Whole Wheat Brownie Waffles

Have you seen that Rachel Ray tip, where she says you can pour brownie batter into a waffle iron and have brownies in 5 minutes instead of 50? I was talking about it with my cousin once, but I neither of us really liked the idea, because we both like the fudgy middle of the brownie the best.

Fast forward to me on the King Arthur Flour website, looking for a recipe for fudge cookies (because REASONS), when I stumbled upon a recipe for whole-grain brownies. I was intrigued, and printed out the recipe to try it. But I wasn't really in a brownie mood. It was early, I'd been shoveling snow all morning, and I was thinking that I should maybe do a breakfast recipe. Then it struck: brownies is the waffle iron. Whole wheat brownies. They were practically waffles already!

Of course, this is still a brownie recipe, and despite the fact that I tried to healthify it some (I cut down on the sugar, butter, and eggs, upped the flour, and used unsweetened applesauce), these are still dessert waffles. Meaning you can serve them with ice cream and chocolate chips and raspberry syrup.

How did they taste? Well, like dense chocolate waffles. They weren't particularly brownie like (no fudgy insides), and while the whole wheat texture might have been a bit odd in a brownie, it lends itself well to a waffle. Next time I might try some buttermilk to make them a little more fluffy. All in all, they're a fun, unusual treat, and I'd definitely break out this recipe for brunch.

Whole Wheat Brownie Waffles {Printable Version}

Yield: 5 waffles

Ingredients
¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1½ cups packed light brown sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder*
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. instant coffee granules
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups whole wheat flour

Directions
In a large bowl, mix the melted butter and brown sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Mix in the cocoa powder, vanilla, salt, baking powder, and coffee. Add the applesauce, oil, and eggs, and mix until smooth. Carefully add in the flour, and continue to mix until smooth. Spread the batter evenly onto a pre-heated waffle maker, and cook according to the manufacturer’s directions.

Tip: Because the brownie batter is so thick and doesn’t rise much, you can add more of it to the waffle maker than usual. I used a full cup of batter, as opposed to the ¾ cup I normally use.

*I used ½ cup Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa, along with ½ cup regular cocoa

Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour