We all know waffles, right? A light, slightly eggy cake cooked in a waffle iron so that it’s crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. We enjoy it with a pat of butter and real maple syrup. Some people eat waffles with fried chicken as a savory Southern twist.
The Southeast Asians put their own twist on the waffle by adding a bit of pandan extract to the batter. Pandan, or screwpine, is a tropical plant that has fans of long, green leaves that, when cooked, imparts a sweet, pleasingly fragrant aroma to whatever it is cooked with. We used whole pandan leaves to infuse our nasi lemak coconut rice dish.
Here’s a pandan waffle recipe that makes a delicious breakfast, snack or dessert so good, you won’t want to stop eating them. It is a tried and true recipe, something we make quite often. The recipe comes from food blogger Andrea Nguyen of Viet World Kitchen, who is the author of “Into the Vietnamese Kitchen“.
Pandan Waffles (makes 3-4 waffles)
Ingredients:
1 cup bleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda + 1/2 tsp cream of tartar (OR 1 tsp baking powder + 1/4 tsp baking soda)
1 egg, whites separated from the yolk
1 cup coconut milk
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp pandan extract
(You can use vanilla extract if you don’t have the pandan, but then it really wouldn’t be pandan waffles anymore, now would it? Find pandan extract in the baking section of your local Asian market.)
Notes:
*If you double the recipe, most cans of coconut milk will be less than 2 cups, just add water to get correct liquid amount.
*Sugar can be halved for less sweet waffles.
*Self-raising flour can be used in place of flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
Method:
1. Turn on your waffle iron.
2. In one bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine the coconut milk, melted butter, egg yolk, and pandan extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and gently stir it in. Switch to a folding motion towards the end to incorporate all the flour. The batter will be a little lumpy and thick, but the important thing is not to overmix it.
3. Whisk the egg white until it forms stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg white into the batter.
4. Now here comes the easy part. When the iron is hot, ladle some of the pandan waffle batter onto the grid. Close the lid and go get a plate and a fork. Breathe in that wonderful pandan aroma (but be careful not to stick your nose into the steam rising from the waffle maker!) Tell your tummy to stop growling already, because in a couple of minutes it’s going to be mighty happy.
5. When the waffle maker signals that your pandan waffle is ready, lift it out with a fork onto your waiting plate. Put the fork down. Resist the urge to pick up the waffle and jam it into your mouth. Wait for it to cool a little. If you don’t, you’ll give yourself first-degree burns on your fingertips and that little piece of skin on the roof of your mouth will hang down and bother you for the next two days. Resist!
Go back to step 4 and prep another waffle. There, that ought to be enough time now. Go for it. Forget the fork. Forget syrup. Just pick it up and devour to your heart’s content.
In our house, we double the recipe, sometimes even triple it. The kids love these pandan waffles and so do we. They freeze well (the waffles, not the kids!) and reheat nicely in the toaster.
Somehow, they don’t last too long in the freezer though. Within a couple of days, they’re all gone. Pandan waffles are great for breakfast, snack or dessert. Try it with some vanilla ice cream or, better yet, some azuki bean ice cream. Yum!
Aloha, Nate
>I really love these pandan waffles. Just bought a new waffle maker yesterday and will be very keen to try this recipe. Will keep you posted on the result.
Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Cheers
Olivia
>@Olivia – you're welcome! Look forward to hearing your results.
>Hi. I was just wondering, if your pandan waffles are the soft that like those in Singapore that are sold in neighbourhood cake shops that come with peanut or blueberry, or is it those hard belgium waffle type that are usually eaten with ice cream? Can a normal waffle iron make both types?
>@Boon – thanks for your question! These waffles are not soft or hard – they are crispy on the outside yet light and soft on the inside. Ice cream would make it too sweet.
>Ok! Thanks a lot.
>Hi,
would it be possible to convert the cup to grams measurements for flour, sugar and coconut milk?
I tried it today. The taste was good but I found the mixture a little sticky so it's difficult for me to spread it on the waffle iron. I guess probably is the conversion errors. Please do advise me.
Love,
Yammy
>Hi there!
I tried this recipe this morning, and it was absolutely delicious!!! Thank you so very much for sharing this.
I now have to browse the rest of your site for recipes I can try – if you dont mind. =)
Lynette
>@yammy – try using the Cultiverter widget on our sidebar.
@Lynette – you're welcome! Please leave a comment and tell us what other recipes you cooked.
