Traditional Keto Chaffle Recipe (2 Ingredients)

Introduction

We did not invent chaffles, but we sure love talking about them. Feast your eyes on our Oreo Chaffles variation or our White Bread Keto Chaffle if you want proof.

This is the one they all came from, though, and it is still the one we reach for when what we actually want is a sandwich. Two ingredients, four inches across, done in about five minutes. If you were after a more conventional burger bun alternative, we have those too.

What Is a Traditional Keto Chaffle?

A chaffle is a cheese and egg waffle: beat an egg, stir in shredded cheese, cook it in a waffle maker. The name is “cheese” and “waffle” pushed together.

Written down, “cheese and egg waffle” does not sound especially appetizing. It is much better than it sounds, and part of why is that a traditional chaffle has no strong flavor of its own. You can taste it, but it sits back and lets whatever you put between the two chaffles do the talking. That is exactly what you want from a bread replacement — and how often is the bread the star of a sandwich? So if you are worried this will taste overwhelmingly of egg, it really doesn’t.

This page is the plain two-ingredient version, which is where nearly everyone starts. For the rest of the category — where chaffles came from, and the sweet ones that have wandered a long way from cheese and egg — we have a full guide to what a chaffle is and a list of sweet and savory chaffles.

Use a Mini Waffle Maker

At first, a mini waffle maker seemed like a waste of money. How many times have you thought to yourself, “I could really go for a mini waffle”? Probably never.

For this recipe you need a small one. The chaffle is standing in for a bun, so it has to be bun-sized, and a mini waffle maker makes them about four inches across — close enough to a slice of bread or a burger bun that the sandwich works.

We use the DASH Mini Waffle Maker. It is inexpensive, it stores in a drawer, and it wipes clean.

If you have a big family — or you just really like chaffles — the Burgess Brothers ChurWaffle Maker makes four at a time.

For cleaning the grooves out afterward, these silicone basting brushes are what we have found works best.

They Crisp Up After They Come Out

This is the part that trips people up.

Your chaffle will come out of the waffle maker soft and a little floppy, and you will think you undercooked it. You didn’t. Give it two or three minutes on a rack or a plate and it firms up and gets a bit of crunch.

Pull it apart at minute one and it is still soft and bendy. That is the point where people decide the recipe didn’t work. Wait the two minutes.

Once it has crisped it reads a lot like toast, and that is what lets it take a hot filling without going to pieces.

Making Them

Preheat the waffle maker properly before the batter goes anywhere near it. Batter onto a half-hot iron sticks, and you will spend longer scraping it out than you spent making it.

This recipe makes two chaffles, not one. If you pour the whole bowl in at once, it comes out of every side of the waffle maker. Split the batter roughly in half and cook them one after the other.

Two chaffles is one sandwich, so a batch is one lunch. Double everything if you are feeding someone else.

The first time, put a plate under the waffle maker. It catches the overflow while you work out how much batter is actually the right amount, and it saves wiping down the counter.

Beyond that: if you have ever stayed at a hotel with a make-your-own-waffle station, you are more than qualified. Even if you never actually used it. Knowledge by osmosis, or something like that.

Making Them Crispier

If your chaffle cools and you still want more crunch, you have two options.

The first is cheese on the outside. Sprinkle a little shredded cheese straight onto the hot iron, pour the batter over it, then sprinkle a bit more on top before you close the lid. That outer cheese spends the whole cook time against the hot plate and fries into a crisp, lacy edge.

The second only applies if you are making a sandwich: build the sandwich, then put the whole thing back in the waffle maker for a minute. The chaffle crisps and the filling melts at the same time. It works like a very small panini press, assuming your sandwich fits in it.

A Few Things Worth Knowing

• Don’t peek. It is tempting to lift the lid and check, but opening the waffle maker part-way through tears the chaffle in half and leaves most of it stuck to the plate. Give it the full time before you look.
• Too eggy? Try two egg whites instead of the whole egg. The original recipe suggests this on the grounds that most of an egg’s flavour is in the yolk.
• Want it fluffier? A teaspoon of baking powder, or a tablespoon of almond flour, makes a more bready chaffle with a bit more structure.
• Change the cheese, or add to it. Different cheeses give noticeably different results, and a spoon of cocoa powder sends the whole thing in a dessert direction.

Storing and Reheating

Keep cooked chaffles in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service recommends using refrigerated cooked food within three to four days, and a chaffle is egg and cheese, so that is the window we would work to. That is a food-safety figure rather than a texture one.

They will go soft in there, which is normal and completely fixable. Put a cold chaffle back in the waffle maker, or in a dry skillet, or a toaster oven for a minute or two and it crisps up again. The microwave will warm it through but leaves it limp, so use it only if crispness isn’t the point.

What Cheese to Use

We use shredded cheddar. That is what the recipe was written around, and the original suggests trying a different cheese. Cheddar is the only one we have made it with, though, so we cannot tell you how a particular swap turns out.

What to Put Them Around

This one is best as a vehicle. Sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, even folded around taco fillings.

If you only try one, make it the burger. The contrast between a thick, juicy burger and a crisp, cheesy waffle is genuinely good, and the chaffle does not fall apart on you the way a lot of low-carb buns do.

Click HERE To Pin Keto Chaffle

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Enjoy!