Heavenly Dark Chocolate Waffles

I am stealing Bon Appetit’s photo because it looks so much more appetizing than mine. But I promise mine were delightfully tasty!

Are you prepared to enter breakfast Nirvana? If so, go ahead and make these waffles this weekend, or tomorrow, or maybe even for dinner tonight. They are that good!

Keeping up with my recent habit of finding recipes in magazines, this one came from the February issue of Bon Appetit. Out of the entire section of chocolate recipes, these waffles spoke to me the most. So we had them for breakfast that very Saturday. And Sunday. And the next Saturday. And my stepson heats the leftovers up in the toaster on school mornings…

Suffice it to say, this recipe will become a permanent staple in our weekend breakfast routine. Yes, it is a little fussy, but if you prepare everything before you start mixing, it really doesn’t take that long to throw together. And the effort is SO worth it!

At first I thought the idea of syrup on a chocolate waffle was abominable but it ends up that it is quite delicious. And with some bacon and a glass of milk on the side, it is perfect.

The original recipe makes about 12 waffles but I reduce it to 1/2 or 1/3 most of the time to serve 2 or 3 people (2 or 3 waffles apiece). But I am including the full-sized version here — waffles for 6! Plus, if you make a full batch but don’t eat them all, they do freeze really well and are easy to pop in the toaster to heat back up (just stick it in frozen).

So what are you waiting for? Add this to your shopping list and you recipe queue immediately!

Dark Chocolate Waffles

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Dutch-processed)
¼ cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large eggs, separated
2 cups buttermilk
½ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate (at least 70% cacao), finely chopped
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
Unsalted butter and warm pure maple syrup (for serving)

Preheat oven to 250°. Whisk flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center

and add egg yolks, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Blend with a fork, then gradually incorporate dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.

Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat egg whites in a small bowl until soft peaks form. Working in 2 batches, fold egg whites into batter just until combined. Fold in chopped chocolate.

Heat a waffle iron until very hot; lightly coat with nonstick spray. Working in batches, cook waffles until cooked through. Transfer to a wire rack set inside a baking sheet, cover loosely with foil, and keep warm in oven until ready to serve.

Serve waffles with butter and syrup.

DO AHEAD: Batter with egg whites can be made 4 hours ahead. Cover and chill. Cooked waffles can be wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen then reheated with one or two rounds in the toaster.

Adapted from Bon Appetit February 2014.