>I tried this recipe last night. Comes close to what I'm used to at the Vietnamese restaurants, but was a little "eggier" than what I'm used to. Has anyone else noticed this? I'm going to try one yolk next time (for 2x recipe). I'll also try increasing the sugar. The one at my favorite Vietnamese restaurant seems sweeter. But thanks for the recipe! I love these waffles!
>Hi Annie and Nate,
tried the recipe, with some changes, for health reason! But I must say, this is one good recipe! Very good texture and the smell is to die for! Thanks!
>@Anonymous – you're welcome! We love 'em too.
@Hokkien – I just love the smell as the waffles are baking up 🙂 Thanks for the link back from your blog!
We tried this tonight after the girls went to bed. Hehe, yummy. We’ll add more sugar at the next try. I have a sweet tooth. 🙂 The batter was a bit too thick for me to spread out on the iron. It was more doughy than the ones we had at the restaurant. Should I add more coconut milk or water? Please advise, Annie. Thank you.
Hi!
Me and my mum were looking at waffles recipe..
I wanted to try it.. But err.. I don’t have the waffle maker..
What else could I use to make waffles? Can you give me some ideas? (I don’t mind if the shapes were different)
Izzy,
A waffle maker is the only tool I know of that will make waffles.
thanks fr answering! are the waffles in the photos are soft or crunchy?
Izzy,
these waffles come out soft from the maker and then get crispier as they cool.
ohh, thanks, nate! i already made a decision to buy a new maker and cant wait to try this =D
._. i have tried this recipe and it is deliciouss! yumm…. i am soo full after eating it. before this, i am scared that i will not get the right taste.. and my maker is not the circle type. its the square type.. but i am so happy and thank you for sharing this recipe!! anyway, i did this all by myself without the help of anybody and i am just 11 years old. ._.
Yan Yan –
thank you for the excellent comment! We are so happy that you attempted our waffles even though you were scared at first. Keep up the good work! ^_^
I made these waffles today. We loved it so much & this recipe is a keeper. I did not beat the egg white though, just beat the whole egg & add it into the coconut milk. Thanks for sharing!
Since 1 recipe can only yield 3-4 waffles, I decided to double it. For health reasons, I used unbleached flour and raw sugar. The amount of sugar was reduced to 1/2 cup. The waffles had some sweetness to it still. As for the coconut milk, instead of using 2 cups of it, I used 1 cup of coconut milk and 1 cup of water. The aroma of coconut was still prominent in the waffles. My family enjoyed the waffles very much. Thank you for sharing your recipes. God bless.
hi, was wondering if we could keep the mixture for how long if refrigerated? Cheers
hi annie, do you know why my waffles are not crunchy and crispy like yours?
Me and my mom were making these waffles and noticed our batter wasn’t green! Is it okay if it’s not green? We doubled the recipe and we didn’t know if that would affect the color.
Thanks!
Reina
Reina,
thanks for your question. What kind of pandan extract did you use? The clear liquid or the green paste?
Hi Nate & Annie, Thank you so much for sharing.. I tried this yesterday and it was such a hit with my family. Simply heavenly! I have several ‘failed attempts’ with other pandan waffle recipes as they do not come close to the pandan waffles we have in Singapore. I look forward to trying out your mexican coffee buns next 🙂 Would you have a nice Belgian waffle recipe to share too? Thanks again!!
Hi Annie, I do not have all purpose flour now. Can I replaced with top flour or self raising flour? Thanks.
Jessie,
Thanks for the question.
Yes you can use self-raising flour. Just leave out the salt and leavening agents.
Thank you very much for this recipe! For the pandan extract we crushed pandan leaves, blended them and filtered out the juice. The waffles were great, although not as green as what your photos show. Perhaps we need to increase out pandan juice and decrease our coconut milk. What do you think?
Cliff,
Thanks for your comment!
the pandan extract we used is artificially colored green.You could try adding a drop or two of green food coloring if you want it more green.
Hi! can i keep the remaining batter for days? please advice.
Evelyn,
thanks for your question.
I don’t recommend keeping the batter for very long, as the coconut milk will go bad.
Is 2 days alright?
Hi there,
Is there anyone there could help to convert the cups to grams?
Appreciate much.
Thanks & Best Regards
Olivia
Hi!
I am from Philippine have a canteen business..i want to try selling waffle..but i do not know where can i buy this waffle maker..can you help me? and more waffle recipe please..
Hi Monette,
try looking at restaurant supply houses for commercial waffle makers.
Hi…may I know wat is e brand of ur waffle maker?
Eileen,
Cuisinart.