White SBS cardstock
A bright, smooth sheet. Photography, gradients and fine type all hold their detail, and colors sit where the proof says they will.
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Open dessert trays · Syrup-resistant board
Custom Waffle Trays
Shallow open trays built for a hot Belgian or Liege waffle and everything piled on top of it. Printed to your artwork for dessert bars, waffle stalls, creperies and late-night kiosks.
- 500 piece minimum
- Square, boat and stick cuts
- Holds syrup and cream
- Free digital proof
From $0.50 per trayVolume pricing from 500 units · final price on your quote
500
Minimum per design
Volume pricing from 1,000
6–7 days
Standard production
After you approve the proof
Free
Dieline and proof
Built around your item
Worldwide
Tracked shipping
Quoted with the job
In short
A waffle tray is a shallow open paperboard tray sized to a Belgian, Liege, mini or stick waffle, with walls high enough to keep syrup, cream and fruit from running off the edge. The Cone Sleeves prints them on food-safe white, kraft or recycled board, from 500 pieces per design, with a free digital proof and 6–7 business day production.
Why shops order waffle trays from us
Syrup stays in
Flared walls give the melt from ice cream, chocolate sauce and warm syrup somewhere to pool instead of running over the customer’s fingers.
Wide enough to load
A dressed waffle is taller than it is neat. The floor is cut wide enough that whipped cream and fruit sit on the waffle, not against a wall.
Shallow for the photo
Walls are kept low on purpose so the waffle is still visible from the side, which is how a dessert gets photographed and posted.
Handles the heat
A waffle goes into the tray straight off the iron. Board and coating are chosen so steam does not soften the floor before the customer sits down.
Branded floor
The inside floor prints too, so your name is in the frame of every overhead shot people take before the first bite.
Stacks flat
Trays nest for storage and ship flat, which matters when a stall has one shelf under the counter and no back-of-house space.
Printed work
Waffle Trays we have printed
Every run below started as somebody's artwork on plain board. Yours is quoted the same way, whatever the shape.
Specifications
Everything this order includes
These are the options we quote against. If you need something outside them, ask — most custom sizes and finishes are possible, and the quote will say so plainly.
| Fits | Belgian squares, round Liege waffles, mini stacks and waffle-on-a-stick |
|---|---|
| Capacity | One dressed waffle, or two to four minis side by side in a wider cut |
| Wall style | Shallow flared walls, roughly 1–1.5 in, so the waffle is visible but toppings stay in |
| Board | White SBS cardstock, natural kraft or recycled board in a tray caliper |
| Printing | Full-color CMYK, single-color logo or Pantone spot colors, inside and out |
| Finish | Gloss or matte lamination, spot UV, foil stamping, or uncoated |
| Minimum order | 500 pieces per design, with volume pricing from 1,000 |
| Turnaround | 6–7 business days after proof approval; 3–4 day rush on request |
| Packing | Nested and flat-packed by the hundred, shipped worldwide with tracking |
What makes a waffle tray different from any other tray
A waffle arrives hot, wet and top-heavy. It comes off the iron steaming, gets covered in something that melts, and is then handed to someone who is standing up. That combination is unusual, and it is why a general purpose food tray often fails under a waffle.
The heat is the first problem. Steam rises off a fresh waffle and condenses on whatever it touches, so an uncoated floor can go limp before the customer finds a seat. The second problem is weight distribution: whipped cream, scoops, banana and a drizzle sit high, and a narrow tray tips. The third is the sauce itself, which does not just sit on top — warm chocolate and syrup run to the lowest point and stay there.
We cut waffle trays a little wider and a little flatter than a food tray for that reason, and we choose board that stays rigid through a wet load. If you serve a waffle that is folded, rolled or handheld rather than eaten with a fork, a printed dessert sleeve for handheld servings may be the better format.
Trays for Belgian, Liege, mini and stick waffles
Waffle is one word covering several very different shapes, and the tray has to match the one you actually sell.
- Belgian squares — a deep-pocket rectangle, usually served flat and eaten with a fork. Wants a square-ish tray with a flat floor and enough clearance for a scoop on top.
- Liege waffles — smaller, round, denser and stickier from the pearl sugar. A compact tray with slightly higher walls keeps the caramelized sugar off hands.
- Mini waffles — sold in threes, fours or sixes. A wider tray with a shallow floor lets them sit in a row rather than sliding into a pile.
- Waffle on a stick — an elongated tray that catches drips while the stick still protrudes far enough to grip.
Send a waffle, or a photo of a finished dessert with a ruler beside it, and we build the dieline from that. There is no charge for the dieline or for the design work around it, and we will show you the tray with your artwork on it before anything prints.
Tray, sleeve or box: which one suits your waffle?
Three formats compete for the same dessert, and the choice comes down to how the waffle is eaten.
- An open tray is for a dressed waffle eaten in the next few minutes, with a fork or with fingers. It shows the food off, it holds toppings, and it is the cheapest of the three per piece. It does not travel and it does not keep heat in.
