Chocolate Waffles

Dance Team Try Out Day... the day Liv has been eagerly anticipating for weeks has finally arrived!  Last season she participated on a team of Competitive girls with our local dance studio and had the time of her life.  With the spotlights lighting their way, these amazingly talented girls danced all the way to the Nationals in Vegas last July. 

Dance has been a part of Liv's life since she was born.  At the tender age of 11 months she would hang onto the coffee table, beaming smile on her face, bouncing up and down to the beat of the music.  At 2 she enrolled in her first tap class and "entertained" us with hours of boisterous tapping each and every day.  Today, her feet are rarely still as she sways to rhythms streaming through her head, and she is frequently seen for hours on end in our spare room dancing the day away.   

Liv's first competitive season culminated last July when she attended her first National Competition in Vegas with her team.  Tears streamed down my face as I watched my little girl up there on a Vegas stage, all alone, dancing her heart out.  Her eyes widened first in surprise, and then in sheer excitement as the judges announced her name as the 6th place overall winner for Junior Solos and handed her a trophy!  Here's where I enter into shameless bragging and share the video of Liv's award winning rendition of I'm a Brass Band from the Broadway show Sweet Charity (YouTube link here):

With today being such a special day, I could in no way reject her request for Chocolate Waffles... even though they were not on the healthy pre-dance diet.  We figured we'd add a touch of spelt flour and top them with our farm fresh raspberries from our local Farmer's Market to increase the health benefits and maybe supplement with a banana and yogurt a little later.  As my back was turned, Liv created her own topping, assuring me that whipped cream did indeed have calcium - which we all know is important for growing dancers bones!

Chocolate Waffles
adapted from Alton Brown,
I'm just Here for More Food, Baking

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup spelt flour

3 Tbs sugar

1½ ounces cocoa powder, approximately ½ cup 

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt 

½ tsp baking soda

3 whole eggs, beaten 

2 Tbs unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled 

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

2 cups low fat buttermilk, room temperature 

Vegetable spray

Directions

Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturer's directions.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In another bowl whisk the eggs, melted butter and vanilla, then add the buttermilk.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring just until combined. Allow to rest for 5 minutes.

Ladle the recommended amount of waffle batter onto the center of the iron. Close the iron top and cook until the waffle is crispy on both sides and is easily removed from iron. Serve immediately or keep warm in a 200 degree F oven until ready to serve.

Note:  we mixed half of a mashed banana in our last batch of the waffles.  An excellent addition!