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Nothing beats making fresh waffles at home on a weekend morning with your family. But if you really want to make it special, you should probably get the best of the best waffle irons for families. That way you can enjoy delicious waffles right at home. We’ll give you the rundown here, so you can decide which features will make it the best for you and your family.
Best Waffle Irons for Families
By investing in a good waffle iron for your family you’ll always have a way to make a tasty treat or weekend breakfast. But not every waffle iron is created the same! There’s different types, and you’ll have to decide which works best for your family. Especially when it’s something you think you’re going to use a lot; it has to be durable for a family, but also make enough food for everyone.
Different types of Waffle Irons
There are different styles of waffle irons and which you choose is really dependent on your family’s preference. Here’s a basic rundown of popular types:
Belgium waffle iron
Larger and fluffy, these are what most people think of when they think “restaurant waffle”. They’re either big and round, or fluffy squares. Round Belgium waffle makers usually make one or two at a time (one on the top, one on the bottom) and the square waffle irons make 2 or 4 at once.
Shaped waffle iron
You can get these in all kinds of popular characters and styles. It makes a waffle similar to the regular waffle iron, except that it comes out in a cool shape. Usually you only get one waffle at a time out of these.
Mini waffle iron
These come in a few different styles and either make multiple mini square waffles or shaped ones. These cute, tiny waffles are super fun for kids or anyone who wants a small serving.
Multi-purpose waffle iron
Instead of just being a waffle maker, these small appliances have multiple plates so that you can make other things, like grilled sandwiches.
Waffle iron cooking tips
A lot of the time waffle irons will come with a recipe inside of the instruction manual that will work great with your specific model. That’s a good place to start if you don’t have experience making homemade waffles. You can also look online for unique recipes; there’s lots of fun variations on the standard recipe that your family will find delicious.
Another popular trend is cooking other things in a waffle iron. Some examples are stuff like store-bought cinnamon roll dough that make a kind of cinnamon roll waffle, and even cooking pizza in it. There’s also a popular trend for those on low carb and keto diets of people cooking something called “chaffles”. These are basically cheese and egg and taste very similar to conventional waffles.
You should always consult your waffle iron’s manual before using anything on or in it, but I personally have had better waffle making success by spraying my waffle iron down with good quality non-stick cooking spray before using it.
Also, make sure you don’t over or underfill your waffle iron. When you underfill, you get holes and uneven cooking which isn’t very nice. Especially if you’re going for a specific shape, then it really won’t turn out. Overfilling, on the other hand, might result in a waffle batter explosion out the sides of your waffle iron.
Usually the manual will tell you how much to fill, but after a bit of practice you’ll get to know your own waffle maker. Putting the waffle batter in a plastic condiment dispenser helps keep things precise and tidy. Another good choice is to figure out which measuring scoop adds the right amount and always use it.
Waffle Topping Ideas
Besides syrup, you can put almost anything on a waffle. Here’s some ideas:
Flavoured syrups, whipped cream, confectioner’s sugar, icing, cream cheese, fruit and berries, fried eggs, cheese, bacon, cheese, applesauce or other fruit purees, ice cream, honey, avocado, nuts, granola, jam and other spreads, chocolate or chocolate sauce, Nutella, hollandaise sauce, yogurt, caramel or other flavoured sauces, marshmallow fluff, sprinkles, or spreads like butter, cinnamon, etc.
Hamilton Beach 4-Slice Waffle Maker
This 4-slice waffle maker cooks up fluffy belgium waffles for your family to enjoy. There’s also a handy indicator light that lets you know when it’s ready to add the batter. When not in use, this waffle maker folds up compactly and stores easily, complete with handle.
Pros:
- Makes 4 good-sized waffles at once, perfect for cooking for a family
- Convenient to store
- Affordable
Cons:
- Takes a long time to heat up
- Sometimes cooks unevenly
- Outside of the waffle iron gets hot
Best for: Large families who need a lot of waffles at once (you could even get 2!)
