Chaffle Recipe

What Is A Chaffle?

If you’re looking for fun breakfast recipes, this single batch chaffle recipe is for you! But first up: what even is a chaffle, anyway? Chaffles are waffles made almost exclusively with cheese and eggs. Their funny name is a combination of the words “cheese” and “waffle”. Chaffles came into popularity last year as a low carb, keto-diet friendly treat. In fact, they were so popular that chaffle recipes were one of the most searched for recipes in 2019!

For more unique and delicious waffle recipes, check out Hummingbird High‘s collection of waffle recipes!

I’m not going to lie. For a long time, I was uninterested in trying most chaffle recipes. The keto diet bills chaffles as a healthy-ish, low carb breakfast treat. I am automatically suspicious of “diet desserts” and “diet treats”. Let’s face it—they’re never as good as the real thing (or is that a #hottake?).

But because flour has been so difficult to find in grocery stores, I’ve been experimenting a lot with flourless recipes. First I made these 3-ingredient peanut butter cookies and these small batch flourless chocolate cookies. But I also wanted to go beyond cookies and sweets. Mostly, I was interested to see if I could make a quick-and-easy substitute for bread at home.

And so, I decided to try a chaffle recipe. I’d seen many recipes on Pinterest where folks had subbed in chaffles for bread in sandwiches. I figured I didn’t have too much to lose anyway—the most basic chaffle recipe only requires two ingredients: ½ cup of cheese and 1 large egg. Without further ado, I mixed the two together, dumped it into my waffle press, and held my breath.

What Do Chaffles Taste Like?

I’m happy to report that chaffles are indeed delicious. Some folks complain that chaffles are “too eggy”, but I honestly didn’t get that at all! My first chaffle tasted like a grilled cheese sandwich, but with the crispy, crunchy texture of a fresh waffle. When hot from the press, the chaffle even looks like a grilled cheese sandwich. When pulled apart, those chaffles result in ooey, gooey strings of cheese.

However, I’m surprised that so many chaffle recipes on the internet result in sweet chaffles. To me, this was very much a savory treat! That being said, I did actively make the decision to avoid using any sweeteners like sugar or xylitol (the keto dieter’s sweetener of choice) in my first chaffle recipe. If that’s your jam, be sure to check out the section on more chaffle recipe ideas down below.

Are chaffles keto?

Yes! Because they consist of only mozzarella and egg, chaffles are low carb and keto diet friendly.

Why You Should Make This Chaffle Recipe

Hopefully I’ve convinced you to try your very first chaffle. But aside from being delicious, there are other reasons why you should try this chaffle recipe:

Why You Should Make Chaffles In General

1. Chaffles are a good substitute for bread.
   Like I said before—there are many recipes that substitute sliced bread with chaffles on Pinterest. I haven’t done it myself, but I could see it being extremely delicious—especially as a breakfast sandwich with a sunny side up egg and slices of bacon and avocado in the middle. Yum!
   
   
2. Chaffles are “healthyish”: they are low carb, gluten free, and keto-friendly.
   Because chaffles don’t use any flour, they are gluten free. Furthermore, they are low carb and, according to many diet blogs, only consist of 3 net carbs (though I don’t exactly know what that means, lol—sorry, as a professional baking blogger, I am neither low carb nor keto!). However, keep in mind that you’re still basically eating a grilled cheese sandwich, lol. I really don’t know how “healthy” that actually is!
   
   
3. This chaffle recipe only uses two ingredients.
   One of the reasons why I wanted to try this particular chaffle recipe was because it only used a grand total of TWO ingredients: cheese and eggs. However, there are definitely other recipes that add other ingredients like sweeteners, almond flour, and more.

Why You Should Make THIS Particular Chaffle Recipe

1. This chaffle recipe is small batch.
   Here’s what I thought was the best part of this chaffle recipe: it makes only ONE chaffle. Most waffle recipes produce wayyy too many waffles. To be fair, it’s easy to freeze the leftovers and make toaster waffles. And should you decide to make a larger batch of this chaffle reicpe, you can also do the same with the resulting chaffles. However, there’s nothing quite like an extremely fresh and cheesy chaffle straight off the waffle iron.
   
   
2. This chaffle recipe comes together really, really quickly.
   Here’s the truth: I’m kind of a waffle snob. My favorite waffle recipe, the one that I included in my cookbook, is a Belgian-style Liège waffle (you can see a similar recipe on my blog from many years ago). Liège waffles are made with yeast and a special type of rock sugar that has the texture of creme brulee when pressed in the waffle iron. They’re absolutely delicious, but they take forever to make (yes, even with all my weeknight baking tips, sigh).
   
