Chestnut Flour Waffles with Vanilla Cranberry Compote

My love for chestnuts all started when I studied abroad in Spain during my junior year of college.

I talk all about it in this honey vanilla chestnut spread post from 2012 and everything I said there still holds true.

Side note – that spread would be absolutely delicious on these chestnut flour waffles if you want to go all out.

Since my time living in Spain, besides turning them into a nut butter spread, I’ve enjoyed chestnuts roasted (went through a phase where we did that at home in the oven and even acquired my great-grandmother’s chestnut roasting pan from way back) and cooked with them a handful of times in hearty meals like stews and skillet pork chops but that’s about it.

Here’s a great recipe for roasted chestnuts if you want to give those a try.

Outside of those creations, chestnut flour recipes weren’t on my radar.

I didn’t really even know chestnut flour was a thing until Brandy kindly came home from Paris with some for me a few weeks ago.

I mean, it completely makes sense that it would exist given that we now commonly use ingredients like almond and coconut flour but it’s definitely not an ingredient you see in American markets like you do in Europe.

Turns out, Europeans are quite into chestnut flour and after making these chestnut waffles, I can understand why.

Much like actual chestnuts, chestnut flour is nutty, malty and earthy.

It’s really a lovely flour to enjoy during the winter and when combined with just a hint of spice and sweetness it’s not only delicious, it’s just so perfectly seasonal you’ll want these chestnut flour waffles (or some gingerbread waffles) on your weekend breakfast plans all winter long.

A simple fruit compote pairs wonderfully with these waffles to brighten up each bite but you can even go with something simpler like strawberry simple syrup if you’d like.

I thought cranberries sounded perfect given the season. Plus, I feel like they don’t get enough love outside of Thanksgiving and I’m on a mission to change that!

And when combined with vanilla bean and a hint of cardamom, this compote complements the waffles perfectly.

You could also spread this easy cranberry ginger jam on top for another variation on a cranberry sauce to complement the waffles.

The other great thing about chestnut flour is like all nut flours, it’s gluten-free.

I heard someone call it the “bougie” paleo flour and laughed so hard at that because, well, it’s sorta true.

I chose to keep these chestnut flour waffles along those lines and used the paleo baking flour (<– linking to it so you can see what it is but buy it in stores, it’s much cheaper!) in my pantry but noted in the recipe that you can use any gluten-free baking flour blend or even all-purpose flour.

I think they’d be great with oat flour too!

That said, you’re not going to find chestnut flour easily in stores but hey, it’s 2018, this is why Amazon exists, right?

While not the brand I used, this chestnut flour looks like a great option for all your chestnut flour recipe testing.

Trust me, it’s worth the splurge!

More waffle recipes to try:

Sweet Potato Waffles
Cherry Oat Waffles
Chocolate Waffles with Peanut Butter Sauce
Lemon Vanilla Waffle French Toast