These whole wheat waffles are half white flour and half finely milled whole wheat, with quick oats stirred into the batter. In Norway they’re hverdagsvafler (everyday waffles), and in our house they show up at weekend breakfast and in the kids’ lunchboxes in place of a sandwich.

Whole wheat waffles stacked on a gray stoneware plate, the top heart waffle showing a golden-brown grid

Whole Wheat Waffles with Oats

Whole wheat waffles with oats and a single spoon of sugar, a Norwegian everyday batter for weekend breakfast and the school lunchbox.

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 50

Resting 30

Total Time 1 30

Servings: 17 waffles (whole heart rounds)

Course: Breakfast, Lunch

Cuisine: Norwegian

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

170 g all-purpose flour 1⅓ cups + 1 tbsp
170 g fine whole wheat flour 1⅓ cups + 1 tbsp
70 g quick oats ¾ cup + 2 tbsp
6 g salt 1 level tsp, fine
13 g sugar 1 level tbsp
800 ml low-fat milk 3⅓ cups
5 large eggs
55 g butter 4 tbsp (½ stick), melted

Equipment

Heart waffle iron A round iron with five hearts gives the classic Norwegian shape, and single hearts break off neatly for the lunchbox.
kitchen scale Oats and whole wheat flour settle differently in a cup, so weighing gives the same batter every time. The scale we actually use.
Large mixing bowl Cover it with plastic wrap and the batter goes straight into the fridge when you make it ahead.
Balloon whisk Whisking in the milk in two rounds keeps the flour and oats from clumping.
Small saucepan Melt the butter gently and let it cool for a minute before it goes into the batter.
Pastry brush A thin, even coat of butter on the hot iron lets each waffle release cleanly.
Ladle Using the same ladle for every waffle keeps them even in size and thickness.
Wire rack Cooling the waffles in a single layer keeps the undersides dry before they are packed.

Method

Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, oats, salt, baking powder and sugar together in a large bowl.
Add the milk. Pour in about half the milk and whisk to a thick, smooth batter with no dry pockets. Whisk in the rest of the milk.
Add the eggs. Whisk in the eggs one at a time until the batter is even in color.
Add the butter. Melt the butter, let it cool for a minute, then whisk it into the batter.
Let it swell. Rest the batter for at least 30 minutes, until it has thickened and the oats look plump. It can also be covered and refrigerated overnight, or for up to a week.
Stir before baking. The batter separates as it stands. Stir it up from the bottom until smooth again.
Bake the waffles. Heat the iron to medium-high and brush it with butter. Ladle in enough batter to just reach the edges, close the lid and bake for about 3 minutes (it varies with the iron and the heat), until the waffle is golden brown and the iron has almost stopped steaming. Brush with more butter as the iron dries out.
Cool on a rack. Lay each waffle flat on a wire rack rather than stacking them, so the underside stays dry.

Notes

Chef’s tip: Refrigerated batter settles with a layer of liquid on top. Stir from the bottom of the bowl every time you take some out, not just the first time, or the last waffles get all the flour.

Milk: Low-fat milk is what we use. Whole milk gives a slightly richer, softer waffle.

Freezing: Freeze fully cooled waffles with parchment between the layers. Reheat straight from the freezer in a toaster.

Why our whole wheat waffles are half white flour

These are whole grain waffles, but not 100 percent whole wheat: half the flour is plain white, and we keep it that way on purpose. Bran soaks up liquid and weakens the gluten, so the white flour keeps the batter loose enough to spread evenly in the iron. You still taste the wheat, and the waffle stays soft enough to fold around a slice of cheese.

The whole wheat we use is finely milled (sammalt hvete, fin). Coarse whole wheat leaves the batter gritty and the surface rough. Most supermarket whole wheat flour in the US is milled fine enough to swap in directly.

Side view of a tall stack of thin whole wheat waffles with soft, wavy edges

Let the batter swell, overnight if you like

Oats and bran need time to take up the milk, so this batter rests for at least half an hour before it goes into the iron. It thickens as it stands and the oats soften from dry flakes into something closer to porridge.

The batter also keeps in the fridge for up to a week. We often mix it on Sunday and bake on Monday morning, either for breakfast or straight into the lunchbox. It will separate in the bowl, which is normal and stirs back together.

We use quick oats (lettkokte havregryn in Norway). The thin flakes soften completely during the rest, so the batter pours smoothly from the ladle.

Waffles in the lunchbox instead of bread

With one tablespoon of sugar for the whole batch, these sit closer to bread than to cake, and that’s why they work cold at lunchtime. Our kids get a few waffle hearts in a steel lunchbox, with rolled cheese, a couple of lettuce leaves and a small pot of jam on the side. Cool them on a rack and pack them only once they’re completely cold: a warm waffle in a closed box steams itself soft by noon.

For a weekend lunch built on a waffle, our savory waffles with smoked salmon use a yeasted whole grain batter with no sugar at all. When it’s coffee time rather than a school day, we bake the sweeter Norwegian heart waffles with cardamom instead. Every batter we make, along with how to pick and clean a heart iron, is collected in our guide to Norwegian waffle recipes.