Chocolate Strawberry Waffles

My husband loves waffles and strawberries, as do I. I also love chocolate, and would eat it for every meal if I wasn't trying to lose weight. Here I have combined the three into one satisfying breakfast. Not the healthiest way to start the morning, but perfect for a chilly Sunday morning.

Don't these strawberries look gorgeous?!

The strawberry flavor was not as pronounced as I had hoped. It was *extremely* subtle, in fact. Next time I plan to halve the cocoa powder and double the amount of strawberries. Hopefully, that will provide a more intense strawberry taste to the waffle itself.

Tip: I made the batter the night before and left it in the fridge overnight. When we woke up on Sunday morning, I just had to heat up the waffle maker and pour! Now if only someone would come over to clean my waffle maker....

Chocolate Strawberry Waffles
*Adapted from this recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoon sugar (I'm sure this could be dropped to 3 teaspoons and be just as good)
  
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder (my addition. Can be omitted to make regular strawberry waffles. I might half next time.)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups sliced strawberries, plus 2 sliced strawberries for garnish (I think I will double this next time)
  
• 4 tablespoons milk (I used 2%)
  
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• Cooking spray

Directions:
Spoon the flour into a dry measuring cup and level with a knife. Pour into a medium sized mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt.

In a blender, combine the strawberries, milk, oil, vanilla and eggs. Blend until smooth.


Pour the blended strawberries into the flour mixture and stir together until just combined.

Pour about a 1/4 cup of batter onto a hot waffle iron sprayed with cooking spray and cook until the steam stops--about 5 min per waffle.

Top waffles with additional sliced strawberries, powdered sugar and syrup.