There's no reason you can't have chocolate for brunch or breakfast. In fact, it's absolutely encouraged in this house. One way to create a brunch dish that tastes decadent but doesn't take all morning to make is to fire up the waffle iron. Chocolate waffles are a rich, tasty brunch dish that tastes like you spent hours creating a special dish, when in fact you whipped these treats up in around 30 minutes.
These chocolate waffles are crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside and packed with deep, dark chocolate flavor. They're basically chocolate cake turned into waffles. Preheat your waffle iron and grab a large bowl. Into that bowl, mix your all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
For the wet ingredients, here's a trick I use to save having another bowl to wash. Instead of mixing them in a bowl, if you have a large glass measuring cup, use it instead. Measure your buttermilk, then add the eggs, melted butter and vanilla extract and whisk everything together.
Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix together until everything is just combined. You don't want to over-mix, and it's okay if the waffle batter is a little lumpy. If you want to add chocolate chips or chopped nuts, now is the time.
Make sure you start off with some cooking spray on the inside of the waffle iron, then follow the manufacturer's directions for your waffle maker for how much waffle batter to add at a time. Pour the waffle batter onto the iron and cook the chocolate waffle for 3-5 minutes, or until it is crispy and cooked all the way through. You can keep a batch of waffles warm in a 200-degree oven.
Now for the fun part. You can go light and easy with your chocolate waffles and serve them with fresh fruit. Sliced strawberries or bananas are both classic toppings, maybe with a little whipped cream to make it extra special. Maple syrup is always good, or a little sprinkle of powdered sugar. Or you can go full dessert-for-breakfast (or breakfast for dessert, too) and make a sort of brownie sundae by topping the waffles with chocolate syrup and vanilla ice cream. You can also freeze these waffles and reheat them in a toaster oven for a quick and delightful breakfast later on.
Watch: What is Deep South Chocolate Gravy?
Brunch Isn't Complete Without Chocolate Waffles
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup Cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 4 tablespoons butter melted and cooled
- chocolate chips and chopped nuts optional
Instructions
- Preheat your waffle iron according to the manufacturers instructions. Preheat your oven to 200ºF to keep the waffles warm and crisp until serving.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. In a large glass measuring cup, add the buttermilk, vanilla, eggs and melted butter and whisk well. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until the batter is just combined.
- Use cooking spray on the inside of the waffle iron, then pour about 1/2 cup of batter into the center of the iron. The amount of batter will depend on your waffle iron. Cook for 3-5 minutes, or until crispy on the outside and done all the way through.
- Serve right away or keep warm in an oven.
