These Banana Oatmeal Waffles are a recipe I make when we crave waffles, but want something on the healthy side. I often make a double batch and freeze some for a busy morning!
I already love whole wheat waffles, but I really appreciate the heartiness of rolled oats in this particular recipe. They are absolutely wonderful with a pat of butter and a drizzle of maple syrup.
The best part though? All of my children AND my husband will devour them in no time!
Tips & tricks
- Do not skip soaking the oats – otherwise your waffles will come out flat.
For crispy waffles
If you want to make very crispy oatmeal waffles, you have two options:
- Place the finished waffles on a rack and bake them at 360°F for 5-10 minutes, or until crispy. They will get more dry like this, though!
- Increase the oil in the waffles – only use ½ cup milk, and ⅓ cup oil instead of the 2 tablespoons the recipe calls for. You can also use melted butter for an extra-delicious flavor.
Serving suggestions
We really enjoy a fruit salad with these – especially a creamy dreamy (secretly healthy!) Cheesecake Berry Salad or a Greek Yogurt Fruit Salad.
For more breakfast ideas with waffles: What to Serve with Waffles for Breakfast
Freezer instructions
To freeze the cooled waffles, place them in a freezer bag separated by parchment paper. Label with the name and date, then freeze for up to 3 months.
To defrost, you can just pop them in the toaster! This makes them nice and crispy. If you prefer a soft waffle, reheat them in the microwave.
More waffle recipes
You can also browse all my breakfast recipes here, or all my waffle recipes here.
PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.
Printable recipe
Banana Oatmeal Waffles
Recipe details
Equipment
- waffle iron
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- ¾ cup milk
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons oil
- ½ cup rolled oats
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Fold-Ins
- 1 large banana chopped
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Combine wet ingredients: Add milk, eggs, honey and oil to a measuring jug or bowl and whisk well until smooth. Stir in oats, set aside to soak for 5-19 minutes while you continute with the recipe.
- Combine dry ingredients: Mix the dry ingredients in a large SEPARATE bowl until well combined.
- Prep: Heat a waffle iron on medium to medium-high.
- Make batter: Pour the soaked wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and use a rubber spatula to fold JUST until combined into a thick batter. Fold in banana and walnuts.
- Cook waffles: Bake the waffles according to your waffle iron's instructions, using about ¼ cup of batter per waffle. Enjoy warm!
Notes
For crispy waffles:
If you want to make very crispy oatmeal waffles, you have two options:- Place the finished waffles on a rack and bake them at 360°F for 5-10 minutes, or until crispy. They will get more dry like this, though!
- Increase the oil in the waffles – only use ½ cup milk, and ⅓ cup oil instead of the 2 tablespoons the recipe calls for. You can also use melted butter for an extra-delicious flavor.
Ingredient Swaps:
- Use regular flour in place of the whole wheat; reduce the milk by 2 tablespoons.
- Instead of honey, you can use maple syrup. If you don’t mind using sugar, 3-4 tablespoons light brown sugar work, too (increase the milk by 1 tablespoon if using sugar).
- For the milk, any milk-type you like works well.
- You can omit the walnuts if you don’t like them, or replace them with chocolate chips ?
- honey: I recommend a mild, runny honey. You can also use maple syrup in place of the honey.
- oil: a more neutral oil is best here; melted coconut oil or butter work, too.
Denise says
I made these for breakfast this morning and they were delicious!! Will definitely make again! Thanks for the recipe?
Betty Reyes says
Substituted oil for unsweetened apple sauce, did 1/2 regular milk and 1/2 coconut milk since I didn’t add any honey. Skipped any added sugars and added ground flax seed. Turned out great!
Mirjam says
hi! i made these waffles today! i actually doubled the recipe, because well you can’t have too many waffles. lol. BUT, were the oats meant to be ground before? It didn’t say in the recipe, so i just added them in, but the batter looked really liquid. So had to add more flour to make it thicker like normal waffle recipes.
But besides that, it was yummy, so thank you so much!
Nora says
Hi Mirjam, no I add the oats whole! But I think it depends a lot on your exact oats (how fast they absorb the liquid), so next time you could probably just let the batter sit for a few minutes until it thickens. I’ll add a note to the recipe later! Thanks for letting me know, and I’m glad the waffles still turned out well for you.
Tyra says
Could I use oat flour instead of whole wheat?
Nora says
Hi Tyra, oat flour is pretty different to whole wheat flour, so unfortunately I don’t think that would work.
Tanna says
I ground up oats instead of using wheat flour. Used a individual thing of original apple sauce. Doubled cinnamon. They turned out great. I put the apple sauce with my banana and folded it into batter last.
Nora says
That sounds delicious, Tanna!
Eloa says
I used old fashioned oats just because I prefer those, but other than that, I loved these. Healthy and tasty, I also skipped the nuts and used raw honey.
Nora says
Glad to hear it, Eloa! Thanks so much for coming back to leave a review, I appreciate your time.
Kyle Cazeault says
Just made these and they came out great! I left out the walnuts because we like to spread chunky peanut butter on top. Also, my son wanted blueberries inside so I left out half of the banana. I added a half cup of blueberries and that made up for the missing walnuts and banana. So good!
Nora says
Sounds like you made some delicious changes to the recipe, Kyle! I’m glad you and your family liked the waffles, and thanks for rating the recipe 🙂
Kyle Bachmayer says
These pancakes were great. It’s so hard to find healthy alternatives for favorite breakfast foods. These waffles hit the spot and didn’t make me regret breakfast. My wife and I made them per the recipe plus fresh berries and pure maple syrup. The mix-ins were delicious. Thanks for this one!
Nora says
Thank you for that great review, Kyle! I agree – breakfast comfort food can be hard to make healthier. I’m glad you and your wife enjoyed the waffles, they are always a hit at our house. Sounds perfect with the berries and maple syrup – I’ll try that next time!
SKB says
This batter was way too runny for a waffle iron and almost too thin for the skillet for pancakes. Tasted fine, but was frustrating to cook with. Made muffins out of the remaining batter.
Nora says
Hi Susan, I’m so sorry you had trouble with the recipe! I’ll retest it on the weekend to see about the changes I need to make. Sorry again and thanks for letting me know!
Trish says
How did your test go? These sound really yummy and I’d love to make them this weekend!
Nora says
Hi Trish – thank you for asking! I totally forgot to mention it anywhere, I believe. I re-tested the recipe and made changes when I noticed that the ratios seemed a bit off. The recipe in the post should work 100% now 🙂