Red Velvet Waffles with Cream Cheese Drizzle
Easy red velvet waffles with cream cheese drizzle is a perfect from scratch waffle recipe to make for a festive holiday brunch. The waffles can be frozen in advance for reheating for company.
Red velvet waffles with cream cheese drizzle was my oldest daughter's go-to brunch order at our favorite restaurant for years.
We were so sad when the restaurant shut down and she's been missing her favorite breakfast item.
Ahead of Valentine's Day, I thought I'd surprise my sweetie with these easy homemade red velvet waffles with a generous piping of homemade cream cheese icing on top.
As I suspected, it was a huge hit. I popped the rest of the waffles in the freezer so she can enjoy them for breakfast for weeks to come.
Why This is the Best Recipe
We just love pulling our waffle maker out for special weekend breakfasts but I think this is the best red velvet waffles recipe because:
- Better than Boxed Mix: You can find red velvet waffle box mixes at many grocery stores but this from scratch recipe has simple ingredients you likely already have in your pantry.
- Freezer-Friendly: Homemade waffles freeze so well. You could prep these in advance for a special family brunch during the holiday season.
- Generous Cream Cheese Drizzle: When you make waffles at home, you get to decide just how much of that super-delicious cream cheese drizzle gets poured over the top.
Ingredients
Homemade red velvet waffles only need a few easy ingredients:
- Flour
- Sugar
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- Milk
- Eggs
- Butter
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Red Food Coloring: I always use food coloring gels because they don't affect the consistency of baked goods. This excellent starter set has the exact same red food coloring I used.
For the cream cheese drizzle on top, you will also need:
- Cream Cheese
- Powdered Sugar
- Milk
- Vanilla
How to Make Red Velvet Waffles
As with all my waffle recipes, you make the red velvet waffle batter by mixing together the dry ingredients first.
Add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt to a large mixing bowl and whisk them together.
This step can actually be done well in advance if you want to keep a red velvet waffles baking mix ready to go in your pantry. Just store it in an airtight container and be sure to label it!
Then measure the milk in a large liquid measuring cup.
You can add the vanilla and crack the eggs right into the cup and whisk them all together.
Pour the liquid into the dry mixing bowl and gently stir everything together until well combined.
How to Tint the Waffles Red
To make the waffles that signature red velvet color, start by melting the butter in the microwave.
Add the red food coloring to the melted butter so you can get a sense of how dark the red will be.
Pour the tinted butter into the waffle batter and stir it in.
If the batter still isn't red enough, you can add more red food coloring until the proper hue has been achieved.
Even with my very potent food coloring gel, I needed several good squeezes of color to get the waffle batter the right shade of red.
My Waffle Iron
The tricky part about writing recipes for homemade waffles is that the cooking time and batter quantity per waffle well can vary from waffle maker to waffle maker.
It's always best to follow the instructions for your specific model, but if you want to cook all the waffle recipes on my site with the same quantity and size as what you see in my photos, you can buy my exact same waffle maker here.
Cooking Instructions
Preheat your waffle maker. When it is ready to go, spray the wells with cooking spray.
Pour the batter into the waffle wells and cook according to your appliance's directions.
For my waffle maker, I used 1/3 cup batter and cooked the waffles for 4 minutes.
Use a pair of tongs to remove the cooked waffles from the maker and repeat with the remaining batter.
How to Serve Waffles Family Style
If you plan to make the waffles for a special family breakfast, you'll probably want to serve them family style at the table rather than one by one as they come off the griddle.
Before you begin prepping the waffles, preheat your oven to 200°F. Place a large baking sheet inside the oven.
As you cook the waffles, transfer them to the warm baking sheet. They will keep perfectly warm and get even crispier in the oven as you finish prepping the rest of the batch.
Make Ahead Tips
Just like my other homemade waffle recipes, red velvet waffles freeze so well.
I love to prep a batch and store them in the freezer.
Separate the waffles with squares of parchment or waxed paper so they don't stick together and then store in a freezer friendly plastic storage bag for up to 6 months.
