Did you catch me on TV last week? Well, since I was only on for 2 minutes and 40 seconds, I was easy to miss! I appeared on WKOW's Wake up Wisconsin on July 9 at 6:35am and plated my Sunshine Skillet recipe. You can watch me here, and find the recipe on my previous blog post. I will be on Madison TV again, later this month, July 28, on NBC15 at 6:10am. This time, I'm going to cook and plate up these Yeasted Chocolate Zucchini Waffles, since now we've got zucchini coming in! All of this media buzz has to do with the Soil Sisters Tour which is coming up July 31 thru Aug 2, on my farm and 20 other women-owned farms in the Green County area. Check us out here and be sure to come and play with us that weekend!
I love the bubbly surface of yeasted batters! This one was actually moving when I took the picture. It's alive!
Yeasted waffles are a staple of my bed-and-breakfast buffets. They work well because I can do the preparation the night before and simply let the batter warm up in the morning while I make coffee, wash and chop fruit, make eggs and visit with my guests! I make a lot of different versions of this recipe, depending on what veggie is in season that I can grate into the batter - some are more savory and some more sweet. (I only use cocoa with zucchini, though!) All of them turn out crispy on the outside and wonderfully moist inside. These are 100 percent whole grain, and can easily be made gluten-free by using almond flour instead of white whole wheat. They are very low sugar, since I assume folks will enjoy them with a syrup of some sort. With the dark, bittersweet chocolate flavor of these, I like to use a tart fruit syrup. Local (and native!) aronia berries from Barham Gardens in Blanchardville make a terrific counterpoint to these slightly sweet waffles, and they'll be available at HyVee stores and the Dane County Farmers Market starting in late August. You'll also get them in a September CSA box! Alternatively, you can buy frozen aronia berries from Bellbrook Berry Farm in Brooklyn, WI, at Willy Street Coop.
Overnight Rise Yeasted Chocolate Zucchini Waffles
1 cup milk (almond milk can be substituted for the whole amount of dairy, you'll lose a little puff if you omit the cultured milk, below)
1/2 cup yogurt/kefir/buttermilk
3 TBSP butter, melted
1/3 cup raw sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
1 tsp salt
1 c. white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup cocoa (or rolled oats, if I am using a vegetable other than zucchini)
1/4 cup ground quinoa (I blitz whole quinoa in my coffee grinder for about 10 seconds)
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 cup finely shredded zucchini, drained and squeezed (or carrot, beet or sweet potato)
1/2 cup mini choc chips (Optional - but good if you want a sweeter waffle. I like Lily's Dark Chocolate Baking Chips, they are small and sweetened with stevia instead of sugar.)
Start at least an hour and up to 24 hours before you want to cook these waffles. Whisk liquids and sugar with eggs. Mix all dried ingredients together in a large bowl, with yeast. Toss zucchini (and chocolate chips, if using) with dry ingredients. Add liquids and mix just until combined, then cover and let rise for an hour in a warm place. Make waffles immediately, or put in fridge until ready to use, for up to a day. Remove from fridge and allow to warm up before baking in pre-heated waffle iron. Waffles will take a few minutes to cook - allow steaming to subside before removing. Serve hot from iron, or leave in 250 degree oven on cookie sheet until ready to serve. I serve these waffles topped with syrup, yogurt and whatever fresh berry I am able to pick from the garden or forest that morning.
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 2-3 min each waffle
Yields 4 Belgian or 8 regular waffles
Aronia Jam from Roberta Barham of Barham Gardens
(This is a low-sugar jam so if you heat it gently, it will easily turn into a nice syrup.)
10 cups frozen Aronia berries (chopped)
3 cups sugar
1 package low or no sugar Sure Jell
Add package of Sure Jell to ¼ cup sugar. Stir into chopped berries and heat to a rolling boil. Add remaining sugar and return to a full rolling boil. Boil for 1 minute. Ladle into sterilized jars and water bath for 10 minutes.
Overnight Rise Yeasted Chocolate Zucchini Waffles
1 cup milk (almond milk can be substituted for the whole amount of dairy, you'll lose a little puff if you omit the cultured milk, below)
1/2 cup yogurt/kefir/buttermilk
3 TBSP butter, melted
1/3 cup raw sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
1 tsp salt
1 c. white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup cocoa (or rolled oats, if I am using a vegetable other than zucchini)
1/4 cup ground quinoa (I blitz whole quinoa in my coffee grinder for about 10 seconds)
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 cup finely shredded zucchini, drained and squeezed (or carrot, beet or sweet potato)
1/2 cup mini choc chips (Optional - but good if you want a sweeter waffle. I like Lily's Dark Chocolate Baking Chips, they are small and sweetened with stevia instead of sugar.)
Start at least an hour and up to 24 hours before you want to cook these waffles. Whisk liquids and sugar with eggs. Mix all dried ingredients together in a large bowl, with yeast. Toss zucchini (and chocolate chips, if using) with dry ingredients. Add liquids and mix just until combined, then cover and let rise for an hour in a warm place. Make waffles immediately, or put in fridge until ready to use, for up to a day. Remove from fridge and allow to warm up before baking in pre-heated waffle iron. Waffles will take a few minutes to cook - allow steaming to subside before removing. Serve hot from iron, or leave in 250 degree oven on cookie sheet until ready to serve. I serve these waffles topped with syrup, yogurt and whatever fresh berry I am able to pick from the garden or forest that morning.
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 2-3 min each waffle
Yields 4 Belgian or 8 regular waffles
Aronia Jam from Roberta Barham of Barham Gardens
(This is a low-sugar jam so if you heat it gently, it will easily turn into a nice syrup.)
10 cups frozen Aronia berries (chopped)
3 cups sugar
1 package low or no sugar Sure Jell
Add package of Sure Jell to ¼ cup sugar. Stir into chopped berries and heat to a rolling boil. Add remaining sugar and return to a full rolling boil. Boil for 1 minute. Ladle into sterilized jars and water bath for 10 minutes.
Roberta, who is a close neighbor and fellow Soil Sister, adapted this jam from a recipe in this newly published book by the Midwest Aronia Association. Get it on Amazon now and you'll be ready for September when you'll receive Barham Gardens aronia berries in your CSA box!
I served Chocolate Zucchini Waffles to my farm crew this week with Aronia Jam, plain yogurt and a mix of mulberries, gooseberries and blackcaps.
