The best chocolate wholewheat waffles, ever!

So after blogging about my excitement about my sushi class yesterday morning…my daughter demanded chocolate waffles. It was 10 o’clock when I started… and time seemed to go on for ever…till I looked at the clock to see it was almost eleven. If I didn’t run out of the house (via the bathroom), I would be very late! The sushi post will come but as you can imagine, I have numerous videos and photos which need some serious stitching together to paint the very delicious picture that was yesterday! Consider this an interim offering please! 

Snow covered chocolate waffles with strawberries

Waffles are amongst my fave breakfast foods, and lunch, and dinner too. They bake well, keep well and eat all too well. What’s not to love about them. I even have 2 wafflemakers – a heart-shaped one which makes thin, small waffles and a larger one, which was a gift from my dear friend L. This one makes proper Belgian waffles.

Waffle makers

5 things you should know about waffles

  1. They are the rather posh, baked siblings to (fried) pancakes: essentially made from the same basic mix.
  2. They can be made ahead of time and then toasted or grilled later
  3. They’re generally best made and cooled before stacking…unlike pancakes which can be stacked as they’re cooked. If you do this with waffles, they become soggy and rather unpleasant so spread them out and let them cool down before you build the mountain
  4. They can be jazzed up by adding fruit, chocolate and even nuts
  5. Super-delish they are with some cream/yoghurt, syrup and fruit

Snow covered chocolate waffles

Personally, I love my pancakes, waffles (and french toast) with wholegrains. I don’t make them with white flour except I’ve run out of wholewheat flours and in that case, I add some oats and oat bran to increase the fibre, but that is on very rare occassion!  I know, whole grains have a peculiar taste, some say acquired. I tend to taste them and think nutty and full-flavoured. If you’re averse to using wholegrains then chocolate/cocoa creates a perfect and complimentary mask to the ‘new’ smaak (dutch for taste) of wholewheat flavour.

Now you can use this exact same mix to make chocolate pancakes, but add an extra 1/2 cup of milk to thin the batter

If you love nuts…chopped hazelnuts (filberts) and pecans partner VERY well with chocolates…as do almonds.

100% wholewheat chocolate waffles

You’ll need

A waffle iron

For the Waffle mix

1 1/2 cups (200g) wholewheat flour
a good pinch of salt
1/2 cup (50g) unsweetened cocoa powder or melted chocolate
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups (400g) milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or cinnamon/ground ginger)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil (or melted butter)
1/4 cup (25g) yoghurt

To serve

Icing (confectioner’s) sugar, to dust
Creme Fraiche
Strawberries or Bananas
Vanilla maple syrup (or regular maple syrup)
 
Makes 8 – 10 waffles, measuring ~15cm (6 inches) across 

Steps to the preparation

Sift the flour, salt, cocoa, and baking powder into a bowl

The chocolate and flour mix 100% Wholewheat, in dutch

Make a well in the centre and add the eggs, milk, vanilla, oil and yoghurt and mix well with a ballon whisk until blended and the batter is smooth

Eggs in the mix All stirred together

Because you’re using wholegrain flour, you’ll need to let the batter ‘rest’ for about 10 minutes. This allows the grains to absorb the liquids, resulting in softer, fluffier waffles. A bit like giving steaks a rest after cooking!

7-8  minutes into the batter resting, grease the waffle iron or electric waffle maker (follow manufacturer’s instructions if using for the first time). My Belgian waffle iron is non-stick but to be on the absolute safe side, I used some oil spray to grease it before I started. You could also brush it with oil or melted butter using a brush made of scratch-safe, non-abrasive material like silicone.

When the mix is well rested, stir once more to combine then using a large ladle spoon, pour in batter, just enough to fill the hot waffle iron, then close. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until the waffles are ready. They should peel away from the top/bottom of the iron if cooked

 Waffles baking

Remember not to stack if you’re making a huge pile, rather spread them out.

Before there was snow

The waffles were lovely – they so reminded me of brownies – crisp top, with a moist, soft and rich chocolatey interior.

 Chocolate wafflesThe inside of a waffle

Dust with icing sugar if you will and drizzle with some syrup. I won’t trade them for any other waffle recipe, especially if I have creme fraiche to go with them. Yummy. And fruit? A must, especially critical when I’m serving it up for the kids – this way I’m super-assured that they’ve began the day with healthy goodness!

Some maple syrup on top The set upA dollop of creme fraiche Snow covered chocolate waffles

What do you think? What are your favourite waffles made of?

