These Pink Waffles with homemade strawberry syrup are the perfect breakfast or brunch for Valentine's Day or any day you want to make your breakfast a little more fun! They're naturally colored, gluten-free, and freezer-friendly!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Pink waffles are the perfect breakfast or brunch for Valentine's Day! The homemade strawberry syrup makes these special and different from regular waffles. Add some chocolate chips to make these even better!
- They're naturally colored with pink pitaya powder. The recipe uses no food coloring which is why the waffles don't stay very pink after cooking on the outside. The inside still stays light pink though! The pink powder makes the batter pretty which makes these so fun to make.
- They're freezer-friendly! I prefer waffles over pancakes because they're much easier to stock up on. They usually freeze well and to reheat them, you can just pop them in your toaster in the morning and have them ready to eat in less than 5 minutes.
Ingredient Notes
- Gluten-free flour - You can use regular all-purpose flour in this recipe but I like using a gluten-free blend to avoid gluten. My favorite is the Bob's Redmill 1:1 flour blend, it works great as a replacement in all recipes I've tried.
- Eggs - If you'd like to make this recipe vegan, you can try using an egg replacement like ground flaxseed or egg alternatives but I haven't tried it so I can't guarantee good results.
- Milk - Any milk will work in this recipe except for canned coconut milk. I like using almond milk or other dairy-free milk like oat, cashew, or rice but you can use any milk you prefer.
- Pitaya powder - This powder is made with 100% red pitayas and bright pink. I used the Suncore brand. If you can't find any, you can also use beet powder. The crust will always turn brownish after cooking but the inside will stay pink. If you want to keep them pink, you'd need to use food coloring. Pitaya makes the batter pink and makes these waffles fun to make!
- Strawberry syrup - The syrup is made with fresh or frozen strawberries, water, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. If you don't have maple syrup, you could substitute it for cane sugar or different syrup but I highly recommend using 100% maple syrup for waffles or pancakes, it's really good!
Step-by-Step Instructions
The first step is to make the strawberry syrup. I like doing this first because you can have it simmering while you mix the batter and make the waffles.
To make it place chopped strawberries in a saucepan with water and maple syrup and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Take off heat and set aside until ready to eat. You can reheat the syrup right before serving.
If you'd like, you can strain the syrup but I like to leave the strawberries in. I strain it only if I plan to use it in drinks.
To make the batter, whisk together the wet ingredients in a large bowl.
Add the flour, pink pitaya powder, cinnamon, and baking powder to the wet ingredients and whisk until combined.
Cook your waffles according to your waffle maker's instructions. I cook mine at medium for about 5 minutes until the machine beeps.
Serving
Serve these waffles with the syrupy strawberries and more toppings you enjoy. Chopped fresh strawberries, chopped nuts, yogurt, hemp seeds, or nut butter would all be delicious.
Storing
- Keep them warm - To keep the waffles warm, lay them out on a baking sheet in a single layer and keep them in the oven preheated to 70C (150F) until you finish cooking the whole batch.
- Refrigerator - Keep the waffles wrapped in plastic wrap or a container in the fridge for 2-3 days. Reheat them in your toaster until warm.
- Freezer - Place waffles in a freezer-safe ziplock bag and store in the freezer for 2-3 months. The better the freezer, the longer the waffles will last. To reheat them, I do the same thing as refrigerated waffles - reheat them in the toaster, a little longer this time on the defrost setting.
FAQs
I use pink pitaya powder but you can also use beet powder or any other red/pink fruit or vegetable powder. Any natural coloring won't stay very visible after cooking but the inside should stay somewhat pink. To have bright pink waffles, use food coloring.
No, it adds no taste.
The recipe calls for three eggs. I haven't tried making a vegan version but you can try ground flax seed mixed with water or another egg replacement. I don't guarantee it will work though because I haven't tried.
No, you don't have to! This is up to you. I like keeping the strawberries in when using the syrup on waffles, pancakes, oatmeal, or smoothies. I strain the syrup if I plan to use it for drinks.
