Double Chocolate Waffles with Berry Sauce

I found a link to this recipe on my friend's blog. My boys love waffles (when you ask my 4 year old what he wants for dinner, he always says "waffles"), so I thought it would be fun to mix things up a little and try these. (note: I edited the recipe some, so if you want to see the original one, click here.)

Picture courtesy of Our Best Bites

Double Chocolate Waffles with Berry Sauce
from Our Best Bites

Waffles
2/3 C flour
1/3 C corn starch
1/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 t baking powder
3/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/8 t cinnamon
6 T granulated sugar
1 C milk
1/3 C vegetable oil
1 egg
1 1/2 t vanilla
1/2 C mini chocolate chips

Berry Sauce and Topping
3 C berries*
1/4 C raspberry jam (you could use strawberry if you prefer)
2 T hot tap water
optional: powdered sugar to taste

whipped cream
cocoa powder for dusting

*You'll need about 3 cups of berries and you can use any combo you like.

Start by making the berry sauce since it can sit while you make the waffle batter. Combine jam and warm water and whisk until combined. Add in the berries and gently stir until combined. Depending on the sweetness of the berries, you can add a little powdered sugar if you'd like.

Set berry sauce aside and make waffle batter.

Waffles:
Preheat a waffle iron.

Combine flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Use a whisk to combine.

In a separate bowl whisk together sugar, milk, oil, egg, and vanilla. Whisk for a minute so it gets a little frothy.

Slowly add the wet ingredients into the dry a little at a time, whisking to combine. Just stir until they're combined and don't overmix. Stir in the chocolate chips. This is a pretty thin batter, so don't be expecting something that looks like a pancake batter. It's supposed to be thin.

You shouldn't need to grease your waffle iron. Place batter in and cook according to your iron. Be careful to not overfill. This batter has plenty of levening so it will expand.

****I doubled the batch and got about 10 waffles (in a round Belgian waffle iron). For the berry sauce I used frozen blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries and added some fresh strawberries. It turned out really yummy. I only did one batch of the berry sauce and it was enough for nearly all of the doubled batch of waffles. I ended up making way more waffles than I needed, so I froze the extras. They froze well and thawed great. My family loves these waffles, so I'm sure I will be making them a lot more in the future.

Gingerbread Waffles

Tonight I had a hankerin' for something waffley for dinner, so I googled "waffle recipe" to see what kind of yumminess I could find. I stumbled across a recipe for gingerbread waffles. It was perfect! Since I am on my low-sugar diet I am trying to not eat lots of syrup and other sugary waffle toppings, which leaves my waffles pretty dry and blah. But not this recipe. No toppings needed, although it would probably be extra good with a little whipped cream. Maybe next time...

Picture courtesy of Inn Cuisine

Gingerbread Waffles
From Inn Cuisine, who adapted it from Taste of Home's Holiday and Celebrations Cookbook, 2005
1 Cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg, separated
3/4 cup buttermilk (may substitute regular milk if necessary)
1/4 cup molasses (may substitute syrup if desired)
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients (flour through ground cloves); blend thoroughly. In a medium-sized bowl, mix brown sugar and egg yolk with an electric mixer until fluffy; add buttermilk, molasses and butter. Stir into the dry ingredients until just combined--do not over mix.

In a small bowl, beat the egg white and cream of tartar using an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into the existing batter.

Quickly (and evenly) spoon batter onto a preheated waffle iron and cook according to manufacturer's directions, until light golden brown.

Sprinkle with confectioners sugar if desired, and/or garnish with whipped cream and cinnamon sticks. Serve with warm maple syrup.

Yeild: 8 waffles (mine only ended up making 4, so I had to double the batch)