These healthy vegan chia waffles are packed with the wholegrain goodness of whole wheat and spelt. Serve with some pure maple syrup and fruit.
Our Saturday mornings begin, like most mornings, with a walk for Opie. But because we have more time on our hands, we treat him to an outing in the woods, or at one of the trails nearby where he can walk unfettered and meet other dogs — his favorite thing to do.
Because Opie has osteoarthritis we have to make sure his walks are long enough to exercise him without being so long that they will further wear out his joints. Our usual Saturday morning haunt, then, is this loop trail at a local park that brings us right back to the car. Opie loves it because part of the trail goes through a wooded area, giving him that mix of exercise and adventure that his little doggy heart craves.
By now he has friends that he looks forward to meeting on the trail every week. There’s Genevieve, a gorgeous, long-legged Goldendoodle who runs like the breeze and never stops long enough for Opie to get a good sniff at her, which infuriates him although he’s too much of a gentleman to complain. There’s a friendly golden retriever who lives in a house near the trail and will escape ever so often to greet dogs passing by — he has a real soft corner for Opie. There’s Dougie, a gender-bending (at least by name) lab mix who is usually there with her human siblings and their nanny, and would rather have her belly rubbed by Desi than play with Opie. Or Molly, a black-coated beauty who likes jousting with Opie over attractive-looking twigs. Those dogs.
By the time we get home after all that dog chasing and belly rubbing our appetites are really going. It’s the perfect time for my Healthy Chia Waffles made with whole wheat and spelt.
I make a lot of waffles and pancakes. always wholegrain and always healthy, and I’ve shared many of them on the blog before, so you might wonder what’s special about this one? Well, you’ll have to make them yourself and find out, but I’ll tell you one little secret: it’s the chia seeds. They give these waffles that lightness and a crunch that’s absolutely sublime.
I use whole wheat and spelt flours for the batter (never, ever use all purpose flour for waffles and pancakes– it only makes them bland and pasty), and I also add in a good amount of flaxmeal not only to act as binder but also to boost the waffles’ fiber and protein — and omega 3 — content.
It takes just minutes to mix up this batter, and a few more minutes to make them in a waffle iron. Try making them for your next weekend breakfast, and I’ll bet that not just you but your doggies will love them too. When we sit down for breakfast, Opie’s always waiting under the table to demand his share.
- 1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup spelt flour
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- 2 tbsp flaxmeal
- 2 cups almond milk or any non-dairy milk
- 1 tsp vinegar
- Mix the almond milk and the vinegar and set aside to curdle.
- In a large bowl, mix the whole wheat and spelt flours with the baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- To the almond milk, add the chia seeds and flaxmeal. Whisk together.
- Add the almond milk mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until everything's just moistened. If the mixture is too dry, add a little more almond milk.
- Cook in a waffle iron, per instructions. I have a Belgian waffle maker that makes six thick waffles per recipe, but if you have a regular waffle maker you would get 8-10 of these.
- Serve with any syrup of your choice. We love them with pure maple syrup.
I used a Belgian waffle maker which makes thicker waffles. In a regular waffle maker, you should get eight waffles from this recipe.
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Other breakfast ideas from the archives:
Gluten-free waffles with brown rice and buckwheat
Crepes with Orange Cream Cheese and Apricot Walnut Syrup
wow nice presentation…looks so tasty
Thanks, Divya. 🙂
Oh gorgeous waffles! I use the Sprouts brand multigrain pancake mix. Just add water and the waffles and pancakes are ready ( and tasty too). I have chia seeds and haven’t used them ( i buy things and shove them in the back) I will try the chia seed version and let u know. Thanks!
<3 to Opie.
Hi Pallavi, Opie sends a hug back to you! 🙂 You can add the chia seeds to your usual pancake recipe– they would be really great in nearly anything.
I’ve recently stopped using all purpose flour completely having realised how great healthier flours can be! These look delicious -wishing I had a waffle iron! 🙂 Amy x
Hi Amy, you can use the same batter for pancakes too, just make it a little runnier by adding more nondairy milk. Cheers! 🙂
Perfect! I know what I’m having for breakfast on Saturday 🙂 thanks
Opie sounds like a sweet little toddler, eager to meet all his friends when going out for walks 🙂 Love those healthy waffles, a question Vaishali, where did you get the whole wheat pastry flour?
Hi Gita, it’s true, he is like a little baby. 🙂 I buy the whole wheat pastry flour at Whole Foods — they have it in the flour aisle and there’s a 365 Days brand one that’s also available which is what I usually buy.
Hi Vaishali, Is there something else I can use in place of the spelt flour? and I have sprouted whole wheat flour that I use for my rotis and other recipes that call for wheat. It usually works well. Can I use that in place of the pastry flour? Thanks a ton!! This will probably be our Sunday breakfast. I have been wanting to have waffles for a while now and my chia seeds are sitting unused in the freezer.. so…:)
Hi Vidhya, you can just use 1 3/4 cups of the sprouted wheat flour and leave out the spelt. I often sub durum atta flour for whole wheat pastry flour, so this should work. Hope you enjoy them! 🙂
Super! Thanks so much for the info. I just tried out your kerala coconut stew with rice noodles and it turned out to be a quick yummy dinner. This is going to be my next attempt 🙂
Vidhya, so happy you liked the noodles. Thanks for letting me know! I hope you try the waffles– they’re our favorite weekend breakfast now. 🙂
Best waffles ever!!! Thanks for the wonderful recipe. My whole family loved them. I used little bit more vinegar and tried fresh strawberries and choclate chips. My favorite one were the strawberry waffles.
Rani, how lovely to hear that! So happy your family enjoyed these healthy waffles, and I love the idea of adding in some strawberries and chocolate chips. Sounds so delicious. Thanks for your feedback! 🙂
i love seeing this recipe because I was experimenting with healthier pancakes and happened to add chia seeds with flax meal, and they were really amazing! I’ll try your recipe next!
Hi VAishali,
I was looking at this recipe and wondering why there is a step to curdle the milk? Is it to replace the buttermilk ?
Also, I have whole wheat regular roti atta on hand, no pastry flour or spelt flour. Will that do?
This sounds so good and you make vegan cooking sound ( and these days I feel as well) so easy!!!
thanks,
Manu
I was a little skeptical with this recipe because I have made so many other vegan waffle recipes to no avail. I was very impressed with the outcome. They were exactly as waffles should be. Crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. I added a tsp of vanilla to mine. Thanks u so much for this recipe. I thought I was going to have to give up on ever having a good healthy vegan waffle. Thanks!
Hi Vaishali,
I used this recipe in the past with oat flour and added chocolate chips. It was amazing. I want to make it again but I am out of vinegar and flaxeed. Can I use fresh lemon juice and chia seeds only instead of vinegar and flaxeed respectively? If yes, what proportion?
Yes, just use the same amount of ground chia seeds as the flax. And lemon juice is fine. Or skip the lemon altogether and leave out the baking soda.
Hi Vaishali,
My waffle always sticks to the waffle iron though I grease it. I use whole wheat flour. Do you have suggestion?
Hey there, make sure you preheat your waffle iron per directions, and I usually spray it with nonstick spray. It can also purely be a manufacturer thing– the first waffle iron I ever had was an inexpensive model and the waffles always stuck to them, but I have a Cuisinart now and it actually is nonstick and the waffles slide out easily.
Awesome Waffles!
Thank you so much for posting this recipe!
We added 1 tsp Vanilla and 2 Tbsp Sugar, otherwise followed the recipe exactly and the result was a very tasty and healthy treat.