispy, airy, tender, tangy, and have just a hint of sweetness.
Ready in 90 minutes and your new go-to recipe, these Quick Yeast Waffles are crispy, airy, tender, tangy, and have just a hint of sweetness.

Ready in 90 minutes and your new go-to recipe, these Quick Yeast Waffles are crispy, airy, tender, tangy, and have just a hint of sweetness.

Maple syrup being poured over a stack of yeast waffles with fresh strawberries, coffee, and butter in the background.
Many waffle recipes exist – buttermilk waffles, yeast waffles, and everything in between. BUT only few make the cut, in my opinion. From what I’ve seen (I’m not saying I’ve seen them all, but enough), the quick and easy waffles are merely pancakes in waffle form. Well, that’s simply not good enough for me to pull out the waffle iron.

Yeast waffle on a plate with a pat of butter surrounded by a mug of coffee and fresh strawberries.
I wanted to find a waffle recipe worth pulling out my waffle iron.  One that has a light, crispy, and airy exterior, with a soft and tender interior. A recipe with just a hint of sweetness so that it can be enjoyed alone with a cup of coffee, but when drizzled with maple syrup, would only be complemented and not overly sweetened.

Left: Large bowl with dry yeast waffle ingredients. Right: Wet ingredients being poured into the dry ingredients.
My starting point was Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook. Though I considered both buttermilk waffles and yeasted waffles recipes, the This batter must be made 12 to 24 hours in advance in the preface intrigued me. Perhaps it was because I’m a believer in the saying, everything worthwhile takes time, or maybe it was because as my mother would say, Patty always does things the hard way. Whatever the reason, I decided to give the yeasted waffles a try.

Left: Yeast waffle in waffle iron. Right: Yeast waffle lifted from waffle iron.
You might have even caught me making it, from start to finish, on my Instagram Stories. But, if you missed it, the gist of it was the batter rising in the refrigerator, cooking in the waffle iron, and the first bite, complete with an audible crunch! I wasn’t sure if I was going to post the recipe, but after a very informal poll via IG DM, the answer was an astounding YES! So, here it is.

Yeast waffle batter in bowl with whisk.
At first I was going to post the exact recipe and method, but then I considered your busy life and how limited your time must be, and wondered to myself if there’s a way to create yeast waffles without having to think about it 12 to 24 hours in advance. I got to working and I’m here to report that there is a way to cut that timeframe down. Ninety minutes to be exact!

When making the recipe, the batter does resemble pancake batter. But just wait…

Birds-eye view of yeast waffles batter in bowl.
After a rise time of 1 hour, the yeast will produce lots of gas and bubbles will rise to the surface.

Then, into the waffle iron they go!

Yeast waffle batter being poured into waffle iron.
These quick yeast waffles check all the boxes I was looking for in a waffle – crispy, airy (the product of the yeast gas bubbles), tender, and not overly sweet.

Left: Piece of yeast waffle on a fork. Right: Partially eaten yeast waffle on a plate with pat of butter and syrup.
And, with the addition of the yeast, there’s a delightful tang, a quality I didn’t even know I wanted, but now cannot live without in a waffle.

I hope you give it a try and enjoy it as much as we do!   

Stack of yeast waffles on a plate topped with pat of butter and coffee, fresh strawberries, butter, and syrup in the background.

Ready in 90 minutes and your new go-to recipe, these Quick Yeast Waffles are crispy, airy, tender, tangy, and have just a hint of sweetness.
Print Recipe
5 from 14 votes

Quick Yeast Waffles

Yields 5 (Five) 7-inch waffles
Prep Time1 hour 15 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time1 hour 30 minutes
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Servings: 5 (Five) 7-inch waffles
Calories: 2210kcal
Author: Patty K-P

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups milk
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  • In a small sauce pan, heat the milk and butter over medium heat. When about half of the butter has melted, off the heat and continue stirring until the rest of the butter melts. Let cool until warm to the touch, about 105°F to 110°F.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt until combined. Set aside.
  • In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla. Set aside.
  • Slowly pour the warm milk into the flour mixutre and whisk until incorporated. Stir in the egg mixture until a thick batter forms.
  • Loosely cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm and draft-free environment* until doubled in size with bubbles on the surface, about 60 minutes.
  • Give the risen batter a large stir, just to deflate, and cook in the waffle iron according to manufacturer instructions.

