Pumpkin Spice Keto Waffle
Published September 3, 2019 • Updated March 1, 2026
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I make this keto pumpkin spice chaffle every fall with a cream cheese base instead of mozzarella, and the texture is night-and-day better.
Every September I go through an embarrassing amount of canned pumpkin. Keto pumpkin bread, pumpkin in my coffee, pumpkin stirred into yogurt. But the recipe I come back to most is this pumpkin chaffle, because it takes about five minutes start to finish and I get a warm, spiced waffle without spending half my carb budget. The grocery stores fill up with pumpkin everything this time of year, but almost none of it works on a ketogenic diet. So I make my own.
Most pumpkin chaffle recipes out there use mozzarella as the cheese base, and I understand the logic. Mozzarella is the standard keto chaffle ingredient. But I tested both side by side in sweet chaffles and mozzarella adds an underlying tang that fights the pumpkin spice flavor. Cream cheese stays neutral. It lets the pumpkin and warm spice come through clean, and it gives the finished waffle a slightly denser, more custardy bite that I actually prefer. Some people online call this a “pumpkin cheesecake chaffle” because of the cream cheese, and that name honestly tracks.
When this chaffle comes off the iron, the outside has a light crackle to it and the inside is soft, almost like a thin pumpkin custard wrapped in a crispy shell. The pumpkin pie spice hits on the first bite. I add just an eighth of a teaspoon because a little goes a long way when the batter is this concentrated.
The other thing that makes this recipe hold up (literally) is the coconut flour. Even one tablespoon of coconut flour gives the batter more structure than two tablespoons of almond flour would. I have tried both. Coconut flour absorbs more liquid and sets firmer in the iron, which means you can actually lift the lid without the chaffle tearing in half. Reader Brooke left a comment saying she tried four other pumpkin chaffle recipes before finding mine, and this was the first one where the batter did not fall apart when she opened the iron. That is the coconut flour doing its job.
If you are egg-free, you can adapt my vegan chaffle recipe with pumpkin puree and spice added in. The texture will be different (no egg means less rise), but it works. For everyone else, this is a low carb pumpkin waffle that takes one bowl, one egg, and about three minutes in the iron.
I make a double batch of these every weekend through October and freeze the extras. They reheat in the toaster in under two minutes and taste almost as good as fresh. My kids grab them on the way out the door and have no idea they are eating something with 3 net carbs per serving.
How to make pumpkin spice chaffles
This recipe makes one serving (two mini waffles or one Belgian-sized waffle), so there is no leftover batter going to waste. If I am feeding more than myself, I just double or triple the recipe and keep the iron running.
- Preheat your waffle iron. I use a Dash mini waffle maker most often, but a Belgian waffle maker works too.
- Mix the pumpkin chaffle batter in a small bowl. Whisk together egg, softened cream cheese, pumpkin puree, coconut flour, sweetener, vanilla extract, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
- Cook the chaffles. Pour batter into the center of the iron and close it. Do not spread it yourself; the lid does the work.
- Remove and top with sugar-free maple syrup, butter, or whipped cream.
Key ingredients and substitutions
- Egg – Provides the volume and structure for the waffle base. Without it, the chaffle will not rise or hold its shape.
- Cream cheese – The binding agent that holds the waffle together. Most chaffle recipes call for mozzarella, but I use cream cheese in sweet waffles because it has a neutral flavor and does not compete with the pumpkin.
- Pumpkin puree – Use pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. The filling has added sugar and spices you do not need.
- Pumpkin pie spice – If you do not have it on hand, mix 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon ginger, a pinch of nutmeg, and a pinch of allspice.
- Coconut flour – This is what holds the chaffle together in the iron. If you want to use almond flour instead, use 2 tablespoons (double the amount) since almond flour absorbs less liquid.
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Ingredients
1 egg -
1 oz cream cheese
-
2 tablespoons pumpkin puree
-
1 tablespoon coconut flour
-
2 teaspoons sugar-free sweetener
-
½ teaspoon vanilla
-
¼ teaspoon baking powder
-
⅛ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
-
pinch of salt
Step by Step Instructions
Step by Step Instructions
Preheat
Preheat waffle maker to medium high heat.
