We are a big waffle/ pancake family..well at least the kids are and I enjoy them occasionally too. More often than not, I have a batch in my freezer for a quick school day breakfast. It makes them ( these days the little man only as the daughter is away to college) happy and its one of the few things they’ll eat before school. So to his utter joy, last few days, he’s been getting treated to these Brownie Waffles! Please note, chocolate sauce is for a special afternoon treat, mornings are all about honey or maple syrup! 🙂

I don’t follow a gluten-free diet, but I do enjoy experimenting  with alternate flours and for this reason when the good folks at Bakri Chaap sent me their Ragi/ Fingermillet flour, I was really excited to bake with it.  After a successful run with the Instant Ragi ( Fingermillet) Dosa, I am very keen to use  this flour in different ways. I’ve already talked a bit about its immense health benefits in the earlier dosa post. All the more reason to include it in some form or the other in our daily diet.

What I really like about this particular product is that its come from small farmers in remote villages of Himalayas where they are growing their produce in a sustainable and traditional manner without any use of pesticides.  Due to the rich soil in their farms, all their products are loaded with antioxidants and minerals.

Back to this recipe, it is not your usual light and airy waffle. Though maybe adding an egg to the batter may make it so. Please do let me know if you try that. Ragi has an earthy rustic taste, that, in my opinion, goes very well with chocolate. This recipe does not lack in that department because of cocoa powder and a little bit of melted chocolate too…hello these ARE Brownie Waffles!!  Banana keeps it moist while peanut butter is responsible for some amount of fudginess too, which not a bad thing , right? 🙂

I find that ragi flour needs more  liquid than the regular all-purpose flour and over baking it can dry out your product. So when you’re making your waffles, take them out when they are just done. You can, of course, go with half ragi and half all-purpose flour,  gradually increase the quantity of ragi as you get used to it. I will so not get mad at you for doing that! And by all means add a handful of chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, cocoa nibs, anything that rocks your boat! 🙂

I hope you will give this recipe a go and  let me know how it turned out for you. Do leave  a comment below and share a picture on INSTAGRAM  using the hashtag #tashasartisanfoods !