Updated on Mar. 10, 2025
If you want to make your next ice cream party more special, make the cones from scratch! We hunted down the best waffle cone makers, evaluating each gadget on its ease of use, versatility and more.
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One of the best small appliances for enjoying delicious homemade ice cream from your Ninja Creami is also one of the least common: a waffle cone maker. Whether you’re using from-scratch ice cream or something courtesy of a monthly ice cream delivery homemade waffle cones transform boring bowls of butter pecan into wow-inducing treats. Just pick up a pizzelle roller and enjoy professional parlor treats at your next get-together—easy peasy!
Our experts researched dozens of waffle cone makers in order to find the best options for every type of waffle cone connoisseur. Here are all the best picks we found.
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For most people, the MasterChef Waffle Cone Maker is the way to go. This well-priced appliance has nonstick plates that make it easy to operate and clean, and it comes with both a waffle cone roller and a waffle bowl form, allowing you to create multiple shapes with your waffles. It can also be used to make other waffle iron recipes like stroopwafels—yum!
When you’re ready to start cooking, all you have to do is plug in the appliance and wait for it to heat up. It will cook the batter in a matter of minutes, and then you can simply remove the waffle with a spatula or tongs and wrap it around the cone form. The resulting cones are large and deliciously crispy, and despite the appliance’s simple design, reviewers say it works perfectly: “The unit maintained consistent temperature throughout, the nonstick plates released everything easily with an offset spatula and the natural weight of the top plate produced the perfect thickness.”
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If you’re hoping to make large, crunchy cones like the ones you’d get in an ice cream shop, the Brentwood Waffle Cone Maker is sure to deliver. It has a large nonstick cooking surface that’s 7 inches in diameter, and the appliance even has a temperature adjustment dial on top, allowing you to select just the right heat level for perfect browning. It’s the perfect companion to your homemade ice cream maker!
This waffle cone maker comes with a cone roller, and it can also be used to make sugar and wafer cones. Power and preheat indicator lights let you know when it’s ready to use, but you’ll want to use caution while cooking, as the small handle can get hot during operation.
“This waffle cone maker is awesome,” writes one reviewer. “The instructions are very clear, and it has a sample recipe. I used the recipe to create my own vegan, gluten-free batter, and it worked out great.”
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You can easily make waffle bowls for desserts, ice cream and savory dishes using the Dash Mini Waffle Bowl Maker. This inexpensive gadget is extremely lightweight and compact, so it won’t take up too much space in your cupboard. It churns out perfect personal-sized waffle bowls in a matter of minutes.
This waffle bowl maker doesn’t require special batter. It works well with store-bought or homemade waffle mix, and all you have to do is plug it in and wait for it to heat up. Its dual nonstick heating surfaces provide even cooking results every time, and they easily wipe clean when you’re done.
“I really liked how efficient and quickly this cooked!” says one reviewer. “I would recommend using only 2 or 2-1/2 tablespoons of batter, so there’s less overflow. The waffle cups were fun to use and delicious!”
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Though it’s not technically a waffle cone maker, the Cuisinart Pizzelle Maker can most certainly be used to make deliciously crispy cones. This gadget is designed to bake pizzelle cookies, which can be shaped into cones when they’re still warm. (You’ll likely need to buy a cone roller for this task, though.)
This gadget is able to make two cookies at a time, and they’re typically cooked in around 30 seconds, allowing you to churn out treats quickly. The resulting cones are perfect for a small scoop of ice cream, but you can also use them for savory applications, such as pizza cones.
Waffle cone makers aren’t the most common small appliance, so your options are somewhat limited when shopping. However, to ensure you’re getting a product that will suit your needs, consider the following:
We want to make sure every product we recommend is worth the money, so we evaluated each waffle cone maker on the characteristics listed above, reading dozens of user reviews to get a sense of each product’s strengths and weaknesses. We prioritized waffle cone makers that are easy to use and deliver consistent results, and we took each product’s features into account as we sorted them into categories.
If you want to make homemade ice cream to go along with your homemade cones, check out our guide on how to use an ice cream maker.
Camryn Rabideau is a freelance lifestyle writer and product tester with eight years of experience testing hundreds of kitchen, home, garden and pet products. She brings her hands-on insight to the Taste Recipes table and tests kitchen appliances, grills, home organization tools and more. Her tried-and-true product reviews appear in top lifestyle publications, such as The Spruce, Epicurious, Bon Appetit and People. Offline, she manages a small Rhode Island homestead where she tends to her gardens and furry animals.
Absolutely! In fact, many people use a standard waffle maker (or even a mini waffle maker) to create ice cream cones. Just pick up a pizzelle roller to make rolling them a bit easier, and voila!
While there’s not a big difference between a waffle cone maker and a pizzelle maker, pizelle makers often offer thicker plates and different designs.
