Low Carb Chocolate Hazelnut Waffles. A hearty gluten-free breakfast to start your day right.
I don’t normally tell you much about my vacations because I don’t think you come here for that. You want recipes and I don’t blame you! However, I’d love it if you humoured me this time. I promise there is a recipe at the end and if you really want to, you can skip straight to it. It’s just that we had such a lovely getaway and I can’t help but want to share a little bit about it. More to the point, I want to share some of my photos. For once, I took my big camera, the one usually reserved for food photography, and I am glad I did. I’ve become quite a good food photographer, but food stays still and doesn’t talk back or walk away or make funny faces at you. Kids…well, they’re not nearly so easy to work with! I’ve been working on my non-food photography skills and I came home with some great pictures. And what are pictures for if not to share?
Celia and Grandad
If you don’t know Muskoka, you’re missing out. It’s the ultimate cottaging experience. The part of Ontario near Georgian Bay is so riddled with lakes big and small, the map looks like a piece of Swiss cheese. The shoreline tends to be rocky, and the lakes are deep and dark. The mist hangs over the water at sunrise, and the loons cry out at dusk in that lonely, achingly beautiful way. Sitting on a dock at sunset with a drink in your hand and your family members close by makes you feel that all is well with the world. It’s one of my favourite places in the world.
Sunrise over Lake Joseph
From the dock
Wild Blackberries
This year, the weather was cooler than normal, only hitting about 19 or 20 degrees most days (that’s high-60’s for you Americans). Although that made the water a little less inviting, I found I really enjoyed the coolness. I went for long runs and it felt so comfortable. And it didn’t keep my intrepid little swimmers out of the water, after they lay on the dock to soak up some sun. We really didn’t do much other than swim, boat, play and hang out on the dock. And pick the wild blackberries we found growing on the property. In the evenings, we ate, drank and made merry, and played multiple rounds of Scrabble and Bananagrams.
Playing…
Boating…
Making Merry
It was the most relaxing vacation I’ve had in a long time. I think it helps immensely that my kids are getting older and able to go with the flow and entertain themselves. They had a ball just splashing around and making up games in the water. And getting plenty of attention from their grandparents, aunt and uncles. It was somewhat tougher for my sister and brother in law, since their youngest is only 1. I vividly remember those times, having to chase around a little one or a toddler, having to be vigilant of an un-baby-proofed house. But we got to celebrate my sweet nephew’s first birthday on-site, and I’d say a good time was had by all.
The Girls
The Boys
Now, to the recipe. These waffles are a great healthy start to any breakfast, and my kids loved them in slices to dip into their syrup. I originally made them just as chocolate waffles but thought that they’d be even better with the addition of hazelnut. To really get that hazelnut flavour, you need the extract and the oil, but skip them if they are too hard to find and just enjoy chocolate waffles. Either way, they are delicious.
I also have a very good, very deep Calphalon waffle maker, a 40th birthday present from my husband. It’s so non-stick, I don’t need any oil. And it’s so deep that this recipe only makes 6 very thick squares. If you have a standard iron, you may get 8 to 10 waffles out of the batter. And you may need to grease your iron before adding the batter.
- 1 cup Hazelnut meal
- 1/2 cup Chocolate protein powder
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp coconut flour
- 3 tbsp Swerve Sweetener or granulated erythritol
- 4 large eggs
- 1/3 cup full-fat Greek yogurt
- 3 tbsp hazelnut oil
- 1/2 tsp hazelnut extract
- 1/4 tsp stevia extract
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Preheat waffle iron to medium high. Preheat oven to 200F and place a wire rack over a baking sheet.
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In a large bowl, whisk together hazelnut meal, protein powder, cocoa powder, coconut flour and sweetener.
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Whisk in eggs, yogurt, hazelnut oil, hazelnut extract and stevia until well combined.
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Grease waffle iron if necessary and pour 1/4 to 1/3 cup of batter into each section of the iron.
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Close the lid and cook until browned and crisp. Gently remove and transfer to prepared baking sheet in oven to keep warn
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Repeat with remaining batter.
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Top with whipped cream, butter, berries, chopped hazelnuts, sugar-free syrup, whatever you desire.
Serves 6. Each serving has 11g of carbs and 4g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 7 g.
Other nutritional info: 257 Calories; 19g Fat (61.5% calories from fat); 16g Protein; 11g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 159mg Cholesterol; 73mg Sodium.
