These Chai Spiced Waffles are topped with tender apples that have been cooked in a maple cinnamon syrup. This may be the best addition ever to your breakfast or brunch table!
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What is Chai Spice?
You can't have Chai Spiced Waffles without Chai. The word Chai, in various forms around the world, means tea, but the word chai most commonly refers to delicious South Asian Masala Chai tea, which is black tea that is cooked with milk, sugar, and warm spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and black pepper.
Although you can buy pre-blended chai spices, it is so much easier (and more affordable!) to just make your own. The use of these warm spices doesn't have to be limited to tea though! I've used my own blend of chai spices in apple pie, French toast, coffee, and now Chai Spiced Waffles!
What do you need to make a great waffle?
The most important part of any waffle, no matter the flavor, is... the waffle! That means you have to start with an amazing base waffle recipe. This is it folks.
I have been working on this waffle recipe, literally, for years. I tried every trick out there for getting my waffles to have a crispy exterior with a fluffy interior. I wanted them to be just sweet enough, but not so sweet that I couldn't top them with syrup, gravy, Maple Cinnamon Apples, or even chicken! And I can finally say, I'm done. Here are my best tips for the most crispy, fluffy, and flavorful waffles:
- All-purpose flour No fancy flours need apply here. You can try whole wheat flour, or another flour alternative, but I haven't tested them and cannot attest to their pluses or minuses. I can only imagine they might make a more dense waffle, and that's not what I'm after today.
- Cornstarch This is my secret ingredient for a crispy exterior to my waffles. I already use some cornstarch with my flour when making fried chicken, and I thought, why not? And it works like a dream!
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda I use a bit of both in this recipe to get added lift to my waffles. The baking soda works with the acid in my buttermilk and the baking powder does its thing when it hits the hot waffle iron. Poof!
- Eggs I've fiddled around with separating the eggs, whipping the whites, and folding them into the waffle batter, but I just didn't see much difference. It can certainly give your pancakes a good fluffing, but with waffles, you're pretty much restricted by the waffle iron itself, so I found it to be an unnecessary step. Just add eggs.
- Chai Spices I created, and tasted, a lot of chai spices before I decided on a blend I like. If you go too hard on the cardamom it can taste too bitter, but you need it there for a bit of warmth, and to offset the inherent sweetness of cinnamon. It's all rounded out with ginger, nutmeg, and clove, and just a touch of black pepper. Trust me on the black pepper. It's the hint of heat in my Black Pepper Caramel No-Churn Ice Cream and it's perfect here with all the sweetness. All together, I think this is the perfect blend of spices to give you next level waffles!
Can I make these waffles without the Chai Spice?
Absolutely! This waffle recipe started out as a basic waffle recipe, and it has been put through so many different combination tests to see how it holds up to added flavors and ingredients.
I've made Blueberry Cornmeal Waffles (sub corn meal for the cornstarch and add 1 cup fresh blueberries), Chocolate Chip Waffles (duh), and so many more. Just leave out all the spices listed after the salt in the recipe and you're all set. The wet ingredients stay the same and the cooking instructions don't change.
How do I get Chai Spiced Waffles and apples into my belly?
- Cook the apples as directed and cover them to keep warm while you make the waffles.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients, including your spices.
- Whisk together your wet ingredients. It is always better to use room temperature ingredients, so I mix my buttermilk, milk, eggs, and vanilla together before starting to cook my apples. This gives them time to come to room temperature. Add in the melted butter just before mixing the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
- Do that 👆 Add wet into dry and mix until just fully combined. Then let the batter rest for about 10 minutes. This allows the dry ingredients to fully hydrate and for any gluten you built up in mixing to relax, for a more tender and fluffy waffle.
- Make waffles and eat them with syrupy apples and maybe some whipped cream. You've earned it!
- For a fun twist, try the apple topping on my Cinnamon-Cardamom French Toast! It's delicious too!
Love apples? Love maple syrup? They are even better when they team up. Try my Pork Chops with Maple Apples, my Maple Apple Turnovers, or my Starbucks Apple Croissants and you'll be a convert!!
Sound good? Try these recipes too!
📖 Recipe
Chai Spiced Waffles with Maple Cinnamon Apples
Equipment
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour (195g)
- ½ cup cornstarch (60g)
- 3 Tbs sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon cracked black pepper
Wet Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk (360g)
- ½ cup whole milk or half and half (120g)
- ½ cup vegetable oil (120g)
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted (60g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (extract or paste)
- 2 large eggs, whisked
Maple Cinnamon Apples
- 4 large apples
- 3 tbs unsalted butter
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 teaspoon cornstarch
Optional topping
- Homemade or store bought whipped cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°F. Set a wire rack into a large sheet pan and place in the oven. This will be the staging area for your waffles as they finish cooking and await devouring!
- Peel, core, and cut apples into ¼ inch slices.
- In a medium pot or deep skillet, melt butter over medium heat. As it melts, keep swirling the butter over the heat until it is light brown in color and smells nutty, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Immediately add the apples and stir around in the brown butter. Add brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir to combine. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10-12 minutes until the apples have slightly softened.
- Whisk cornstarch with maple syrup and pour into apple mixture. Simmer for another 1 to 2 minutes or until mixture has thickened.
- Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, whisk well, and set aside. In a large measuring cup whisk together buttermilk, whole milk (or half and half), oil, melted butter, vanilla, and whisked eggs. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just combined. There will be some lumps, but that’s fine. Allow batter to rest for at least 10 minutes. That’s just enough time to heat your waffle iron.
- Pour batter onto preheated waffle maker. Cook to manufacturer instructions, or about 4-5 minutes. Remove the waffle and place on sheet pan you set up in the oven. Repeat until all the batter is done.
- Serve warm with Maple Cinnamon Apples and a dollop of whipped cream.
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I'll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later, plus you'll get great new recipes from me every week!
Kaesey says
The apple topping is amazing on the lightly sliced waffles. Will make again!
Maria says
These look fantastic!
Cynthia says
Thanks! I hope you try them! 💗
Dianna Herbert says
I had a basket of fresh apples from our farmers market so this recipe caught my attention on IG. We made it this morning - it was so good! The other waffle recipes I’ve made over the years don’t call for cornstarch so I was leery at first but it must’ve worked its magic because they were great! Perfect amount of spice in both apples and waffles.
Cynthia says
I’m so happy you liked them! Cornstarch is sometimes used to bring lift and crispiness to baked goods, so I tried it in my waffle recipe and it works!
Heather T says
Tried these this morning. They were delish! I will for sure make these again. I used Granny Smith apples today but will have fun experimenting with different apple varieties.
Cynthia says
Yay! I’m so glad you like them. granny Smith apples are great! I love their tartness.