Chocolate Waffles

Every now and again, I like to do something over the top. Last Saturday night was one of those times. I was taking suggestions for ideas what to make for supper for Valentine's Day (I'm serving Matt and the kids a candlelight dinner!) and Matt suggested chocolate waffles. Well, I already had something in mind for a special dessert, and, since chocolate waffles are basically a dessert in itself, I didn't want to make them for Valentine's Day supper. However, I couldn't get chocolate waffles out of my head, so I whipped some up for supper on Saturday night.

Before you begin, please know that this is not exactly a quick and easy recipe like many of the recipes I post. While not that hard, it is a bit more time consuming, and you will need to use several bowls.

When I was growing up, my grandma would make these waffles for dessert. We would eat them with vanilla ice cream and homemade caramel sauce (recipe to come soon!). Yum! Just thinking about it makes me salivate! I decided, though, to serve these up as a main course. I topped them with peanut butter, strawberries, a dollop of Cool Whip, mini chocolate chips, and chocolate syrup. They were a big hit with the kids, who could not believe that we were having them for supper!

So, if you are looking for a special Valentine's breakfast, give these a try. They would be really cute cut into heart shapes with a cookie cutter. Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Waffles

2 cups sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon soda
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 squares baking chocolate (you can substitute 2 tablespoons oil and 6 level tablespoons baking cocoa for the chocolate if you like)
3 eggs, separated
2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups sour milk or buttermilk (Put 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice in measuring cup and add enough milk to make 1 1/2 cups to make sour milk)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine first five ingredients. Melt butter and chocolate in microwave. Beat egg whites until stiff--set aside. Beat egg yolks in another mixing bowl. Add brown sugar, sour milk, butter & chocolate, and vanilla. Add liquid to dry ingredients all at once and beat one minute with the mixer. Fold in egg whites. Pour 3/4 cup batter on hot waffle iron. Bake 4 to 5 minutes. (I just baked them until the light went off on my waffle iron. If you have trouble with your waffles sticking, use a stick of butter to grease the waffle iron before putting the batter on.)

Next time, I may stir in 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips! (I mean, if you are going for over the top, you may as well knock it out of the park!) Have a happy Valentine's Day!