Waffanas (#1 in Adam’s “Cooking for the Lazy” series)

tl;dr:  Want to save time and scrolling? Pour waffle mix. Throw sliced bananas on it. Wait ’til cooked. Eat. YUM!


Today I made waffanas, my brilliant name for banana-stuffed waffles.  They were super delicious and very easy to make, even for cooking-incompetent and kitchen-lazy people (like me and, perhaps, you).

NOTE:  I’m linking to Amazon products below* for your informational convenience, but if you’re gonna buy any of this stuff, I strongly encourage you to shop around. Much of it may be quite a bit cheaper at your local grocery store, or on Jet or Google Shopping Express.

PREP TIME:  About 4-6 minutes of actual work, plus another 5-7 minutes of waiting for the waffle iron to heat up and cook your waffanas :).

The basics for making waffanas!
The basics for making waffanas! Note that, while multiple bananas are pictured here, I only used one big banana for the four waffanas and that ratio seemed about right ๐Ÿ™‚
Almost but not quite perfect
Almost but not quite perfect! Next time I’ll add a bit more mix so the bananas are better coated… avoiding some, uh, over-crispiness.

THINGS YOU’LL NEED:

  • Waffle iron:  I love my Cuisinart WAF-300 Belgian Waffle Maker with Pancake Plates, in large part because it has removable (dishwasher-safe) plates.  But I’m betting nearly any waffle maker would do.  Or, for that matter, you could make pancakanas on any griddle or frying pan! ๐Ÿ™‚
  • Waffle/pancake mix:  Who has time to make this stuff from scratch?  I am smitten with the Kodiak-brand mixes because they’re high in protein, have very natural ingredients, contain little sugar, and — unlike most mixes which require oil and eggs and such — you only have to add water to the Kodiak mixes!  But again, you can surely use any mix you like or have handy.  The Kodiak mixes should cost you around $5-6 a box, each of which allegedly contain 18 (!) servings but which is probably around 12 servings for us hungry Americans :).  Still, that’s like 50 cents a serving at most.
  • Oil to ensure non-stick’ness:  I use these spray bottles and they work great, but I’m betting you could find cheaper ones that work just as well.  Or heck, just put a bit of oil on a paper towel and rub it over your waffle iron or griddle.
  • Bananas:  Duh!  Any ripeness (or lack thereof) is totally a matter of your own preference here.
  • Other optional goodies:  Chocolate chips.  Chocolate sauce.  Chocolate spread (sensing a trend here?).  Berries (frozen or fresh).  Syrup.  Me?  I went with some drizzled honey ๐Ÿ™‚


HOW TO COOK WAFFANAS

  • Pre-heat:  Turn on the waffle iron or griddle.  Optionally rub or spray some oil on it first to make cleaning easier.
  • Slice the bananas:  Pretty self-explanatory.
  • Mix the mix:  I love this measuring cup ’cause you can see the numbers from the top.  But heck, you don’t even really have to measure this very exactly, so probably any cup’ll do.  A whisk is helpful, but probably not necessary.
  • Pour stuff:  When your waffle iron or griddle is hot enough, pour in the mix!  And then just sort of throw the sliced bananas on top, pretending to space them evenly throughout the waffle iron or whatever, but hey, no need to get all precise with this.  They’ll get all smunched into the mix anyway in a moment.
  • Close the top tightly:  Assuming you’re waffling and not pancaking, you’ll want to close the lid pretty tight so that the bananas indeed get appropriately smunched into the waffle mix.


TIME TO EAT!
You can optionally drizzle honey or chocolate or syrup over the waffanas or throw whatever toppings you like on top.  But remember that you’ve already got some sweetness from the bananas (especially if they were on the ripe side), so don’t go overboard.  Unless you’re intending to make dessert waffanas, in which case, hey, knock yourself out, sweetie!


TRY WAFFANING AND LET ME KNOW HOW IT GOES!
This is my first in a series of absolutely indeterminate frequency and length, called “Cooking for the Lazy.”  If you really like it (and let me know) AND if I end up making other tasty things with my new’ish waffle maker and smoothie maker / blender thingy, then I’ll consider posting more episodes.  For now, though, I’m off to eat some of the waffanas I made earlier.  Let’s see how they are in the toaster or microwave!

EDITED TO ADD:  I can now confirm that they are still amazingly delicious when toasted :-).

IDEAS FOR NEXT TIME:  I think I will try adding shredded coconut.  Or peanut butter.  Or hazelnut-chocolate paste!

*And now for a disclaimer and more pretty images:  My Amazon links are affiliate ones, so that maybe I’ll get 30 cents here and there and treat myself to more food.  Oh, who am I kidding?  I’m gonna buy booze for the smoothies.  Don’t judge.  Or judge, I don’t care :-).


Posted

in

,

by

Tags:

Comments

2 responses to “Waffanas (#1 in Adam’s “Cooking for the Lazy” series)”

  1. wendyamudd Avatar

    Hi Cousin! I think your posts are very entertaining! Keep up the good/lazy work!

  2. Adam Lasnik Avatar

    Aw, thanks Cousin! Happy that at least someone is reading my blog that I post in once every 42 months or so :p.

What do you think?