   But chaffles? All you gotta do is mix together the cheese and egg. After about 5 minutes or so (less, if you like your waffles on the lighter side), you have a delicious, cheesy chaffle.
   
   
3. This chaffle recipe is versatile.
   Depending on your preference, you can adapt this recipe to make chaffles that are either savory or sweet. Be sure to check out the section titled “Chaffle Recipe Ideas” for more information on how to do so!

Basic Chaffle Recipe Ingredients

Now that I’ve convinced you to make chaffles, here’s your shopping list for this chaffle recipe:

Shopping List for Chaffles

• low-moisture mozzarella (preferably pre-shredded)
• large eggs

That’s it! Because for my very first chaffle recipe, I wanted to keep it as simple as possible. I opted for the most basic chaffle recipe I could find. It only consisted of the following two ingredients:

Mozzarella Cheese

This chaffle recipe needs ½ cup finely-shredded low-moisture mozzarella to make the chaffles.

Be sure to use mozzarella cheese that is low moisture and finely shredded. In a pinch, you can also substitute with another mild-flavored, finely shredded cheese like mild cheddar or young gouda. And if you’re committing to the savory/umami chaffle route, you can even go further and use sharp cheddar or aged gouda!

But a word of warning—committing to a strongly flavored cheddar or gouda will eliminate the chaffle recipe’s versatility. Specifically: things might get weird if you were to use a very umami cheese and then combine it with sweet toppings. Definitely stick to a mild-flavored cheese if you’re planning on making sweet chaffles!

Can I use a mix of different cheeses for this chaffle recipe?

Yes! You can combine different cheeses for the chaffle. My only recommendation is similar to what I said above. Only combine mild-flavored cheeses together if you’re planning on serving the chaffles sweet.

Egg

This chaffle recipe needs 1 large egg to make the chaffles.

A large egg is what holds the chaffle together. In pinch, you can substitute with the egg with the following ingredients below.

Can I use egg whites from a carton to make this chaffle recipe?

Yes! You can use 3 tablespoons of egg whites from a carton in place of the whole egg. This substitution actually makes an ever so slightly “reduced fat” version of the chaffle since you’re taking away the fat from the egg yolk. If you want to commit to an even MORE reduced fat chaffle, be sure to use reduced fat cheese!

Can I use leftover egg yolks to make this chaffle recipe?

Yes! Because do you have a lot of leftover egg yolks from a baking project? I always do whenever I make cakes with Swiss meringue buttercream (see: this Buttercream Flower Cake, this Mint Chocolate Kintsugi Cake, and this Christmas Wreath Cake). But good news—you can use those egg yolks to make a chaffle! Use 3 whole egg yolks in place of 1 large egg in a waffle. This substitution makes a super crunchy waffle. When I tried it at home, the resulting texture was very similar to that of an Indian pakora.

Can I use flax eggs to make this chaffle recipe?

Yes! Good news for all you flax egg lovers—per this keto blog’s post on vegan chaffles, you can substitute the whole egg in the recipe with flax egg! I just personally can’t vouch for it because I haven’t done it myself.

How to Make a Chaffle

Once you’ve gathered your chaffle ingredients, making a chaffle from my chaffle recipe is pretty freaking easy! Simply combine the cheese and egg situation of your choice in a medium bowl. Mix the ingredients together until the cheese is completely moistened. At first, it will seem like there’s not enough egg in the mixture, but keep mixing. You want to mix to the point where the cheese can kinda hold in a rough ball shape when pressed together.

Chaffle Ideas

Although I went pretty basic with my first chaffle recipe, there are a ton of adaptations you can do to customize the chaffles to your tastes. Here are the most common variations:

Chaffle Recipe with Almond Flour

For those who are worried that the chaffles might be too eggy, consider adding 1 to 2 tablespoons of almond flour to the basic chaffle recipe! The almond flour makes the texture of these chaffles more bread-like and crunchy.

Savory Chaffle Recipes

Because my basic chaffle recipe is only two ingredients, you may want to consider amping up the umami flavor by adding your favorite herbs, seasonings, and salt. One of my favorite basic savory chaffle variations is to add a generous sprinkling of Trader Joe’s Everything But The Bagel Sesame Seasoning and a pinch of kosher salt to the cheese and egg.

