Chocolate meets breakfast in these easy chocolate waffles that are crispy on the outside and fluffy inside. Dutch-processed cocoa powder lends a dark, rich chocolate flavor, enhanced with a little espresso powder. And they’re not too sweet, so you can serve with all your favorite toppings!
Looking for more breakfast recipes? You’ll love these classic buttermilk waffles, homemade pop tarts, baked prosciutto egg cups, and classic fluffy pancakes.
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Ingredients
I’ve based this recipe off my high altitude tested Classic Buttermilk Waffles recipe, with a few adjustments for today’s chocolate waffles version. For the dry ingredients, flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, salt and espresso powder. I like to use just enough sugar to balance the bitterness of the cocoa powder, but not so much that they’re too sweet to top with maple syrup or powdered sugar. The espresso powder is optional, but I almost always add a little to enhance the flavor of the chocolate in all my chocolate recipes.
For the liquid ingredients, I start with buttermilk. Buttermilk is a fantastic ingredient, and makes these waffles so fluffy and tender inside. Melted butter, and enough of it, provides the fat needed for the crispy exterior. Eggs for structure and richness, and of course, vanilla extract for flavor.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Instructions
These chocolate waffles are so easy to make. All you need to do is sift together the dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients, and whisk to combine. That’s it! There’s no separating the eggs or beating the egg whites separately, or anything like that.
After mixing the batter, preheat your waffle iron. Once it’s ready, you can immediately cook the waffles. I need about 3/4 cup of batter per waffle in mine, and I get 6-7 waffles from this recipe.
Every waffle iron is different, but choose the setting that you prefer for yours. I have the Cuisinart Double Belgian Maker Waffle Iron, and I can’t recommend it highly enough! I use the crispy setting (#5), and it cooks my waffles evenly and perfectly every time. They always come out golden brown, crispy on the outside and fluffy inside. Plus, it’s so convenient being able to cook two waffles at a time, when my hungry boys are waiting for their breakfast!
Serving Ideas
Oh, my gosh, what couldn’t you put on these? With their dark, rich color, chocolate waffles look beautiful with a light dusting of powdered sugar. Butter and pure maple syrup are always a favorite of mine. Any fruit that you would like, especially berries. If you want to be really decadent, how about some dark chocolate syrup, or a drizzle of ganache?
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
I’ve answered a bunch of questions about waffle making in my classic buttermilk waffles post, so be sure to give that a read!
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Chocolate Buttermilk Waffles
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Waffle Iron
Ingredients
- 1 â…” cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- â…“ cup unsweetened, Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 tsp espresso powder (optional)
- 1 ½ cups whole buttermilk
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- maple syrup, butter, fresh fruit, powdered sugar, etc, for serving
Instructions
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, salt and espresso powder. Add the buttermilk, melted butter, eggs and vanilla, and whisk until smooth.
- Preheat your waffle iron to your preferred setting – I like to use the "crisp" setting on mine.
- Measure the batter into your waffle iron, using about 3/4 cup of batter for each waffle (depending on the size of your waffle iron). Cook for 4-6 minutes, until they are crisp on the outside, but still fluffy on the inside. Note that waffles tend to get more crisp after you take them out of the waffle iron and the steam escapes, so be careful not to over-cook these, as it's difficult to tell from the color when they're ready.
- Repeat with the rest of the batter. Yields about 6-7 large waffles.
Hi Heather,
Your chocolate waffle recipes are quickly becoming a weekend special breakfast favourite. They are so quick to whip up & stay crispy on the outside & fluffy on the inside even when they stay a day or two in an airtight container.
These were so easy and so delicious! I also added some mini chocolate chips and chopped pecans, and they came out great. Will definitely make these again in the future.
My wife and I made these last Sunday for breakfast and absolutely loved them! We have spent years looking for a good waffle recipe that was not too rich or overly sweet, and we were so excited when we finally found Heather’s recipe. We added this to our normal Sunday funday brunch rotation. Topping with chocolate chips or pecans is definitely a pro tip 🙂