- I tried four ways to make frozen waffles to find the best cooking method.
- All the ways were relatively easy, and they yielded similar results.
- The best-tasting one involved cooking the waffle on the stove with butter and cinnamon.
Frozen waffles are a classic morning staple that most people just pop in the toaster without weighing their other cooking options.
I tried four ways to make them — in the toaster, on the stove, in an air fryer, and in the oven — to see which one was best.
Here’s what I thought of each method:
The toaster is the most common way to cook a frozen waffle
Chelsea Davis for Insider
I put my waffles into my toaster oven on the lowest setting, which toasted them for 2 1/2 minutes.
As expected, they came out lightly crisped, but they weren’t anything special.
Chelsea Davis for Insider
After I buttered them and drizzled on some maple syrup, the waffles tasted exactly as I thought they would — simple and somewhat plain.
The stove-top method seemed as if it would be a pain
Chelsea Davis for Insider
Next, I tested Tyler the Creator’s method for cooking frozen waffles on the stove with butter and cinnamon.
I slathered both sides of the waffle with butter, and then I heated my pan on medium-high heat and toasted one side until it was golden. Before flipping it to the other side, I sprinkled some cinnamon on it.
I cooked the waffles for about two minutes on each side.
I’m a fan of cinnamon, so I loved the extra flavor
Chelsea Davis for Insider
It came out better than any other frozen waffle I’ve had.
Chelsea Davis for Insider
The waffles soaked up the butter and toasted up perfectly — crispy and golden on the outsides but buttery and moist on the insides.
With a drizzle of syrup, they tasted like dessert.
I love using my air fryer, so I was excited to try this method
Chelsea Davis for Insider
Using the air fryer was super simple.
After preheating it to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, I put the buttered waffle in the basket and set it to seven minutes with the intention of flipping it halfway through.
But after about four minutes, I heard the waffle sizzling and rattling, so I took it out.
This method was easy, but not quite right for a waffle
Chelsea Davis for Insider
With this method, the waffle was almost crunchy, not as fluffy as I would’ve liked it.
I may have overcooked it, but the waffle was almost firm and didn’t have that nice, airy quality some of the other methods produced.
Using the oven seemed unnecessary for a frozen waffle
Chelsea Davis for Insider
One professional chef told Insider you could cook a frozen waffle by sprinkling a little water on top — to help it crisp up — and sticking it in the oven.
I preheated the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit before drizzling the waffles lightly with some tap water. Then I baked them for about eight minutes until they were golden.
I couldn’t really tell whether sprinkling the water made much of a difference
Chelsea Davis for Insider
Though the waffles weren’t amazing, they were evenly cooked.
It was similar to the air-fryer method in that they were kind of crunchy, but they were almost dense.
I wouldn’t do this method again because preheating the oven takes too long and it didn’t really make the waffle stand out.
The clear winner was the stove-top method
Chelsea Davis for Insider
Of the four tricks, the stove-top method was definitely the tastiest.
The waffles had the perfect amount of crispness on the outsides while the insides were buttery and moist. The added cinnamon and syrup also clung perfectly to each bite.