Ditch The Oven - Bake These Crispy, Gooey Cookies In Your Waffle Iron Instead

There are so many ways to make cookies without an oven. You can whip up a no-bake recipe, like these no-bake chocolate oat cookies, or use the air fryer or toaster oven. You can even break out that waffle iron that's been hiding in the cupboard. It might sound a little left-field, but waffle iron cookies are actually delicious. They're buttery, crispy, and they're incredibly quick to make.

You can use a few different cookie recipes, but the best ones to make on the waffle iron are drop-style cookies, which are cookies that are typically spooned onto a tray, rather than rolled or cut. That's according to Jerrelle Guy, recipe developer and creator of The Dinner Ritual newsletter on Substack. "Drop-style cookies with extra moisture, like chocolate chip, oatmeal, or peanut butter work well, because the dough steams a little to help cook the dough more evenly, and it still stays moist and gooey on the inside while getting caramelized and crispy on the surface," Guy told Tasting Table.

If you're using chocolate chip cookie dough, be mindful that the chocolate can burn, so you might want to reduce the amount you use. You can avoid this problem altogether by making peanut butter cookies or buttery sugar cookies. All you need to do is drop a spoonful of dough in each quarter of the waffle iron after preheating and cook the cookies just like a waffle.

As tempting as it might be to try to make as many cookies as possible, you need to space them out. Use just one tablespoon of batter per quadrant, rolling the dough into balls if possible before pressing them on. The cookies need space to spread, and you don't want them sticking together.

Speaking of sticking, it's also important to coat the waffle iron with cooking spray before adding the cookies. Just like when you're making homemade waffles, this step is crucial to ensuring that you can easily remove the cookies from the hot iron when they're done. "Make sure you spray the iron with cooking spray so the dough doesn't stick, and don't overstuff the iron; otherwise, it could overflow," Jerelle Guy advises. "Because of the direct heat, cooking in the waffle iron can also burn the dough if cooked too long, so watch it carefully."

The cookies should only take about three minutes to cook, but they could be ready in just over one minute, depending on your waffle iron. They'll be golden in color when they're ready, and they'll usually crisp up once they've cooled down, so you don't need to wait for them to harden. They'll also be very hot, so use a silicone spatula to remove them and cool on a wire rack. Once they're ready, you can top the cookies with powdered sugar, dip them in chocolate, or enjoy them as is!