Freezer Banana Chocolate Chip Waffles

Freezer waffles make such an easy and tasty breakfast and snack. We eat more Kellogg’s Eggo-Waffles at our house than I ever care to admit. So, why not make my own waffles? Should be easy enough, I thought. First, that meant purchasing a waffle iron, since I couldn’t find my old one. Second, it meant coming up with a recipe for waffles that taste like the commercial ones. Eggo-waffles are crispy, thin and flavorful. I wanted a square, thin waffles so that the waffles would fit in my toaster. The waffle iron which I purchased from Amazon turned out to be a Belgium waffle iron which makes thick waffles — and they are not square. Plus, the waffles are not crisp! But the waffles are very, very tasty. And, and I am happy to report that the frozen waffles do crisp up when re-heated in the toaster. Success!

Over the past month, I’ve made lots of batches of waffles — from blueberry waffles, to banana pecan ones to buttermilk waffles. And I’ve varied the ingredients and cooking method to get a standardized recipe. My favorite waffle is the banana chocolate chip variation. It meets my criteria of great flavor. My final recipe makes eight giant-sized Belgium-style waffles.

“One Bowl” recipe

Here are the ingredients for my final recipe. My recipe uses self-rising flour. (Don’t accidently use all-purpose flour.) Self-rising flour just saves time measuring out ingredients and my waffles (plus biscuits, scones) always come out perfectly. My final batch uses one egg — rather than three eggs used in many recipes. The banana adds moisture and replaces an egg. If you are going to make a variation without the banana, increase batter to two eggs. I used both cultured buttermilk powder and low-fat milk in the recipe. The buttermilk powder, as well as sugar and vanilla extract, add flavor. My recipe uses oil rather than butter; just for good health reasons. And of course, don’t skip the dark chocolate chips. These chocolate morsels really make the waffles “spark.”

This is a simple, simple “one-bowl” recipe. To make the recipe, add the liquid ingredients to a large bowl and stir — adding in the banana, sugar and buttermilk powder as well as the egg, oil, vanilla extract and milk.. Then stir in the self-rising flour and chocolate chips. The batter should be thick but pourable.

Heat up the waffle iron. Here’s the trick. You must oil the irons well to get a crispy waffle. (And I don’t use sprayable PAM to oil the irons.) Then place a generous amount of batter on each waffle iron and spread out (about 1/2 cup for my waffle iron). Close and bake until the steam stops and the waffles are well browned. Carefully lift and remove with a fork. Let the waffles cool totally down (I use a wire rack), then place in a ziplock bag and freeze what you don’t eat at the moment.

Mixing the waffle batter up is quick and easy. However, making the waffles is sort of tedious. I’ve learned to multi-task while cooking the waffles. I’ve learned to plan to do other things — wash dishes, etc– while making waffles. You can’t go far from the waffle iron. This recipe made eight waffles (or four batches). But it’s worth it. No more purchased Eggo-waffles at our house!

I like to serve these waffles with powdered sugar and fresh fruit. They are sweet enough that they don’t need syrup — but your choice!