5-Ingredient Greek Yogurt Waffles: High Protein and Gluten-Free

Sneak Preview: These incredible Greek Yogurt Waffles have only five ingredients: oatmeal, apples, eggs, Greek yogurt, and cinnamon. Two of these 4-inch waffles contain 14 grams of protein, 4 grams of fiber, and zero added sugar.

Are you always looking to increase your fiber intake? Maybe you’re just looking for something different that’s easy to prepare, won’t leave you feeling guilty or sluggish after you eat it, and doesn’t send you on a wild goose chase for hard-to-find ingredients.

In my opinion, these Greek Yogurt Waffles hit all those marks.

Don’t be misled. These are not the sweet, crispy, and fluffy waffles you get at the local pancake house. Instead, they are hearty, flavorful, and filling–perfect for breakfast or a snack.

Twelve Reasons Why You Will Value This Recipe

1. No added sugar
2. No white flour or expensive gluten-free flour
3. No added fat (unless you count spraying the griddle with non-stick vegetable oil)
4. No yeast, baking powder, or soda
5. Leavened with air incorporated by the blender
6. Versatile (check out all the variations below)
7. Make ahead
8. Easy to freeze
9. Eat out of hand–not crumbly
10. Reheat by toasting
11. Easy recipe to scale up or down
12. Satisfying to eat–high in protein and fiber

I know some of you cook or bake for people on gluten-free diets. Bookmark this recipe immediately. This is the first gluten-free bread (quick bread, not yeast bread), besides these gluten-free biscuits, that I really enjoy. You don’t need yeast, a bread machine, or expensive gluten-free flour.

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Ingredients and Substitutions

• APPLES: Choose a sweet apple so you won’t have to add sugar or syrup. According to Mariano’s Sweetness chart, the sweetest apples are Fuji, Gala, Golden Delicious, and Red Delicious. Those apples are usually easy to find. However, if there is another apple sold in your area and it’s one you prefer, try it.
  • If you have an apple languishing in your produce drawer, go ahead and use it. The texture doesn’t matter because you will run it through the blender. If your waffles aren’t sweet enough, you can always serve them with jelly, whipped cream, or maple syrup.
  • Use applesauce instead of fresh apples. If it contains sugar, this will affect the nutritional profile. You will also miss out on the benefits of the fiber in the apple peel since the apple does not need to be peeled.
• QUICK OATS: I tested with both old-fashioned oats and quick oats. The quick oats absorbed the moisture faster, making the batter thicker. However, if you want to use old-fashioned oats, let the batter sit for 20 minutes or so to give it more time to thicken. When you get tired of making waffles, try this recipe for Oatmeal and Sunflower Seed Bread.
• EGGS: The recipe is written for large eggs (50 g each). Adjust accordingly if using a different size.
• GREEK YOGURT: I favor Greek yogurt over regular yogurt because it has the highest amount of protein. It also results in a batter with the correct consistency. Substitute cottage cheese for the yogurt if preferred.
  • Greek yogurt is fairly easy to make at home or buy it from your local supermarket.
  • I always use unflavored yogurt. If you decide to try flavored yogurt, it will work, but it probably contains sugar.
  • Use any Greek yogurt or Skyr (Icelandic yogurt) that is nonfat, low-fat, or full-fat. The nutritionals are figured using low-fat yogurt.
• CINNAMON: Use ground cinnamon or spices of your choice. I enjoy substituting cardamom, apple pie spice, or allspice.
• SALT: Use any kind of salt you have. Or leave it out if you are following a low-sodium diet.

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Variations

Besides substituting applesauce for apples, here are some other ideas:

• Ripe bananas
• Ripe pears
• Berries (pureed or not)
• Butternut squash puree
• Pumpkin
• Plain (use for sandwich buns)

How To Make Greek Yogurt Waffles

If your blender has speed settings, start with the lowest and progress to the highest. (When finished blending, I like to pour the batter out of the blender into another container, preferably a flexible bowl that makes it easy to pour the batter onto a waffle iron.)

Tip from a reader: Just finished a FABULOUS breakfast using your 5-Ingredient Greek Yogurt Waffles recipe! Even my VERY finicky husband loved them! The only suggestion I would make (and this is because I use a VitaMix blender that does not have a removeable blade assembly) –> as soon as you finish blending all ingredients and mixture is smooth….transfer your batter to a different pouring pitcher. As the batter sits (while you heat waffle iron, cook your first waffles, etc) it continues to thicken. I had problems getting the last of my batter out of my VitaMix container. I actually made all the waffles the day before and popped them in the toaster the next morning. Shared leftovers with the neighbor, and she was equally impressed. — Becky P.

Note: This is a good time to add nuts, dried fruit, or chocolate chips to the batter.

FAQs About Yogurt Waffles with Oatmeal and Apples

Parting Thoughts: I can’t express how excited I am to finally find a gluten-free bread recipe that’s worth eating and doesn’t have a zillion calories or cost a million dollars to buy a special flour. I don’t require a gluten-free diet, but I know many of you have been looking for that type of recipe. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.

p.s. Unfortunately, I still have not found a gluten-free yeast bread you can make in a bread machine that’s worth the calories, the cost of gluten-free flour, and, most importantly, suitable for sharing with family and friends.

This recipe was inspired by Sally’s recipe for Pumpkin Protein Waffles over at Realmommutrition.com.

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