Notes

*I put it in an off oven with the light on.

Lightly adapted from Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook.

Note: This page contains affiliate links that help make The PKP Way possible. Should you choose to purchase anything via those links, I will receive a small commission paid by Amazon, not you.

Let your friends in on it:Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Share on Yummly
Yummly
Email this to someone
email

30 comments

    • Patty K-P says:

      Yes, do give it a try! I don’t think you’ll ever go back :) I bet with some modifications, you could make your own version of whole wheat yeast waffles for your family too :D

  1. Shirley says:

    I am looking for a waffle recipe that is a Belgium waffle it has yeast in it and also beaded egg whites do you have any recipe like that or where I could find one

  2. Alisha says:

    5 stars
    I’m really bad at planning ahead and prepping waffle batter the night before.. I was searching for a quick recipe when I came across your website. We were all starving so I only let it rise for 30mins and the waffles still came out DELICIOUS! I used half white flour and half whole grain spelt flours. Great flavor and ultra fluffy! Yum!

  3. Dylynn says:

    5 stars
    Had to sub 4 tbs butter for crisco, used active dry yeast instead of instant same amount as in recipe and after an hour I left it in the fridge overnight. Turned out great. Also doubled the recipe turned out fine. Super delish didnt have vanilla so added a dash of cinnamon.

  4. Melissa L says:

    5 stars
    Made this 4 times now in the past 2 weeks. This is our new go-to waffle recipe. Overnight does not work for our schedule, but 60 minutes is very do-able and totally worth the wait.

  5. Trisha says:

    5 stars
    Love Love Love this recipe and my boyfriend did too! He’s been eating good during this quarantine cause my cooking and baking has gone through the roof; so i’m always looking for good ideas and recipes. it will now be my go to for Belgian waffles. I only had instant yeast and not active yeast so couldn’t do an overnight recipe. I usually keep instant yeast around the house so will be doing this next time I feel like waffles. I thought they’d be too yeast tasting based on some of the reviews, but they weren’t. They were perfect. Thank you Patty…keep them coming.

    • Patty K-P says:

      Hi Trisha, thank you for the sweet comment! I’m so glad you found a new go-to recipe :) Yes, instant yeast is the key to making them quick! They only need to rise for about an hour with instant…no need to plan the night before :D

  6. SallyF says:

    I made these exactly as written, but I made pancakes instead of waffles. They were yummy. I think next time I will leave out the vanilla.

  7. Deirdre says:

    5 stars
    I have made liege waffles a couple of times, but other than that I have never attempted them. I don’t like waffles as a rule, I find them dry and flavorless. But my husband asked for waffles for Father’s Day breakfast.
    These were absolutely perfect. I used a little more yeast than was called for but that was an accident.
    They were fluffy inside, crispy outside, had a wonderful flavor, and I am stuffed to the gills.

  8. Nrutya says:

    5 stars
    Hi,
    I am from Chennai. India.I have attempted waffles once about 8 years ago and they were quite a disaster so much so that I quit trying to make them. My kids asked if I could make waffles and I figured I vould give it a go again and saw your recipe. Just tried them this morning and it turned out great. Thank you so much for a quick and easy recipe .My kids loved it. And it’s going to be a new breakfast option!

  9. Ivyhorse says:

    5 stars
    All 5 of my family members loved it. I didn’t have rapid rise yeast. I used regular yeast and prepared the recipe as instructed. It was wonderful.

  10. Woodley Marcy says:

    5 stars
    Thank you for doing the experimenting for us! Rainy day made for a perfect breakfast for dinner! Fresh eggs from the coop! Loved and saved this recipe!

  11. Mary says:

    5 stars
    My waffles turned out perfectly – without having to plan for them the night before!

    Waffles were crispy on the outside and soft and tender on the inside. They smelled and tasted delicious, also!

    Thanks 💚🩷

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.