How to make waffles with just add water pancake mix, can you use pancake mix for waffles and can you make waffles without oil are questions we’ll be tackling here.
Please keep in mind that this method is not going to turn your pancake mix into waffles that are as good as a traditional recipe. It will just help to make waffles out of your current pancake mix if you are short on time and proper ingredients.
The pancake mix I chose is an all-in-one just add water mix that uses whey protein instead of real eggs. You would only need to add water, shake it up and pour straight onto a hot pan for making pancakes.
The pancake mix is runnier so we are going to have to beef up our pancake shake mix to get it closer to waffle batter because waffle batter is thicker than pancake batter.
If you’re able to get your hands on some eggs and have a bit of time to whip up your pancake mix into more of a waffle mix, the end result will be well worth it, as you will soon discover.
How To Make Waffles With Just Add Water Pancake Mix
Makes 8 waffles
Tools and equipment
- Hand mixer or whisk
- 2 medium size mixing bowls
- Soup ladle
- Waffle Iron
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup of olive oil
- Preheat waffle iron for about 10 minutes.
- Separate the eggs. Beat up the egg yolks lightly and set aside.
- Pour the pancake mix into a medium size bowl, add water, (as instructed on your packet) egg yolks and mix it up well.
- Beat the egg whites with a whisk or hand mixer in another medium-sized bowl until you get stiff peaks.
- Next, fold in the whisked egg whites, a third at a time, until combined.
- Use a soup ladle or scoop to scoop out the mixture into your waffle maker. Spread evenly covering the hot plate surface. Close the waffle iron and time for 3-5 minutes.
- Once it is ready, carefully remove the waffle with a pair of heat resistant tongs. Repeat until you’ve finished all the batter.
- Serve them up with honey or maple syrup with some berries.
Results Of Waffles Made With Just Add Water Pancake Mix
Without Stiff Peak Egg Whites and Olive Oil
The texture of the waffles felt rubbery. It is quite chewy in the mouth. Colour is pale yellow closer to white.
With Stiff Peaks Egg Whites and Olive Oil
The texture is more fluffy and has more height. The taste is softer and a little bit crispy. The colour is more yellow.
If beating egg whites isn’t your forté and you are finding it hard to get stiff peaks, read up on our post titled: why won’t my egg whites stiffen?
Best Just Add Water Pancake Mix For Waffles
This little experiment shows that you can use pancake mix for waffles and by using just add water pancake mix is enough to make some pretty decent waffles.
Here’s some of the best just add water pancake batter that you can try at home;
- Organic Pancake Classic Birch Benders
- Pounds Krusteaz Sweet Cream Pancake
- Crocker Bisquick Complete Pancake Buttermilk
Pancake mixes are great for camping and holidays whereby access to a kitchen and fresh ingredients are difficult to obtain. For home use pancake mixes are a time saver since about 10 minutes and prep time if you’re simply in a hurry to eat something just before you get out the door.
It saves you having to measure everything during the preparation time.
Tips On How to Make Waffles with Pancake Mix Properly
- I did realise it probably would have been better if the waffle iron was pre-heated for about 10-15 minutes.
- Do not rush to make your waffles, let the iron warm up for a few minutes, in-between batches so every waffle you make has had its fair share of a well heated press.
- Leave the waffle batter for about 2 minutes for the leavening or raising agents to kick in, resulting in more rise and fluffiness to your waffles.
Personally waffles are a bit of a novelty for us so I would rather just do the waffles from scratch with this simple recipe below instead of a pancake mix.
Homemade Waffle Mix Recipe
Makes 8 waffles
Tools and equipment
- Hand mixer or whisk
- Silicone or rubber spatula
- 3 medium size mixing bowls
- 1 small bowl
- Soup ladle
- Hot waffle iron
Ingredients
- 2 cups of self-raising flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- ½ cup of caster sugar
- ⅛ tsp of sea salt
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup of milk
- 60g of melted butter
- Berries such strawberries or raspberries as toppings
Method
- Preheat waffle iron for 10-15 minutes.