Whisk it
Whisk together all of the ingredients.
Pour it
Pour pumpkin chaffle batter into the center of the waffle iron. Close the waffle maker and let cook for 3-5 minutes or until waffle is golden brown and set. If using a mini waffle maker, only pour in half the batter.
Remove & serve
Remove chaffle from the waffle maker and serve.
Nutrition disclaimer
The nutrition information provided is an estimate and is for informational purposes only. I am a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.); however, this content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or other qualified health provider before making any lifestyle changes or beginning a new nutrition program.
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Get My Macros + Recipes →Frequently Asked Questions
What if I don't own a waffle iron?
I have made this batter on a griddle and it works fine as a pancake instead. Pour it onto a non-stick skillet over medium heat and cook it like you would a regular pancake, about 2 minutes per side. The texture is softer without the iron's crisp, but the flavor is the same.
Is pumpkin keto?
I use pumpkin in small amounts all through fall and it has never knocked me out of ketosis. It does have more carbs than something like spinach, but 2 tablespoons of pumpkin puree (what this recipe calls for) adds very little to the total count. I keep cans of it stocked every September through November.
Do I need to grease the waffle iron?
I usually do not grease mine because the cream cheese releases enough fat while cooking. That said, cream cheese chaffles are more tender than mozzarella-based ones, so if your iron tends to stick, a quick spray of coconut oil or olive oil helps. Reader Laura made 32 of these in one batch and said the oil spray made a noticeable difference for getting them out in one piece.
Can I double or triple the recipe for meal prep?
I do this almost every week in the fall. The ratios scale perfectly with no adjustments needed. I usually triple the recipe and keep the waffle iron running while I do other things in the kitchen. Flash freeze them individually, bag them up, and you have breakfast ready for the whole week.
Can I skip the baking powder?
I have made these both ways. Without baking powder, the chaffle comes out flatter and denser, more like a crepe than a waffle. Reader Li skipped it and said hers were still soft, fluffy, and moist. If you are out of baking powder, go ahead and make them. You will just get a thinner result with less rise.
What's the difference between a pumpkin chaffle and a pumpkin cheesecake chaffle?
Functionally, nothing. My recipe uses cream cheese as the base instead of mozzarella, which is exactly what makes it a "cheesecake" chaffle. I have seen other sites use the pumpkin cheesecake chaffle name for essentially the same recipe. If you searched for that and landed here, you are in the right place.
What happens if I use more pumpkin puree?
Reader Drew doubled the pumpkin puree to use up the rest of a can and said the batter got thicker than expected but still cooked through. The center came out more custardy than the standard amount, which Drew actually preferred. I would not go beyond double because the coconut flour can only absorb so much before the cook time gets unreliable.
Pumpkin spice season used to be my whole fall ritual, and giving that up when I started keto two years ago was genuinely harder than I expected. I kept walking past the seasonal pastries at coffee shops and just accepted that part of the year was off-limits now. This recipe was the moment I stopped feeling that way. The cream cheese base is what does it. Every other chaffle recipe I tried used mozzarella and the texture always felt wrong for something meant to be sweet, but this one has a real softness in the center with crispy edges that hold up without falling apart. I made a double batch the first weekend of October and worked through them all week, and I kept thinking about how grateful I was that someone figured out the coconut flour ratio here, because the structure is just right. Made it a non-negotiable part of fall now.
Cream cheese has to be fully softened. Batter won't come together if it's cold (found that out rushing batch two). Room temp for 20+ minutes, then mash with a fork before adding the egg and pumpkin. Smooth batter, no lumps, edges set evenly in the iron.
Used a tiny bit more pumpkin puree than the recipe calls for (like an extra tablespoon) and the batter looked way too wet but the chaffles came out with this crispy shell and almost custardy center. Complete accident but I'm doing it every time now.
