Banana Oat CRAZY GOOD Waffles (Vegan, Gluten-free)
Banana Oat CRAZY GOOD Waffles (Plant-based, Gluten-free)
These are the waffles I keep on speed dial. You make the no-fuss batter in a blender, and then pour the batter directly on the waffle iron. This recipe scales up and down beautifully: Quadruple it to feed a crowd or make a bunch to keep in the freezer. Or, halve the recipe to make a small waffle that's perfect before a workout. Folks will be surprised that it's vegan and wheat-free.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup cashew or almond milk (125-130 mL)
- 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 medium-sized RIPE banana
- 1 cup rolled oats (100-105 grams) - also known as old-fashioned oats
- 2 teaspoons maple sugar (yes, that's maple SUGAR, not syrup)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Cooking spray (or oil) for the waffle iron
Instructions
- Pour ½ cup of cashew milk and 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar into a blender. Let the milk-vinegar sit undisturbed for 10 minutes. (Voila--you now have vegan buttermilk!)
- Add 1 cup oats to the buttermilk and blend until the oats are ground into flecks.
- Add 1 ripe banana, 2 teaspoons maple sugar, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, and blend until smooth.
- Turn on the waffle iron. Let the batter sit undisturbed while the iron heats.
- When the iron is hot, oil the top and bottom with cooking spray. Give the batter one or two gentle stirs with a spoon or spatula, then pour it directly from the blender onto the waffle iron.
- Close the lid, and follow your iron's instructions. That being said, these crazy good waffles may take longer than regular waffles to cook. Don't open the waffle iron until it has completely stopped steaming. The waffle is ready when the exterior is golden brown and crispy.
- If you're not serving or eating the waffle immediately, place it on a wire cookie rack to maintain its crispiness.
Notes
- Making more than one waffle? Keep the prepared waffles warm by placing them on a wire cookie rack on a baking sheet in the oven at 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Meal-prepping? Completely cool the prepared waffles on the counter. Once cooled, place the waffles in a single layer (not touching each other) in the freezer for 1-2 hours. (It can be tricky to find plates or baking sheets that’ll fit in your freezer, so dig deep into your creative well, my friends…) After 1-2 hours, remove the waffles from the freezer; stack them between pieces of parchment paper in an air-tight, freezer-safe container; seal the container and store them in the freezer.
- Substitutions? You can omit or reduce the maple sugar, BUT the waffles will take a hit in taste and texture. Almond milk and pea milk (Ripple) work well with this recipe but I haven’t tried other milks. You can substitute the apple cider vinegar with lemon juice to make the buttermilk. However, apple cider vinegar gives me the most consistent, delicious results.
- Add-ins? Zhuzh it up by adding cinnamon, chopped nuts, chocolate chips, or diced dried fruit to the batter. If you're adding spices, start with 1/4 teaspoon. For nuts, chocolate chips, or dried fruit, start with 2 tablespoons. Of course, you can make the batter as is and simply add toppings.
- Salt? Ever noticed how much sodium is in most pancake/waffle mixes? That's because salt is a preservative and flavor enhancer. If you’re missing a certain something (or are a salty sweater needing to replace electrolytes), add a pinch or two of salt to the batter. However, I truly prefer the taste of these waffles without even a dash of salt.
The best thing about my birthday a few weeks back was that my curly-haired, ultra-marathon running brother and sister-in-law (the adjectives apply to both) came over for dinner. The second best thing was the waffles. Crazy good waffles. Not quite as crazy good as Jasmin Paris—the first woman to finish the legendarily mysterious Barkley Marathons,* an unmarked 100-mile race that starts when Lazarus Lake, the race mastermind, lights a cigarette in Frozen Head State Park, Tennessee, approximately one hour after blowing a conch shell anytime within a 12 hour window that the race might start (got that?!)—but crazy good. If you’re into ultra crazy good, there’s a new 46 minute documentary about Jasmin finishing the Barkley Marathons. It’s on YouTube. It’s free. It’s now my favorite movie. And the banana oat waffles are my favorite waffles…
Notably, waffle irons (like each year’s Barkley course) are all different. Therefore, I can’t give you a guaranteed number of waffles that this recipe makes. What I can give you is the ratio of ingredients I use for one person. In other words, if I’m making a waffle on my big Belgian waffle maker for only myself, the ratio in the recipe above is what I use. The ratio scales perfectly. When Fletcher and Rachel came over, I tripled it, and we each had a waffle.
*Links related to the Barkley Marathons:
I’ve been climbing Sharp Top for more than four decades. It’s one of the Peaks of Otter in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Bedford, Virginia, where both sets of my grandparents lived. Picture from around 2018.
No one completed the 2025 race. (Jasmin didn’t run it—she’s on to other challenges.)
“Everything you need to know about the Barkley Marathons”…or so Running World seems to think…
The Jasmin documentary (“The Finisher”) is my top movie recommendation. BUT if you don’t mind feeling guilty about sitting on a couch for a couple of hours instead of, let’s say, running up a mountain, in the middle of the night, with a compass and some Coke and the crunch of your feet over icy rocks splattered with your blood spilled from 50+ miles of brambles (yay, halfway! only another 50 miles to go…alone. in the dark. somewhere in East Tennessee), here’s another option: The Barkley Marathons—The Race That Eats Its Young.
Want to know what else is crazy good? The maple sugar from Barred Woods (no affiliation or sponsorship). Its powdery texture blends smoothly into the batter. It’s more maple-y than sweet, adding a complexity you don’t get from white or brown sugar. The maple depth means that these waffles are delicious without adding syrup. They’re easy to pack or grab-on-the-go. I often eat half of one before swimming…and the other half on the drive home.
Other recipes in the CRAZY GOOD waffles series—gluten-free and vegan:
Spiced Clementine Chocolate Chip, Apple Cinnamon (Steve’s Favorite), Ginger Pear