More Waffle Recipes
Which do you prefer - waffles or pancakes? I'm a huge waffle fan but if you like both, you can check out the Pancakes and Waffles category page to see the latest recipes of both! Below are three of my favorite waffle recipes. The savory one might actually be my most favorite!
📖 Recipe
Pink Waffles with Strawberry Syrup
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 8 waffles 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
These waffles are soft and not overly sweet so they're perfect to serve with homemade strawberry syrup.
Ingredients
Strawberry syrup
- 2 cups chopped strawberries (fresh or frozen)
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Pink waffles
- 1 cup almond milk
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tbsp avocado oil or melted butter
- 2 tbsp maple syrup (plus more for serving)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- 1 ½ cup gluten-free flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 flour)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp pitaya powder
- Avocado oil in spray (for cooking, optional)
- Optional for serving: strawberries or other berries, nut butter, yogurt, chopped nuts, hemp hearts
Instructions
Strawberry Syrup
- Add the chopped strawberries, water, and maple syrup to a saucepan.
- Bring to a boil, lower the heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes until it’s reduced, slightly thicker, and the strawberries mushy.
- Stir in the vanilla extract and set aside until ready to serve. You can warm the syrup back up right before serving.
Pink Waffles
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond milk, eggs, avocado oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and fine sea salt until smooth and well combined.
- Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and pitaya powder.
- Whisk everything together until combined.
- Heat up your waffle iron and cook the waffles according to the manufacturer’s directions. I like to lightly spray my waffle iron with cooking spray and cook the waffles on medium heat for about 5 minutes until the waffle maker beeps.
- Serve the waffles with strawberry syrup and any other toppings you like.
Notes
Keep them warm - To keep the waffles warm, lay them out on a baking sheet in a single layer and keep them in the oven preheated to 70C (150F) until you finish cooking the whole batch.
Refrigerator - Keep the waffles wrapped in plastic wrap or a container in the fridge for 2-3 days. Reheat them in your toaster until warm.
Freezer - Place waffles in a freezer-safe ziplock bag and store in the freezer for 2-3 months. The better the freezer, the longer the waffles will last. To reheat them, I do the same thing as refrigerated waffles - reheat them in the toaster, a little longer this time on the defrost setting.
Heidy says
These Pink Waffles with homemade strawberry syrup came out so perfect! My children loved them, and so did I. It's Strawberry season here in Florida, so I will be making this several times before it ends!
HEATHER PERINE says
These waffles are the perfect Valentine's Day breakfast..and the strawberry syrup sounds delicious!
Beth says
My neighbor makes and sells waffles at our local farmer's market and she's going to be adding beet powder to them for the upcoming weekend as her "Valentine's" waffle. These look so delicious, and I am going to share the link with her - great minds!
Allyssa says
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing waffles strawberry syrup recipe! Will surely have this again! It's really easy to make and it tasted so delicious! Highly recommended!
Megan says
These are deliciously awesome! They look amazing and taste as good as they look.
Nicole says
I couldn't wait for Valentine's Day to make these! I used freeze dried strawberry powder because I had some already and my daughter went crazy for them, especially for that strawberry syrup!
Marie says
How cute are these waffles! I'd never heard of dragonfruit powder before but it makes so much sense to use it as a coloring, it has such a stunning color! I can't wait to get my hands on some to try and use it in different recipes. In the meantime, I'll still make these beautiful waffles this weekend because the craving can't wait!!
Heidy says
These Pink Waffles were outstanding. I made them with the kids, and we had a blast making them. They tasted so good!
Hayley Dhanecha says
We made these delicious pink waffles over the weekend, they were fabulous. You have presented so beautifully and your instructions are so easy to follow.
Cathleen says
I was looking for a Valentine's Day brunch idea, and this one is perfect!! I am so excited to make this one! :)
Natalie says
Beautiful waffles. Clever how you added pitaya powder for natural colouring. Great idea! I don't have pitaya powder but I have beetroot. I will make these waffles for my husband. Thanks for idea!