Best Apple Pie Waffles Recipe

Recipe developer Susan Olayinka has a thing for waffles, she has told us many a time, so we were really excited when she told us she had finally come up with her own homemade waffle recipe. As luck would have it, or, when it came time for Olayinka to hunker down with her waffle iron and prepare this recipe, it also happened to be right smack in the middle of apple season. They say timing is everything!

As Olayinka points out, "Apple pies are eaten a lot around this season." We, of course, nod in agreement (and never letting on that we've already been sampling all of the freshly baked apple pies that we can get our hands on). "And I wanted to create a unique type of waffle," she adds. And that she has done, indeed, with this recipe for apple pie waffles, which, among other innovations, makes use of whipped egg whites that have been beaten separately from the other ingredients (at first) in the interest of cultivating the ultimate in lightness and fluffiness.

For Olayinka's recipe for apple pie waffles, you'll need to select an apple, and Olayinka recommends going with one of the Gala variety. You'll also need 2 eggs, ½ cup of vegetable oil, ½ cup of milk, ¼ cup of white granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1 cup of all-purpose flour, ½ cup of cornstarch, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, ⅛ teaspoon of ground nutmeg, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, ½ teaspoon of ground ginger, and ¼ cup of pearl sugar, also known as "nib sugar." The key characteristic here is that this kind of sugar is made to withstand heat without melting, and it's what gives Belgian waffles their unique crispy sweetness. In addition, you'll need a waffle iron, nonstick spray, and three mixing bowls.

Whichever apple you have selected for this apple pie waffle recipe, give it a rinse under the faucet, and pat it dry. Then, with the skin still on, grate the apple down to its core (not including the core), using a grater with openings around the size of a pencil eraser. Then, grab two of your mixing bowls. Separate your two eggs, placing the yolks in one bowl and the whites in the other. Set aside the bowl with the whites for the moment. To the bowl with the yolks, add the vegetable oil, grated apple, and milk, and whisk together to combine.

Set aside the bowl with the egg yolk and apple mixture, and turn to the second bowl — the one with the egg whites. Use a whisk to combine them preliminarily, and then add the white granulated sugar the vanilla extract to the bowl. Using electric beaters, whip the egg whites until you start seeing soft peaks forming. You'll know because although peaks will form, they'll be loose and will collapse quickly.

Wondering what the third mixing bowl was for? You're about to find out. Into the third mixing bowl, sift in the all-purpose flour, the cornstarch, the cinnamon, the nutmeg, the baking powder, and the ginger. For this, you can use an actual flour sifter, or you can simply put them in a fine-mesh strainer over your bowl, and stir with a spoon until everything ends up in the bowl. To this mixture of dry ingredients, add the egg yolk mixture.

In this step, you'll be folding the sweet egg white mixture into the bowl containing the dry ingredients mixed with the egg yolk mixture. Before you begin, however, please note that you'll want to do this as gently as possible to pop as few air bubbles as possible. So, fold with care. Then, sprinkle the pearl sugar into the bowl, and gently stir that in as well.

Get your waffle iron, plug it in, and set it to medium-high (if it has a setting). When it's sizzling hot, spray the surfaces with nonstick cooking spray, and immediately pour a ½-cup portion of the waffle batter into the center of the iron. Close the iron, and allow the waffle to cook for four minutes. Since each waffle will need to cook individually for four minutes, you may want to place your cooked waffles on an oven-proof plate, and pop them into the oven set to 250 F to keep them warm and crisp while you continue to cook the rest. 

When all four waffles are cooked, serve immediately with butter and maple syrup. This recipe is sure to be a favorite at your house this fall and every crisp season to come.