- Combine the dry ingredients of flour, sugar, sea salt, baking powder in a medium size mixing bowl. Mix well with a whisk or hand mixer. Set aside.
- Lightly beat the egg yolks in a small bowl and add to to the wet ingredients of vanilla extract, milk and butter in another medium size bowl.
- Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well until it turns into a batter.
- Whisk the egg whites in a medium size bowl until stiff peaks.
- Fold in the egg whites, one third at a time, fully incorporating it into the batter.
- Scoop a small amount into the warmed up waffle iron and let it cook for about 3-5 minutes until golden brown.
- Once it is ready, carefully remove the waffle with a pair of heat resistant tongs. Repeat until you’ve finished all the batter.
- Serve them up with honey or maple syrup with some berries.
Can You Make Waffles Without Oil?
No, as it would cause your waffle batter to stick to the iron plates and you may find your waffles not tasting right. You need butter or oil for your waffle iron to prevent your batter from sticking. If you pre-heat your waffle iron and then grease it, the butter or oil will more likely burn as you try to get into every corner.
Furthermore, the greased areas of the top part of the waffle iron will end up dripping down creating an oily mess before the batter can be applied properly.
This is why when you research on how to make waffles with pancake mix, many will suggest to mix oil into your batter beforehand. If you feel that you do need to grease your waffle iron anyway, then use a bit of spray oil instead.
Although, I do find that butter or oil play another role in waffle recipes. It produces an overall moist and soft product without being too floppy.
Pancake and waffles are meant to have different textures and therefore, will need a different batter from each other. I do use butter whenever I make waffles instead of oil because I just prefer the flavour of butter.
You will find the difference between waffle and pancake batter is that waffle mix has more fat as compared to pancake mix and having a little butter or oil added to your pancakes won’t hurt either.
Don’t be surprised that a little greasy feel will end up improving the texture and taste of your pancakes.
Is butter better than oil for waffles?
Oil provides moistness to the batter flavour and a softer texture. Butter makes the waffle more flavoursome and gives it a lovely golden brown appearance. Nonetheless, both will get the job done well.
If I am looking for a crispy outer layer but a soft interior for my waffles then I would use butter instead of vegetable oil.
Coconut oil works just as well but bear in mind that coconut oil may impart some of its flavor into your waffles.
Why do we need beaten egg whites in waffle mix?
It is not necessary to have beaten egg whites in your waffle recipe but a waffle recipe will need eggs or other kind of protein as a binding agent. However, beaten egg whites will help to give extra texture to your waffles because beating the egg whites will change their protein and liquid structure to give the lift it needs to make crispy waffles.
That’s why this makes for a great tip if you want to know how to make waffles with pancake mix and getting it closer to taste like a waffle made from scratch.
Structure
How we treat the egg whites will give the body we would want if we want our waffles to be fluffy and yet stiff in appearance. The protein helps to set the waffle mix as it finishes off in the waffle maker.
An egg white contains about 90% water and 10% protein. When egg whites are beaten up, it allows for air bubbles to be evenly distributed to give rise and height to waffles. This explains why the recipe calls for stiff peaks which will produce a crispy exterior but a slightly moist interior for my waffle which is exactly what I’m going for.
Texture
This is why I beat the egg whites into stiff peak s. This will create the most air pockets resulting in more lift to the waffle batter. It will also help to produce a crispy outer layer because stiff peaks create a drier product when the waffle iron clamps down on the batter.
There are also waffle recipes that call for soft peaks or no mention of beating the egg whites at all, so it is really up to you on how crispy you want your waffles to be.
How to Make Waffles with Just Add Water Pancake Mix Summary
We hope this post on how to make waffles with just add water pancake mix has also answered your other burning questions; can you use pancake mix for waffles and can you make waffles without oil?
You certainly can use just add water pancake mix but we find that it can not compare to a traditionally made waffle done from scratch. This method will only prove useful in a dire pinch when you are out of ingredients or just simply short on time.
