The Silver Fox had a snack attack last night and, unfortunately, the cupboard and freezer were bare of things that would satisfy his craving. Although I bake a lot, I rarely keep desserts or sweets in the house. Once we've tasted them, they are sent down the hill to be sampled by teenagers who live below us. The boys function as human pacmen and they are my official taste testers. I can't tell you how glad I am to have them so close by. You could roll me down the hill if everything that I baked remained in my kitchen. Discipline is not my strong suit and I pack on pounds quite easily. At any rate, I wanted to throw together something that was tasty but easy to prepare, so, I fell back on an old favorite of ours, chocolate waffles. I have five recipes for this type of waffle, but I am only going to feature two of them tonight.  The first is a lovely, just barely sweet, creation by Gale Gand that comes from her book Gale Gand's Brunch. The second is sweeter and more chocolaty waffle that comes from the Hershey test kitchen. You get to pick the one that tickles your taste buds. My plan was to make ice cream sundaes with a chocolate waffle base. I had just enough ice cream to top each waffle with a scoop that I planned to perk up with a drizzle of chocolate syrup. I served them while the waffles were still warm and they were a really nice treat. These are both wonderful recipes and I think you enjoy the waffles they produce. Here are the recipes.

Gale Gand's Chocolate Waffles

Ingredients:

2 large egg yolks

1-1/2 cups whole milk

2 teaspoons baking powder

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 large egg whites

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

Vanilla ice cream

Chocolate or hot fudge sauce

Directions:

1) Heat your waffle iron.

2) In a medium bowl, combine egg yolks, milk, baking powder, flour, cocoa powder and melted butter. Mix until almost smooth.

3) With a whisk or a mixer with a whisk attachment, whip egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add brown sugar to egg whites and continue whipping until stiff.

4) Fold whipped egg whites into batter.

5) Bake in waffle iron according to manufacturer’s directions. Carefully remove waffle from iron. Yield: 3 to 4 waffles.

Hershey's Chocolate Waffles

Ingredients:

1/2 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, melted

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Vanilla ice cream

Chocolate or hot fudge sauce

Directions:

1) Stir cocoa and butter in bowl until smooth; stir in sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; add alternately with buttermilk to cocoa mixture. Stir in nuts, if desired.

2) Bake in waffle iron according to manufacturer’s directions. Carefully remove waffle from iron. Serve warm with ice cream and chocolate or hot fudge sauce. Yield: 4 large waffles.

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