Chocolate–Chocolate Chip Waffles

To make the Levain:

1. The night before you make the waffles, or early in the morning if you’re planning to have them for dinner, weigh 4 ounces of sourdough starter into a medium bowl.
2. Stir in the buttermilk and whole wheat flour, and mix until thoroughly combined. Cover the bowl and set it aside for at least 8 hours.

To make the Batter:

1. When you’re ready to make the waffles, stir the cocoa, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl; you may need to sift it if your cocoa is lumpy.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the melted butter, sugar and vanilla. Add the cocoa mixture to the egg mixture and stir well; then add the cocoa-egg mixture to the sourdough mixture all at once. Stir the batter thoroughly; you don’t want any streaks of unmixed sourdough in your batter.
3. When the mixture is completely homogenous, stir in the chocolate chips.

To bake the Waffles:

1. Bake the waffles in a preheated iron until the steam stops coming out the sides, 3 to 5 minutes. The waffles will feel a little flabby coming out of the iron, but they will crisp up quickly after you remove them. These are especially nice made in a Belgian waffle iron—light and lacy, but with a dark, rich flavor.