Drew had the same thing happen with double the puree. Wet batter looks wrong but bakes through. Going to try the extra tablespoon myself.
Took me two sad flat batches to figure out the batter needs about two minutes to thicken before you pour it. The coconut flour absorbs everything and if you skip that step it just spreads. Let it sit and these come out puffy with crispy edges, completely different.
The two minute rest is real. Coconut flour just won't behave if you rush it. Should've put that in the notes.
I fell off keto last winter and convinced myself pumpkin spice was just gone from my life, like something seasonal I had to mourn and move on from. Found this recipe in the spring and made it this morning with the cream cheese base exactly as written, which I almost skipped to sub ricotta, and I'm so glad I didn't. The pumpkin pie spice is more background warmth than a punch of flavor. Somewhere midway through eating it I realized how much I'd been missing for no reason. Going into the weekly rotation and I'm not waiting until October.
Good call on the cream cheese. Ricotta would have made it softer and wetter, you'd have lost that structure entirely. And yeah, no reason to wait until October.
If your centers are coming out soft, let the waffle iron heat for an extra two minutes before you pour in the batter. Night and day difference on the crisp. I also doubled the pumpkin pie spice because I am not messing around with mild fall flavor in the middle of spring.
Two extra minutes on preheat is a real fix, adding that to the notes. The 1/8 teaspoon was intentional (didn't want spice overpowering the cream cheese base) but double is closer to where I actually make mine.
I've been doing keto for almost three years and made peace with certain things being gone. Fall waffles were one of them. Made these this weekend while trying to get back on track. The cream cheese base does something to the texture I wasn't expecting (I've had plenty of chaffles come out rubbery). These weren't. Soft in the middle, crisp at the edges. The pumpkin pie spice hit exactly right. I actually teared up a little. Didn't expect that from waffles.
Soft middle, crisp edges is exactly what I was going for when I switched from mozzarella. Took a few batches to nail the cream cheese ratio. And sometimes a waffle just earns a tear.
Tried this last week and mine came out soft in the middle even after the waffle maker beeped. Left it an extra minute, still felt wet. Does it firm up as it cools, or am I doing something wrong?
It firms up. Give it 2-3 minutes on a rack before you cut in. Cream cheese chaffles are softer right out of the iron than mozzarella ones, so the wet feeling right after the beep is normal.
Doubled the pumpkin puree because I had the rest of a can sitting in the fridge and wasn't sure if it would make the batter too wet. It got thicker than I expected but still cooked through and the center came out way more custardy than the regular amount. Keeping it.
The custardy center version might be better. I used 2 tablespoons to stay under 6g net carbs but 4 tablespoons is probably worth the extra carbs for the texture.
I've tried at least four other pumpkin chaffle recipes and this is the first one where the batter didn't fall apart when I opened the iron.
The coconut flour. Even just a tablespoon of it holds together way better than almond flour in a hot iron.
Wha can you replace the pumpkin and pumpkin spice with to make a variety.
I have lots of different keto waffle/chaffle variations on my site. You can find them all here: https://www.ketofocus.com/tags/keto-chaffle-recipes/
Love these, but wondering what other flavors could you make besides pumpkin for a variety?
Swap the pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice for a tablespoon of cocoa powder and you get a chocolate chaffle. Or ditch the spices entirely and do lemon zest with a drop of extract. The base egg/cream cheese ratio stays the same either way.
Please add a "jump to recipe" button on your posts.
On my list. Probably overdue at this point.
I just made 32 of these, so good! I love having stuff in the freezer to make my life easier. Thanks for the recipe!! I did find spraying a bit of olive oil spray made these way easier to get out since they are very tender.
32 is a solid stash. Good tip on the spray - cream cheese chaffles are more tender than the mozzarella ones so they stick more if your iron runs hot.
These are heavenly, thanks! On keto I never thought I would have that wonderful pumpkin spice taste again! I omitted the baking powder, they were still wonderful. Soft and fluffy but still moist. Delish!
Yours came out soft and fluffy, which surprised me. I expected flatter and denser without it. I ended up citing you in the FAQ.