A sweet version of chaffles flavored with pumpkin and pumpkin spice for Fall. These low carb and keto-friendly waffles are easy to make and a fun twist on traditional savory chaffles. Unlike other chaffle recipes, you won’t taste the cheese or egg.
What are Chaffles?
Chaffles are a keto waffle made primarily of cheese and egg. When the cheese and egg batter is cooked in a waffle iron, it puffs up to a crispy, chewy waffle. There are many variations on this basic recipe. You can add some almond flour or coconut flour to give the chaffle more structure. And, of course, you can create many different flavors.
What Cheese to Use to Make a Sweet Chaffle?
Lately, I’ve been experimenting with sweet chaffles. Sweet chaffles are a little different. Chaffles are usually made with shredded cheese, but that doesn’t work as well if you are trying to make a sweet waffle.
First, I tried with mozzarella. Mozzarella has a mild flavor and can sometimes work well in a sweet recipe, like my low carb sweet cream biscuits. I came across several recipes that use mozzarella for a sweet chaffle recipe, but it just didn’t taste right to me. I could taste the cheese, which I didn’t want for a sweet chaffle.
So instead of shredded cheese, this recipe uses cream cheese. The cream cheese acts similarly to the shredded cheese, working with the egg to create a keto waffle.
How to Make a Pumpkin Chaffle
- The cream cheese needs to be softened and whisked until it becomes a whipped consistency before adding any other ingredients, otherwise, you’ll end up with unmixed chunks of cream cheese.
- Once the cream cheese is whisked, add in the egg and pumpkin puree and whisk.
- Then add in the pumpkin spice, almond flour, baking powder and sweetener.
- Pumpkin spice is key to the chaffles tasting like pumpkin because the pumpkin puree by itself is too mild in flavor. The almond flour gives the waffles a better structure and takes away the eggy taste that occurs when you only use cheese and egg in the batter. The baking powder is optional, but it does make the waffles fluffier and puffier. The sweetener is also optional. Since you will likely be eating these with syrup, you don’t really need to sweeten the waffles beforehand, but I like having a little sweetness in my waffles and then use less syrup.
Equipment for Chaffles
Any waffle iron will work for making chaffles, but if you want perfectly round waffle (about the size of a frozen Eggo waffle), I recommend using a mini waffle maker. I purchased the Dash mini waffle maker which is the most commonly used one for making chaffles. The cute waffle iron is just $10 and you can use it for regular waffle recipes too.
Toppings for Pumpkin Chaffles
I served my chaffles with butter and sugar-free maple syrup. Other topping ideas include:
- whipped cream
- sugar-free chocolate syrup
- chopped nuts
- sugar-free chocolate chips
Pumpkin Chaffles
Ingredients
- 1 oz cream cheese softened
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp pumpkin puree
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice
- 1 tbsp superfine almond flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder optional
- 1/2 tsp erythritol granular optional
Instructions
- Add cream cheese to a medium bowl and whisk cream cheese until it becomes a whipped consistency. If your cream cheese is too hard to whisk, heat in the microwave for a few seconds (no more than 5 seconds at a time) to soften the cream cheese. Be careful not to heat the cream cheese too long or it will overheat and make a mess in your microwave.
- Whisk in egg and pumpkin puree until batter is smooth. Add in pumpkin spice and almond flour and whisk until evenly combined. If using baking powder and sweetener, whisk in until evenly combined.
- Preheat waffle iron. When it is ready, grease waffle iron with a cooking oil spray.
- Pour half of the batter into the mini waffle maker. Your batter should cover all the holes. Close waffle iron. Let it cook for about 4-5 minutes, or until waffle is a dark brown and crispy on the outside. Repeat with remaining batter. You should have enough batter for two chaffles using the Dash mini waffle maker.
Notes
- For these waffles, I used the Dash mini waffle maker* and the recipe makes two round waffles (about the size of a regular Eggo waffle).
- You can use other waffle irons to cook the batter as well. If it's a large waffle iron, you can pour all the batter on at once and then slice the waffles.
- The chaffles taste a little plain on their own, so I definitely recommend eating them with syrup. I served mine with ChocZero maple syrup.*
- The cream cheese needs to be softened and whisked until it becomes a whipped consistency before adding any other ingredients, otherwise, you'll end up with unmixed chunks of cream cheese.
- I prefer using cream cheese instead of shredded mozzarella for sweet chaffles. If you have made sweet chaffles with mozzarella before and don't mind the flavor, you can substitute the cream cheese with 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese. If you do this, do not add the mozzarella until the very end, after all the other ingredients have been thoroughly mixed.
- Pumpkin spice is key to the chaffles tasting like pumpkin because the pumpkin puree by itself is too mild in flavor.
- The almond flour gives the waffles a better structure and takes away the eggy taste that occurs when you only use cheese and egg in the batter. You can substitute the almond flour with 1 tsp of coconut flour.
- The baking powder is optional, but it does make the waffles fluffier and puffier.
- The erythritol sweetener is also optional. Since you will likely be eating these with syrup, you don't really need to sweeten the waffles beforehand, but I like having a little sweetness in my waffles and then use less syrup. I used So Nourished Erythritol Sweetener Granular.*
- *Some of the product links contained in this post are affiliate links. Much like referral codes, this means I earn a small commission if you purchase a product I referred (at no extra charge to you).
- Estimated Nutrition Information does not include toppings (syrup and butter) and does not include carbs from erythritol.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
Yummy !
This recipe sounds delicious! Making them sweeter, freezing and popping them in a toaster for ‘on the go’ breakfast sounds yummy, too!
We hope you try it soon!
These were so, so good. I ran out of granular erythritol so i used the confectioner’s version and instead of 1/2 teaspoon used 1 whole teaspoon. DELICIOUS!!! THESE ARE A NEW KEEPER! THANK YOU : )
I’m so glad you liked them!