Snow covered chocolate waffles

Belgian Waffle Maker on Foodista[wpurp-searchable-recipe]The best chocolate wholewheat waffles, ever! – – – [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]

47 Comments

  1. These are the most amazing chocolate waffles I have ever tasted. I love that they are entirely whole wheat, so a bit healthier for the kids.

  2. Spice and more – buy your waffle maker. Even though I don’t use mine all the time, I derive great comfort from having it 🙂

    LWJ, they do smell pretty good but bitter, I would argue. I guess that’s why I say they remind me of brownies!!!!! As for the texture, it is soft and open, I wouldn’t say coarse!

    The reason I don’t put any sugar in is that I end up putting sugar on them any which way and I invariably use less…… but that’s just me. Thanks!

  3. Not win. They smell pretty good but the taste is bitter and the texture is coarse.

    Yes, they’ve got no sugar in them, but to stifle the taste you have to add a sugary topping, so there’s not a huge point to that.

  4. […] I love poached pears and enjoy cranberry sauce so…put the two together and what do you get: a combination of soft, firm pears….stewed in sweetened mulled wine….and mushy cranberries. Perfect for the Turkey…or as I’ve recently seen recently on food52, served on fresh ricotta….Note that I poach a lot of pears, in this case 22 . I then use a few for the cranberry sauce and store the rest in a Kilner jar in the fridge – perfect atop Swiss Bircher, with pancakes and waffles. […]

  5. wow they look amazing!! I have never made waffles. My son loves pancakes so I am guessing that he would love waffles too. Hmmm…I can feel the need for another kitchen gadget building….

  6. Thanks Kerstin, I try to use wholewheat flour at least for breakfast goods. I’ve tried a few times with cakes and things have not gone swimmingly well….

  7. These look so tasty.

    I must admit I love waffles and so do my boys, but I am a waffle virgin when comes to making them. We bought waffle maker last year. I tried it once with some failure and I put it back into the cupboard.

    I think with your step by step instructions I will be victorious this time around.

  8. Simply life – Thanks for your compliments
    fresh365 – you have my daughter, J to thank 🙂
    sufficiently sublime – enjoy your trip back to the States
    The epicurean’s market – pls don’t feel embarassed; I didn’t have one for ages!
    Sarah – say hi to your mum for me, my kindred spirit

  9. Hey, thanks for your comment on my blog! (I think it was you, at least – you linked to this site.) These waffles look divine, and p.s. I thought my mom was the only person on the planet who says “Brekkie”. :]

  10. Wow!! Just read through the actual recipe. YUM!!! Can’t wait to get home and try these. My girls will FLIP! I have perfected the scratch pancakes, but have yet to find a waffle recipe I like. THANKS!!

  11. Thanks Blond Duck, I love the story-building around the wreaths…and the little butterfly I spotted.
    Mimi, let me know if they like it
    Hi Rebecca. Welcome back. My daughter’s just like me 🙂 So much for humility

  12. Chocolate waffles sound awsome. I know my kids would go for these, in fact they would want me to add chocolate chips to the batter.
    Mimi

  13. Popped in from Reeni’s to say hello–I was enchanted by your blog name! And while all waffles are wonderful, chocolate whole wheat ones seem extraordinary!

  14. Reeni – I’ve had potato waffles before and now I’m reminded to make them – love the savoury angle!
    Ash, Sophie, Ungourmet – Thanks a lot
    Jessica– you’re a woman after my heart. Pecans are my best nuts in the world…almonds come a close second!
    Erebi dear – you just may be right!

  15. Ozoz,

    The chocolate and whole wheat looks like a they compliment each other…… something to do with the earthiness of the taste?

  16. These look delicious! I think they would be wonderful with a little scoop of vanilla ice cream and some hot fudge and toasted pecans for a special waffle sundae dessert! Thanks for the tasty inspiration :o)

  17. I so love your chocolate wholewheat waffles:: they are to die for,;…

    MMMMMMMMMMM,…A must try this morning!! I also love to bake with whole flours!

  18. What a sinfully delicious breakfast treat! And healthy with all those whole grains. My favorite waffles are savory ones with chicken and gravy on top! And these for dessert would be perfect.

  19. Passions & soapbox, Angie: Thanks
    Oh Alysha…I so agree but not with the dutch raspberries I’ve had. They’d have to be from the UK – the ones I had in London a few weeks ago were out of the world, speaking of which…I’m in London this week, again. Maybe…..

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