Banana, Chocolate, and Pumpkin Waffles

About a week before Thanksgiving, I somehow got it into my head that I needed to make waffles. I've never made waffles before so I'm not sure where this idea came from. But I couldn't shake the thought of biting into a fresh hot crispy waffle doused in pure maple syrup.

Being thrifty, I didn't want to go buy a waffle maker so I thought I should borrow one instead. My mom didn't have one anymore and I thought I was out of luck until I asked my 93-year-old Grandpa Art on a whim if he had one. Well, wouldn't you know....a two ton monstrosity that must date back to the 1960's was all mine for the taking. Note the super safe fabric-covered cord.

Needless to say, I was THRILLED with my new toy. My grandma, who died over 20 years ago, used to make waffles on this thing! It's got history, AND it makes delicious waffles!

I may have gone a bit overboard and have made several different versions of waffles a couple times a week since then, with all kinds of different toppings. I remember around the time I was in kindergarten, my daycare provider Dorothy would make waffles for lunch and she'd serve them spread with homemade strawberry jam and heavy whipping cream poured on top. YUM.

First I made pumpkin waffles with the last of the roasted squash puree in my fridge. The recipe I found asked you to whip the egg whites separately - similar to a souffle recipe - so the waffles puff up nice and fluffy. It was a good recipe and the waffles were yummy.

A few nights later I made a batch of Alton Brown's Chocolate Waffles. These were SO easy and even tastier. I actually split his recipe in two and put cocoa powder in one half, and mashed ripe bananas in the other half.

The best part about making all these waffles is that I have several big ziploc bags in the freezer filled with waffles that cook up in a toaster (homemade Eggos!) in just a few minutes.

I think the crispy edges you get from the toaster almost make them taste better as leftovers! Also, because these waffles are crammed with fresh ingredients instead of artificial flavorings or preservatives, you can eat them straight from the toaster and they're so flavorful they don't even need syrup or other sugary toppings.

Pumpkin Waffles, adapted from the Pumpkin Waffles Blog

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 Tbsp cornstarch

1 1/4 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 large eggs, separated

1 cup milk

1 cup roasted pureed squash (or canned pumpkin)

4 Tbsp butter, melted

Mix all the dry ingredients together. In separate bowl, mix together egg yolks, milk, pumpkin, and melted butter. In a third bowl, whip the egg whites with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form.

Fold dry ingredients into pumpkin mixture, then fold in egg whites but try to not overmix.

Heat your waffle iron and grease it with some olive oil or butter cooking spray. Add a ladle of waffle batter, close and cook approx 3 minutes or until waffles are golden and crispy.

Chocolate and/or Banana Waffles, from Alton Brown

1 1/2 cups flour

3 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

3 whole eggs, beaten

4 Tbsp melted butter

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 cups buttermilk, well shaken

First mix your dry ingredients in one bowl. Mix all your wet ingredients in another bowl. Gently mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until well combined.

Split this batter into 2 equal servings (or just leave as one full batch of either kind and double the amounts that follow). Into one serving, add 1/4 cup cocoa powder. Into the other serving, add 2 very ripe mashed bananas.

Cook as described above in your greased hot waffle iron for 2-3 minutes.

HANDY TIP: Don't overfill your waffle maker.

ONE YEAR AGO: Green and Lean Loaf