Many people find waffles to be the most delicious breakfast food. There’s nothing quite the same as waking up and enjoying high-quality waffles to get you going in the morning.
You might have a favorite restaurant that you go to when you’re in the mood for waffles. Many people choose to make them at home, though.
If you make your own, you might be disappointed if things don’t turn out right. Have you made waffles recently only to find out that they’re way too soggy?
Why would waffles turn out soggy this way when you thought that you did everything right? Read on to get information about why this might happen so that you can try to remedy the problem the next time you decide to make them.
1 – You’re Letting Them Sit Too Long Before Eating Them
One of the most likely scenarios is that you’re letting the waffles sit for too long before you eat them. Waffles are going to get soggy over time and they won’t stay as crispy as when you first took them out of the waffle maker.
You might not want to eat waffles right away when you take them out because they’re too hot. It’s normal to let them cool down a little bit, but you might have let them cool down too much.
Sometimes you might even just take too long to eat them. If you’re not a very fast eater, you could be picking at your food and your waffles will get a bit soggy by the time that you’re done.
Try to finish the food in a more reasonable time to prevent this from happening. Try to let them cool just a little bit and eat them while they’re still hot.
Putting the waffles on a plate to let them cool down could make them a bit soggy as well, especially if they’re sitting on top of each other.
You might want to try letting them cool a bit on a cooling rack instead. Many people have enjoyed better results this way.
Also, if you put things such as syrup on the waffles, then they will be more likely to become soggy quickly. This could cause them to get soggy before you get to bite into them, and this means that you should wait.
Only put syrup on them just before you’re about to eat them. This should help you to keep the waffles crispy and just right while you eat them.
2 – Improper Ingredient Amounts
Another possibility to consider is that you could have made a mistake with the recipe. If your waffles are turning out a bit too soggy and they aren’t getting as crispy as you want them to, then something is likely amiss.
Your waffles shouldn’t be coming out of the waffle maker looking kind of soggy. They should be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside if all went well.
Sometimes people make mistakes when mixing up the batter for the waffles. You might have been following a specific recipe and made a mistake somewhere along the way.
Common mistakes that will cause waffles to turn out soggy include not measuring ingredients properly and forgetting to add specific ingredients. If you’re doing everything right and still getting bad results, then you might wish to try another recipe to see how things go.
You could try to add some things to a waffle recipe to see how things turn out as well. People have had great luck when adding meringue powder and sugar to recipes, and it does seem to help prevent sogginess.
3 – Using the Wrong Flour
Using the wrong type of flour can throw off your waffles too. This goes along with what is mentioned above, but flour issues are so common that it’s worth addressing this separately.
You know that there are many types of flour out there that you can use for baking. Not all flour types are going to be well suited for making waffles.
When you make waffles, it’s going to be a good idea to use all-purpose flour. Some types of flour can be substituted for all-purpose flour, but others will do a poor job of replicating what all-purpose flour does.
For instance, if you choose to use pastry flour, then things might not turn out right at all. Pastry flour is much finer than all-purpose flour, and the consistency of the waffles will be thrown off quite a bit.
Your soggy waffles could be because you replaced all-purpose flour in the recipe with a type of flour that wasn’t a good fit. If you try to make them again using the right type of flour, you might have a substantially better experience.
4 – Bad Waffle Maker
Have you thought that your waffle maker could be to blame for your soggy waffles? There are many high-quality waffle makers out there that you can purchase, but you could be using an old one that just doesn’t work so well any longer.
Sometimes people will purchase bad waffle makers at very low prices that don’t come from the most reputable companies, too. It’s possible that waffle makers such as this could cause the waffles to turn out kind of funny.
As you know, waffles are meant to be crispy on the outside when they’re finished. A good waffle maker should be able to help you get the waffles crispy enough while still allowing them to be soft on the inside.
Bad waffle makers might use too much or too little heat. There could be an issue with heat distribution and this can lead to the waffles getting burnt or being a bit undercooked, so to speak.
If you love waffles, then you might want to try purchasing a better waffle maker. It could make a difference and help you to enjoy better waffles than ever before.
Those who already have high-quality waffle makers should likely assume that something else is wrong. You might want to consider the other possibilities brought up here and try to change the way that you’re doing things.
Final Thoughts
There are many things that you can do to try to ensure that your waffles turn out just right. Pay attention to whatever recipe you’re using to ensure that you’re doing things properly.
Little mistakes can throw off your recipe and cause the waffles to be a bit soggy. Measure your ingredients carefully and be sure not to use a type of flour that won’t work well for waffles.
You’ll also want to make sure that you’re not letting your waffles sit for too long before eating them. If you allow them to sit for a long time with syrup on them, they’ll get soggy before you even get to take your first bite.
You might even want to look into whether your waffle maker has issues or not. If it isn’t doing a good job of making waffles any longer, then you might need to make an upgrade.
Use these common reasons why waffles turn out a bit soggy to troubleshoot things. Hopefully, you’ll be able to figure out what’s going wrong for you so that you can turn things around and start enjoying crispy and delicious waffles the next time you get a craving for them.
Sarah is the founder of Baking Kneads, LLC, a blog sharing guides, tips, and recipes for those learning how to bake. Growing up as the daughter of a baker, she spent much of her childhood learning the basics in a local bakery.