The Waffle vs. The One-Trick Wonder

I'm normally not a fan of single-use appliances.  For example, a pot that's sole purpose is to steam asparagus, or an avocado cuber, or an electric egg-cooker.  By and large, these one-trick-wonders are a waste of money and precious kitchen cabinet space.  Plus, what's the point?!  You're telling me there isn't a single other tool in your kitchen you can use to steam asparagus, cut an avocado, or cook and egg?  I'm not buying it.  The solution to more than half of these ridiculous faux-kitchen-conundrums: invest in some good knives.  But I digress.  

What this post is really about is how I became a big, fat hypocrite and broke my own rule several months ago by purchasing a waffle iron to make chicken and waffles.  It's true, there's only one thing you can make with a waffle iron.  But what I've found is: it makes that one thing so, so well!  Thus began my love affair with my waffle iron.  Since I bought it, that thing hasn't had a chance to collect dust because we bust it out pretty much every weekend to make fluffy, amazing waffles.  This is the model I chose, not too pricey and the waffles come out perfectly every time.  (It also folds up for convenient storage - I love that!)  This morning, I made my favorite waffles: banana walnut.  

On an unrelated note, can you tell I recently discovered how to add hyperlinks to my blog posts?  ;o)

Banana Walnut Waffles

(makes 3-4 HUGE waffles)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 eggs, beaten

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

1/3 cup butter, melted and cooled slighty

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 medium banana, mashed

1/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped

In a medium bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, brown sugar, and cinnamon.  Stir to combine.  In a separate small bowl, beat the eggs, then add buttermilk, butter, and vanilla, stirring as you add each ingredient.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated, leaving plenty of little lumps.  Next, stir in the mushed up banana and walnuts, being careful not to over-mix.  (Lumps are your friend!)  

From this pale, lumpy batter will arise waffle greatness!

Pour the batter into the waffle iron and cook according to your waffle maker's instructions.  For mine, I add between 3/4 cup and 1 cup of batter and cook the waffle for about 3 minutes.  As a bonus, my waffle iron makes my whole apartment smell like banana-nut heaven while it's cooking my waffle.  Maybe it's not a one-trick wonder after all ;o)

Being a hypocrite never tasted so good!