Banana Bread Waffles

Have you ever had those awkward overripe bananas sitting on your counter, making you feel guilty every day for wasting them? Or stressing you out because you know you really should make banana bread but don't want to go to the trouble for one loaf? This recipe saved me. I love the flavor of banana bread but really don't like to go to the trouble for one small loaf that takes almost an hour to cook. This was a quick and VERY delicious recipe that came together in no time at all and I absolutely loved it, as did my family. Plus, it makes quite a large number of waffles. We have a really big waffle iron and I think we easily got around 16 waffles. 

I think I like these waffles even more than the Strawberry Cream Cheese Waffles. The Maple Cream Cheese Spread was good, but it was take it or leave it for us. We liked these a lot more with some low-fat strawberry yogurt on the top. (We aren't big syrup people around here. We usually top our pancakes and waffles with applesauce and yogurt.)

And don't let the fact that it calls for buttermilk throw you off. If you don't have buttermilk just add 1 Tbsp of lemon juice or distilled white vinegar to a measuring cup and then add enough milk to measure 1 cup. Let it sit for 5 minutes and TA-DA! Buttermilk.

Thanks to Real Mom Kitchen for another fabulous waffle recipe and picture located at this site here: http://realmomkitchen.com/1751/banana-bread-waffles-with-maple-nut-cream-cheese-spread/

BANANA BREAD WAFFLES
From Real Mom Kitchen
Printer Friendly Version

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 3/4 cups buttermilk or 1 1/2 cups sour cream or plain yogurt thinned with 1/4 cup milk (I did buttermilk)
• 2 eggs, separated
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick butter, melted and cooled)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
• Cooking spray for waffle iron

Maple Nut Cream Cheese Spread Ingredients:

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 3-4 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/8 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Combine the flour, salt, sugar, baking soda, and cinnamon. Mix together the buttermilk (or buttermilk substitute) and the egg yolks. Stir in the butter, mashed banana, and vanilla.
2. Spray the waffle iron lightly with oil and preheat it. Stir the wet into the dry ingredients. Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl with a whisk or electric mixer (make sure bowl and mixer are spotlessly clean) until they hold soft peaks. Stir them gently into the batter. Stir gently to combine.
3. Spread a ladleful or so of batter onto the waffle iron and bake until the waffle is done, usually 3 to 5 minutes, depending on your iron. Mix ingredients for Maple Nut Cream Cheese Spread together. Serve waffles immediately with a schmear of Maple Nut Cream Cheese and additional maply syrup if you so desire.