the review: weekday waffles and banana-whole grain waffles

I mentioned last week that this year is all about exploration. And waffles. Did I mention the waffles? Waffles are the new cupcake-macaroon-donut. I just know it. I am going to be right there with those waffles as they ride into their 15 minutes of fame.

At the risk of having this totally come back and bite me in the butt, I’m going to say something out loud that I have until right this minute kept to myself. My secret goal is to make waffles at least once every week for all of 2015. I want to make waffles so frequently that I don’t even think twice about taking out the waffle iron. I want to show Eggo who’s boss. I want to use waffles for sandwiches because Catherine McCord of Weelicious is my lunch box idol.

Here’s another little secret. Until last weekend, I had never actually made waffles. My husband is the master of the waffle iron. It is my husband who cooks elaborate weekend breakfasts for himself and the kids. It’s a Saturday thing. And he really digs it. 

I feel a little guilty jumping on the waffle cart because it really is my husband’s thing with the little kids. “I want Daddy Waffles for breakfast!” is something I hear on a regular basis. However, I do not want to buy another box of Eggo waffles. What the heck am I feeding my kids? And can we talk for just a minute about how horrible my kitchen counters used to be? I love my kitchen!

In pursuit of my quest to master the waffle, I dove right into waffle-mania last Saturday with my friend Sheri Silver’s help. I started with Sheri’s suggested recipe via Real Simple because if Sheri says it’s good, then I’m game. It is worth noting that Sheri is absolutely right about getting your oven pre-heated, using a cooling rack on your baking sheet, and flipping your waffles over mid-way through. Excellent tips. These waffles were simple, and oh-so-light. I used our circus waffle iron to make these because, as a waffle virgin, I was all for using the waffle iron that sounds an alarm when the waffles are done. (P.S. Our actual circus waffle iron is old and no longer available. I've given you a link to one in case you MUST make elephant waffles, but I can't promise that this one has an alarm. You've been warned.)

These waffles were not overly sweet, in fact they were great with fruit because the sweetness of the fruit came through. I could totally see substituting a bit of whole wheat or buckwheat flour without the end product feeling weighed down. Maybe even a little bit of chia seed? I’ll be experimenting. I also think these would make a great bread substitute if made in a thinner waffle iron. Again, I will be experimenting.

This week, I broke out the thin waffle iron on Wednesday morning to make whole grain banana bread waffles. Yep. I’m not giving up this waffle thing any time soon. These were so tasty, so soft, and so popular with my kids. Total white sugar content? None. Total white flour content? None. For real. I used whole wheat flour instead of spelt (what I had on hand) and I ground some oatmeal in my food processor for a few seconds to create oat flour as the recipe suggested. I only had half of a ripe enough banana, so in that went. We sprinkled our waffles with a little cinnamon sugar. There were no leftovers.

This recipe makes 3-4 big waffles (using the flatter, classic heart type waffle iron). Next time, I will double the batch so that I can freeze some waffles. I will also grind more oats and pre-mix the oat and wheat flours so that I can easily whip these up on a weekday.

I am on a waffle roll, people. What are you waiting for? Here’s my board. I'm trying them all and I'm just going to keep on adding. Join me on the waffle train.