Sweet Chaffle Recipes

If you’re a sweet breakfast person, you can absolutely customize the chaffle recipe to make sweet chaffles. First, see my note above about using a mild flavored cheese like mozzarella or young cheddar. Anything stronger would result in a funky tasting waffle! Add about 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, brown sugar, or coconut sugar. If you are on the keto diet, you can use an artificial sweetener like xylitol. I would also consider adding a ¼ teaspoon of almond or vanilla extract.

You can then serve the sweet chaffles with toppings like fresh fruit, honey, and maple syrup. Apples and pears in particular are often paired with cheddar (see this caramel apple crostata and this bacon apple cheddar pie) and would work well with a sweet chaffle. In a fit of wild cabin fever, I even wildly drizzled Nutella on a sweet chaffle. It was good at the time, but I wouldn’t say that I’d do it again. I’m not going to lie—it was a little weird, lol.

What to Eat with Chaffles

You can pair this basic chaffle recipe with almost anything!

If eating chaffles for breakfast, pair it with typical breakfast fare like eggs, bacon, and breakfast sausage. I also tried it with a smear of labneh and a sprinkling of fresh chives (see below)—it was delicious. If eating chaffles for for lunch, use it like a slice of bread and pair with your favorite lunch meats and toast toppings.

How to Make Chaffles: Recipe Troubleshooting and FAQ

FAQ: Tools to Make Chaffles

Where to buy a chafflemaker

Good news! You don’t need to buy a specialty “chafflemaker” to make waffles. You can just use whatever waffle press you have on hand, whether it’s an electric waffle maker or a stovetop one. For my chaffles, I used this Breville waffle maker that makes Belgian-style waffles. But be sure to check out the baker’s notes below—because it’s a Belgian-style maker, it uses more batter per waffle than a traditional waffle iron would. If you’re using, say, a mini waffle maker or a thinner waffle press like this cute heart shaped one, your serving size may increase.

Is it hard to clean the waffle maker after making chaffles?

No, not at all! The chaffle doesn’t stick to the press whatsoever; although I recommend using nonstick spray, you don’t even really need it. The only clean-up I really had to do was wipe down some extra grease (mostly from the nonstick spray!) off the waffle press.

Can you make chaffles without a waffle iron?

According to Reddit, yes! In theory, you can. But their texture is definitely going to be different—Reddit’s theory is that they’ll turn out more like pancakes. Unfortunately, because I’ve never done this, I can’t 100% confirm whether or not this theory actually works. Let me know if you have in the comments!

FAQ: Chaffle Storage Tips

How to store chaffles

A cooked chaffle will keep at room temperature for up to 1 day, and 3 days in the fridge. Once cool, store it in an airtight container or ziptop bag. Of course, it’ll lose its texture and crunch the longer it sits. You’ll need to either reheat it in the toaster, toaster oven, or oven—check out my notes on how to do so below!

Can you freeze chaffles?

Yes! Chaffles freeze really, really well. Once cool, store it in a ziptop bag and freeze for up to 3 months. The best part? Frozen chaffles can be reheated in the oven like a store-bought toaster waffle. It crisps up wonderfully and will result in ooey, gooey cheese strings when pulled apart.

How to Reheat a Chaffle

The best way to reheat a chaffle is through a toaster or toaster oven. Toast it like you would a slice of bread until crisp and warm. If you don’t own a toaster or toaster oven, you can also reheat in the oven! Preheat the oven to 350℉ and bake for 10 minutes, or until crispy and warm in the center.

The chaffles can also be reheated on a griddle. Although they won’t get quite as crispy or crunchy as they would in the toaster/toaster oven/oven, the outer edges will still get pretty crisp. I suggest using a tiny smear of oil or butter to encourage the outer surface to crisp!

Unfrotunately, chaffles don’t reheat well in the microwave. Although they’ll warm up, they won’t regain their crispy, crunchy texture and will instead be more omelette-like.

Video Tutorial for Chaffle Recipe

Use the video player below to watch my Instagram Story tutorial on how to make this chaffle recipe! The arrows to the left and right of the frame allow you to skip through the different recipe steps. You can also hit the “pause” or “enlarge” buttons on the upper right hand side of the frame to pause or enlarge the frames accordingly.

Alternatively, head to my Instagram profile to watch these Stories on mobile! The circles underneath my bio indicate saved Instagram Story highlights depicting various recipes. Clicking on one of the circles will play the videos you see above. You may need to scroll right to find this chaffle recipe.

More Waffle Recipes

• Apple Cider Waffles
• Chicken and Waffles
• Liège Waffles
• Overnight Eggnog Waffles
• Paleo Banana Bread Waffles

This post was last updated on 9/4/2020.