Hazelnut-Oat Waffles with Cacao Spread, Strawberries + Mint

I know I have a lot of work to do when I wake up in the morning thinking about hazelnut waffles with chocolate. I need to write papers for my master’s program, work in the garden, write, and clean the chicken coop, but first, these waffles need to exist. These are rich and nutty, a classic combination of hazelnut and chocolate that never fails, and they are best eaten with the cacao spread slathered on top, sprinkled with strawberries and mint, straight out of your hands. Skip the fork. These would make for a delightful picnic if you sandwiched the waffles together in layers packed with cacao spread and strawberries and ate them by a body of water or on top of a mountain. Or, you can just eat them in your backyard in the midmorning sun like we did, breathing in the fresh scent of rain from the night and watching the chickens cluck about their business.

Waffles

1 cup hazelnut flour
1 cup oat flour
3 tablespoons tapioca starch
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 eggs
¼ cup coconut palm sugar (optional)
1 ½ cups milk, yogurt, or kefir (I mixed half milk, half whole milk, plain yogurt)
4 tablespoons melted butter

Method

Heat your waffle iron!

Mix the hazelnut and oat flours, tapioca starch, baking powder and salt in a bowl until well-combined.

You can either separate the eggs and whip your egg whites until they are fluffy and thoroughly whisk the yolks with the sugar, butter and milk and combine everything together, or you can be lazy like I am sometimes and just whisk the eggs with the sugar, milk, and butter and fold it together with the dry ingredients. Both styles make tasty waffles, albeit the whipped egg white style is a bit more elegant and light.

While you cook the waffles, with plenty of butter, make the cacao spread.

Cacao Spread

½ cup coconut butter
¼ teaspoon salt
I oz dark chocolate
¼ cup raw cacao powder
1 tablespoon ghee or butter
1 tablespoon heavy cream
2 tablespoons maple syrup

Method

Set up a double boiler. I place a glass mixing bowl in a saucepan filled with water and set it over medium-low heat.

Spoon the coconut butter into the bowl and melt slowly and gently. Stir in the rest of the ingredients until the spread is smooth and taste for sweetness, adjusting the amount of maple syrup if you wish.

Serve the waffles with the cacao spread, strawberries and mint. If you want to get fancy, grate a cube of maple sugar on top, it looks just like powdered sugar.