CucinaPro Animal Mini Waffle Maker
This adorable waffle iron makes 7 mini animal shaped waffles for your family to enjoy together. They’re great on their own for little kids (or you can eat all 7, I won’t judge), or serve them with some other breakfast items for some fun variety. Covered in sugar or on top of ice cream, these mini waffles can also be a perfect family-friendly dessert.
This is one of the best waffle irons for families because the shapes allow you to get some food on everyone’s plate right away, with more smaller rounds of eating for everyone.
Pros:
- Super cute mini waffles that kids will love
- Makes several waffles at once
- Easy to use (older kids might even have fun using it)
Cons:
- Doesn’t store easily and no latch to keep shut while storing
- More of a pancake maker than waffle maker
- Sometimes hard to clean
Best for: Families with small children
Cuisinart Double Belgian Waffle Maker
With this double Belgian waffle maker you can have not one, but two big fluffy waffles at once. Because of the flip over design, both waffles cook evenly and the batter fills in all the space so they come out evenly. For me, volume is one of the features of the best waffle irons for families! More food, faster!
Pros:
- Makes large, deep pocket Belgium waffles (bigger than most other waffle makers)
- Hardy so you can make other non-waffle recipes in it
- Cooks evenly
- Has a removable drip tray in case of overfilling
Cons:
- Takes up a lot of space in storage
- Difficult to clean
- Gets very hot during cooking and takes a long time to cool before storage
Best for: Families who don’t plan to eat “fresh waffles” at the same time and want a high quality Belgium waffle at home
Mickey Waffle Maker
Although this one happens to be Mickey Mouse, you can get these fun waffle makes that create waffles shaped like all kinds of popular characters. With this one, Disney fans will love starting their day with a Mickey Mouse shaped waffle. Unfortunately, it only makes one at a time, so if you want them fresh your family won’t be able to eat together.
Pros:
- Makes waffles in the shape of a cute, licensed character that kids love
- Compact and has clips to hold it together for easy storage
- Waffles cook quickly
Cons:
- Only cooks one waffle at a time
- Difficult to clean
- Spills over easily if you don’t pour the right amount of batter
Best for: Disney fans, families with kids who love character shapes
REDMOND Waffle Maker, Sandwich Maker
This is one of those “Jack of a trades” type appliances. With interchangeable plates, it can be a waffle maker, a sandwich press, or a grill so you can do a lot more than just cook waffles with it. As a waffle maker, though, it makes two at a time and they do cook evenly.
Pros:
- Verstille appliance that can do more than just one thing (perfect for smaller homes)
- Removable plates make it easy to clean (and they’re easy to change)
- Heats up quickly
Cons:
- Waffles are on the smaller side
- Only cooks two waffles at a time
- Extra plates are only a good value if you’ll use them
Best for: Families who have limited space and want a multi-use appliance
So what is the best of the best waffle irons for families?
This is kind of a tough choice because each waffle iron on this list does different things. If you’re looking to buy your family’s first waffle iron or upgrade an existing model, though, then you want to make sure it’s the best waffle iron.
Personally, I would recommend the Cuisinart Double Belgian Waffle Maker. Although it only makes two waffles and is annoying to store, it’s still the best waffle iron for families. The reason being that it makes two huge, fluffy Belgium style waffles at a time. I also love the way you flip it so the waffle batter gets in all the crevices, making your waffles cook up even. I’ve always had good luck and just used the recipe inside the manual!
It also has more features than most waffle makers, including 6 different browning settings so your breakfast (or dessert) always comes out perfect. The removable drip tray is easy to clean and helps contain any messes if you accidentally overfill it. Really, the only negative thing to say about the features is the tiny cord.
I also love the quality of it. It’s sturdy and will hold up to a lot of use by your family. Plus it’s powerful enough to make chaffles and other waffle variations in it.
If you have a big family, especially one with young kids, I would consider getting one of the shaped waffle irons for the kids and still get this one for the adults. Shaped waffle makers are fun, but they’re not so good on their own. You don’t need to, though. Even though this only cooks two at a time they are very large and they cook up quickly, so you can easily feed the whole family.
Hopefully you’re plenty hungry for waffles now as you pick out the best waffle iron for families. Whatever you choose, make sure you find yourself a great waffle recipe to go with it!
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