- A sleeve is for a folded or handheld waffle with light toppings. It is fast to load, uses the least board, and keeps a hand off the hot surface — but anything loose falls out of it.
- A closed box is for delivery. It protects the waffle in a bag, but it traps steam, which is what turns a crisp Liege soft by the time it arrives.
Most waffle counters carry a tray for eat-in and one other format for the door. Ordering both on the same artwork keeps the branding consistent, and a matching tray that holds several ice cream cones is a common pairing where the same shop sells scoops.
Board, print and finish for a dessert that gets photographed
Waffles get photographed more than almost anything else on a dessert menu, so the tray is part of the presentation and not just packaging.
White SBS cardstock is the brightest ground and the safest choice for a full-color design: pastels stay pastel, a photographic pattern stays sharp, and the white edge reads clean against cream and berries. Natural kraft gives a warm brown ground that suits a rustic or market look, but it pulls ink warmer, so it flatters a one- or two-color logo more than a photograph. Recycled board sits between them with a visible flecked texture that photographs as honest rather than cheap.
Finishing changes the picture as much as the print does. Matte lamination kills reflections, which is why it photographs better under the overhead lights and phone flashes a dessert bar attracts. Gloss deepens color but bounces light. Spot UV on a matte tray makes a logo catch the light in one place only, and foil is the finish people notice before the food. Our note on setting artwork up for print covers the file issues that delay proofs.
Where these are used
- Waffle bars and dessert cafes
- Street stalls and night markets
- Bubble waffle and Liege carts
- Creperies and gelato counters
- Brunch and breakfast service
- Festival dessert concessions
- Weddings and event catering
Not sure on size?
Send a sample or a photo with a ruler beside it and we cut the dieline to fit. There is no charge for the dieline or the digital proof.
Ask a questionHow the order runs
- You send sizes, quantity and artwork, or just a photo of the item.
- We build the dieline and come back with a written price.
- You approve a digital proof with your artwork laid on it.
- We print, cut and ship, with tracking on the carton.
Materials and printing
Board and print, side by side
Three boards and three ways to print on them. Every combination below is quoted the same way, so the choice is about how you want the packaging to feel in the hand.
Choose the board
Natural kraft
Unbleached brown board. Ink sits into the surface rather than on top of it, which mutes bright colors and reads as craft and small-batch.
Recycled board
Post-consumer fiber with a slight fleck through it. It takes a one or two color mark well and tells the customer what it is without a claim printed on it.
Choose how it prints
Full-color CMYK
Four process inks. The right choice when the artwork is a photograph, an illustration or anything with a gradient in it.
Single-color logo
One ink on plain board. It is the least expensive way to print a run and, on kraft, it is often the better looking one.
Pantone spot colors
A mixed ink matched to a Pantone reference. Use it when a brand color has to be exact across every reprint.
Waffle Trays designer
Design your waffle trays
Build the specification for waffle trays step by step — size, board, print and finish — and send it for a quote. Five short steps, no account.
Questions
Waffle Trays: common questions
Will syrup or chocolate sauce soak through a waffle tray?
Not within a normal serving window. We use a tray-weight board with a grease- and moisture-resistant surface, and a laminated finish adds more. Tell us if you pour hot sauce over the waffle rather than drizzling it, because that is the case we spec the heaviest stock for.
Do you make reusable waffle trays?
No. These are single-use printed paperboard trays, made to be recycled after service. If you want a reusable tray you are looking at melamine or polypropylene, which is a different product entirely. Uncoated kraft and recycled board are the closest we get to a low-waste option.
What size tray fits a Belgian waffle?
A standard Belgian square usually sits in a tray a little over its own footprint with about an inch of clearance around it, and walls low enough to lift the waffle out with a fork. Send us one waffle or a photo with a ruler and we cut the die to it.
Can one tray hold several mini waffles?
Yes. A wider, shallower cut holds three, four or six minis in a row so they do not slide into a heap. We can also die-cut shallow indents into the floor if you want each waffle to stay in its own position on the way to the table.
Is a waffle tray the same as a waffle cone sleeve?
No, and they are often confused. A waffle tray is an open tray for a waffle you eat with a fork. A waffle cone sleeve wraps around an ice cream cone made of waffle batter. If you serve both, we print them from one artwork file so they match.
How many waffle trays do I have to order?
Five hundred pieces per design. That is one busy weekend for a market stall and a season for a small cafe, which is deliberate — it lets you test a design before committing. Volume pricing starts at 1,000 pieces.
Can you print the inside of the tray?
Yes, and for a waffle it is the side that counts. Overhead photos of a dessert show the tray floor around the food, so a pattern or logo printed there ends up in far more social posts than anything on the outside wall.
How fast can I get printed waffle trays?
Production runs 6–7 business days after you approve the digital proof, with a 3–4 business day rush available on request. Add a day for proofing and your international transit time on top of that.
Related products
Often ordered alongside
Free quote · No obligation
Tell us your cone, we will price the sleeve
Send your size, quantity and artwork. You get a written quote and a free digital proof before anything goes to press.