Banana Nutmeg and/or Pumpkin Waffles Part 1

For years I have made large batches of waffles and frozen them. I bought a box of bread sacks at a clearance center and I stick about 20 waffles in a bag and freeze them.

I always loved the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book growing up so when I got married and saw one for sale, I bought it. I enjoy it so much that I have given out several for wedding presents.

This is my favorite waffle recipe from it and I always quadruple the batch so I can have them frozen for a month or so. The kids take one out, toast it and eat it like a piece of bread with butter on it.

I usually collect the bananas as one gets over ripe and put them in a jar and freeze it until I collect enough to make these waffles. However, banana's get eaten quickly at our house so I buy older bananas from the store at a discount. I ask the grocer if they have any old bananas for sale. I usually get them 3 or 4 lbs for a $1.

Banana Nutmeg Waffles

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

(for pumpkin add 1/4 cup pumpkin flour and reduce regular flour to 1 1/2 cups)

1 Tbs baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup cooking oil

2/3 cup mashed bananas

1/8 tsp nutmeg

In a mixing bowl, mix all dry ingredients. In another bowl, beat eggs, add in milk and oil. Add dry mixture to wet mixture all at once. Add bananas and mix till combined but still slightly lumpy. Cook according to your waffle makers instructions.

To make pumpkin flour. Cut pumpkin into thin strips about 1/4 inch thick. Put them on a dehydrator. Dry completely. Once they are dry, put them in a blender, food processor or a vitamix and blend until it becomes a fine powder. You can do this with any veggie or fruit. Pumpkin is good because there isn't much you can do with dried pumpkin and it is hard to "can" at home so this is a way I've found to use my pumpkin other than freezing it. If I leave it in the strips, it takes up lots of storage space, so I make it into flour fitting a large pumpkin into a Tupperware.

I substitute vegetable or fruit flour for a small part of the regular recipe flour and see how the kids like it. It is fun to use things like spinach, tomato or pumpkin to color the food. You can use almost anything to make flour. For a sweeter flavor you could use mango or papaya.

We usually enjoy our waffles with yogurt and fruit. Sometimes we sprinkle them with nuts. Other times the kids like syrup and powdered sugar. My favorite is to melt coconut oil on them and eat it like toast. I also use the coconut oil to coat the waffle iron so I get that coconut flavor.

I hope you enjoy our favorite waffles. When I am going to visit friends and family, I take a bag of our waffles to share. Many have called me for this recipe. There are other variations but I will save those for another day!