With their subtle hint of cinnamon and the bitter, chocolaty crunch from the cocoa nibs, these cinnamon waffles taste amazing with maple syrup.
My daughter Eliza may be a picky eater, but this frustratingly finicky trait has a definite upside. She feels passionate about the foods does like, and she can prepare and cook a few of these herself. Since she loves to experiment, this sometimes leads to culinary genius, like pizza omelets or cinnamon chocolate brownies.
Eliza’s especially fond of waffles, and she’s perfected her cocoa nib cinnamon waffles over the last several months.
Last weekend, she deviated slightly from her standard recipe, and the resulting waffles were truly inspired. As she mixed up the dry ingredients, she noticed the bag of cocoa nibs I’d picked up for making peppermint patty tart. Her eyes lit up and she asked, somewhat cautiously, if she could mix some into the batter.
Why, yes. Yes you can.
Usually, I eat a bowl of cereal before I tuck into part of a waffle or a pancake or whatever breakfast dessert the rest of my family happens to be indulging in on a lazy weekend morning.
This time, though, I ate my waffle first. A whole one. With lots of maple syrup and whipped cream. Maybe I had another one and maybe I didn’t.
What I didn’t have for breakfast was cereal. I wasn’t wasting any precious stomach space on cereal while Eliza was cranking these waffles out like a pro.
With their subtle hint of cinnamon and the bitter, chocolaty crunch from the cocoa nibs, they taste amazing out of hand straight from the waffle iron. To truly appreciate them, though, you need to douse them generously with maple syrup. Since the nibs are basically unprocessed, unsweetened chocolate in its raw form, maple syrup adds the perfect note of sweetness to complete this flavor sensation.
You may also want to kick up your breakfast experience with whipped cream and a sprinkling of cocoa nib like I did; these garnishes are totally optional, but totally recommended.
These nibby super cinnamon waffles rocked my breakfast world. I only wish we had time for them on weekday mornings. I think whenever I start feeling annoyed by Eliza’s vehement dislike for vegetables or anything with a the slightest hint of spice, I’ll ask her to make everyone waffles for dinner.
Cocoa Nib Cinnamon Waffles
From Eclaires on the Moon.
Super Cinnamon Nibby Waffles
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup cocoa nibs
- 2 large eggs
- 1 3/4 cups buttermilk
- 1 stick butter melted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- maple syrup for serving
Instructions
- Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium-sized mixing bowl. In another bowl, beat together eggs, buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla. Combine wet and dry ingredients until just smooth.
- Brush preheated waffle iron lightly with vegetable oil. For a Belgian-style waffle iron, use about 1/2 cup batter. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the iron stops steaming and the waffles are golden. Serve warm with maple syrup.
This is such a sweet story! How wonderful to cook with your children!
Thanks, Sarah! I especially love it when they cook for me!
that is seriously SO CUTE. cate is scared to cook on her own, maybe I’ll show her this post to inspire her! 🙂
Thanks, Jane. Hope it works!
Oh, my, looks sooo good! And I just checked out your Pinterest page–beautiful!
Hooray! I bet Marcus and Ellen would love to make you some waffles! Thanks, Rebecca!
Aww, I love that this is more of your daughter’s recipe than yours. I hope one day my daughter will want to be in the kitchen with me creating her own recipes. I will have to try out these waffles tomorrow morning!
So cool to have a budding chef around, especially when she knocks my socks off with a recipe like this one!
So, I love this post and the pictures of Eliza in the kitchen! She looks so at home making these waffles:) I have a son who loves to cook and will pin these so he can make them for us…
Thanks, Heather. Gotta love cooking kiddos! I’d love to hear how your son’s waffles turn out!
Garrison tried them this weekend and they turned out perfectly. Tell Eliza thank you from him! I’m going to look for cocoa nibs the next time we shop at a larger grocery store.
Hooray! Eliza was so tickled to hear that! She wants him to know that the waffles are even better with nibs!
I also a hard time finding nibs where I live. I finally ended up at a specialty baking store — Spun Sugar — in Berkeley, CA. They do mail order if you can’t find them easily.
What a great flavor combo in waffles. That is so great that your daughter has taken an interest in the kitchen!
Thanks, Denise. Totally trying to foster this cooking thing!
Waffles are my special breakfast of choice, and these look just delicious, especially with the whipped cream and cocoa nibs! Love that daughter was helping you. 🙂
Thanks, Marcie! I’m pretty much adding cocoa nibs to everything these days. They totally make these waffles!
yes perfectly ironed!
my waffle iron died last winter, so I’m hoping we’ll find a cheap one for this winter. no one should go through winter without a waffle iron. right?
Amen to that! Hope you find a waffle iron quickly! In the meantime, make cocoa nib pancakes! Made some the other day and they were just as amazing as these waffles!
Hey, cocoa nib pancakes, now you’re talking!
They are awesome! I pretty much put nibs in everything these days. I think my husband must like it, too, because he just got me a 5 pound bag of nibs!