Thaw the waffles in the fridge overnight or defrost them in the microwave for 2 minutes on 50% power.
Reheat the waffles in the toaster for the perfect crispy finish or spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet and warm them in the oven at 350°F until warmed through, about 3 - 5 minutes.
Prep the Cream Cheese Drizzle
The perfect finishing touch for red velvet waffles is a cream cheese drizzle on top.
This easy cream cheese icing recipe is so useful, I also included it as its own separate recipe post. You can see all the step by step photos on my cream cheese drizzle recipe here.
However, to keep things all in one place for you, I've also included the ingredients and instructions right in the recipe card for the waffles below.
Variations
I think these red velvet waffles are perfect as is, but there are a few easy ways you could make some simple variations:
Red Velvet Waffles with White Chocolate Chips: Add 1/2 cup white chocolate chips to the waffle batter before cooking.
Red Velvet Waffles with Dark Chocolate Chips: Want even more chocolate flavor? Add 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips to the waffle batter.
Red Velvet Waffles with Powdered Sugar: You can skip the cream cheese drizzle and just dust the waffles with a pretty pinch of powdered sugar over the top.
Red Velvet Waffles with Whipped Cream: Another great alternative to the cream cheese drizzle, just add dollops of whipped cream on top. You could add a few mini chocolate chips as garnish.
Serving Suggestions
Red velvet waffles with cream cheese drizzle on top paired with fresh strawberries makes a stunning but easy special occasion brunch recipe for your loved ones.
You could serve these as part of a special Christmas brunch or a surprise Valentine's Day breakfast for the kids.
You can get my best tips for how to host a brunch here.
More Waffle Recipes
If you love cooking homemade waffles like I do, you won't want to miss these easy recipes:
📖 Recipe
Red Velvet Waffles with Cream Cheese Drizzle
Ingredients
For the Red Velvet Waffle Batter:
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/4 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) butter melted
- Red food coloring
For the Cream Cheese Drizzle:
- 1 (8 oz) brick of cream cheese softened
- 1 1/3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
Make the Red Velvet Waffles:
- To serve the waffles family style, preheat the oven to 200°F and place a large baking sheet inside the oven. As you cook the waffles in batches, you can transfer them to the baking sheet to keep warm.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt and whisk them together until well combined.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the milk and eggs until smooth. Pour them into the dry ingredients and gently stir everything together.
- Melt the butter in a small microwave safe bowl in the microwave. Add several drops of red food coloring to the melted butter and stir it in.
- Add the melted butter to the mixing bowl in a slow drizzle while stirring with your other hand. Keep the batter moving as the butter is added and it will prevent the eggs from cooking from the heat of the warm butter. Stir until well combined. If the waffle batter is not red enough, you can add additional red food coloring until the proper hue has been reached.
- Preheat your waffle maker. Spray it with cooking spray and cook the waffles according to the appliance directions. For my waffle maker which produces four 4-inch waffles, I use about 1/3 cup batter for each well and cook the waffles for 4 minutes.
- Transfer the cooked waffles to the baking sheet in the oven to keep warm or serve fresh from the griddle.
Make the Cream Cheese Drizzle:
- In a large mixing bowl, add the softened cream cheese and powdered sugar. Beat them together on medium speed until well combined and smooth.
- Add the milk and vanilla to the bowl. Beat them in on medium speed and continue to beat the cream cheese glaze for 2 minutes.
- Transfer the cream cheese glaze to a piping bag or piping bottle with a nozzle for drizzling pretty patterns over your waffles.
Recipe Notes
Make Ahead Tips:
You can prep the cream cheese glaze and store it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Red velvet waffles freeze well. Package them with layers of parchment paper or waxed paper between each waffle so they don't stick together and seal them in an airtight freezer bag. To reheat the frozen waffles, let them thaw in the fridge overnight and then toast them in the toaster or heat them in the oven in a single layer on a large baking sheet at 350°F until warmed through.Save This Recipe to Your Recipe Box
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