Monday, January 17, 2011

Chocolate Covered Waffle Sticks


Chocolate covered Waffle sticks, featuring the Sweet 'n' Savory Challenge ingredient of the month: Coconut Oil!




Coconut oil is one of my kitchen staples. Great for baking, great for a butter-substitute, it's all-around delicious and healthy. Plus, it has the unique property of a melting point around 76 F. This means that at warm temperatures, it is a liquid just like olive oil-- but at cold temperatures (aka, now) it is completely solid.

With all of the recipes in which I use coconut oil, for this month's challenge I wanted to pick a recipe that exploits the oil's high melting point. Really, no other oil can be substituted for this chocolate coating.

So, I present to you: Chocolate Covered Waffle Sticks-- a breakfast in dessert's clothing.  (...which obviously still makes it a breakfast.... right??)

Any type of waffle will due for dipping in this delicious chocolate sauce, but I opted for my trusty Cinni-Teff waffles.




THE RECIPE:


Cinni-Teff Waffles:

1 egg or egg substitute equivelent
1 tbs extra light olive oil                        ----> whip
1 cup milk substitute (rice/soy/almond/coconut)
1 tsp vanilla (alcohol-free)                    ----> mix
3/4 cup teff flour
1/4 cup cinnamon (or more/less to taste... I like lots!)
1 tsp baking powder                           -----> mix
1/8 tsp salt

Bake on high in (Belgian) waffle iron, then let cool. (Try not to eat them all at this stage...) These proportions make about 4.5 x 5 inch waffles.

Chocolate Dipping Sauce:

3 tbs coconut oil
3 tbs cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp agave nectar (or to taste)

Melt coconut oil in a small pan over low heat. As soon as it is melted, remove from heat. Stir in cocoa powder, vanilla, and sweeten to taste with agave. Let cool until mixture just begins to thicken. To speed the process, luke-warm pan of chocolate can be placed in the fridge for short periods of time. Just be sure to check/stir it frequently to prevent the coconut oil from hardening prematurely.

Assembly:

Slice waffles into strips, or alternately cut bite-sized peices around each square. When sauce has begun to thicken, dip each piece into the chocolate sauce. If chocolate sauce thickens too much for dipping, spread with a knife onto waffle. If desired, roll in shredded coconut, nut pieces, or other small delicious item. Place on a waxed paper-lined plate/cookie sheet to harden. To speed hardening, place cookie sheet in fridge.




Long long ago, I used to eat chocolate covered waffles from Whole Foods. They were delicious. So are these. Really, absolutely the same. Which = success!

Also: in nine weeks, I am incredibly excited to report that I will be visiting a friend in Trinidad for Carnival 2011. This will involve parading through the streets in this costume, which will require looking phenomenal, which will require cutting back on the dessert (and all other food...) for the next nine weeks. Which, in turn, requires me to not bake any more desserts for quite some time. So, be prepared for a temporary dessert-hiatus-- yet I will try to post some veggie/entree recipes.

Anyway. Chocolate covered waffle sticks? These aren't desserts! They're just waffles. Good old, breakfast-certified, waffles.


6 comments:

  1. these sound totally fabulous! And so does your trip to Trinidad - jealous! Wow, that's incredible. And so is breakfast and dessert all in one tasty bite. Thanks for entering this month's SOS! xo

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  2. This is something my husband would love. We don't have a waffle maker yet, but when we do I will surely make these for him.

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  3. Whoa! Decadent. My son would looooove these.

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  4. I just made the Cinni-teff waffles. Do you really mean 1/4 CUP cinnamon? If so....wow. I put 1/4 tsp in & it was fine. The waffles are wonderful plain.

    Guess I'll have to make the dipping sauce now, but I'm making these ahead since I don't do mornings, but the kids do. :)

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  5. I actually do use a ton of cinnamon in mine- for me, it makes the waffles taste less like teff (and more like yum!). Glad you liked it with less though- that certainly works too. (The real deciding factor should be which is cheaper... cinnamon or teff? and then use more of that! :))

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  6. Cast iron professional waffle makers are in most cases, not budget friendly. They can venture into the hundreds of dollars range. That is again why they are best used in a restaurant.

    Waffle on a stick

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