Banana Flour, Nutmeg and Yogurt Waffles

Today I tried something I had never done before. I have always made large batches of waffles and for the most part, the kids favorite is banana, nutmeg. Well, today, I got a bunch of over ripe banana's from a friend and thought I would dehydrate them for her and give them back. I think that is why she offered them to me. I am not big on my dried bananas. I LOVE some other types of dried fruit but have never liked the taste of "old" banana's. I only like mine very ripe but not brown on the skin when fresh and when bananas are frozen or dried for the most part, they have that same flavor and I don't really like that much. However, many of my friends and family do like it so I do dehydrate them and freeze them for smoothies and banana bread and our favorite waffles.

I almost pulled out some frozen bananas last night to make waffles today but when my friend brought over the banana's I figured it was meant to be for me to make the waffles. I dried the best parts of the banana's (see here for that post) and then used the darker, mushier parts to make our favorite waffles.

I have the recipe for the waffles on this post from about a year ago. However, today, I had only 2 cups of milk as I was doubling the recipe and I didn't want to add the flavor of canned milk so I pulled out some vanilla, Greek yogurt and threw in a container of that for the rest of the milk. Then, as I was sitting pondering earlier today, I could smell the bananas dehydrating and had a thought about how banana flour would taste in the waffles. So, I thought I would find out.

I pulled out some dehydrated banana's I had left from 2009. They didn't get eaten as they were dried on the dehydrator that made them brittle. I thought those would be good to use for flour. So, I added 2 3/4 cups flour and then used 1 cup of dried banana flour. (Remember, I doubled the recipe so if you want to do this with 1 cup of mashed bananas you will need to take that flour amount down.)

I put the dried bananas into my coffee grinder and pulsed them until it became a fine flour. It was a little clumpy but bananas are sugary so that is to be expected. I could have put them in my Vita Mix as well but the chopper was more handy at the time. I had the two cups of mashed bananas from the ones I dehydrated and that along with the yogurt in for some of the milk and the nutmeg already in the recipe and the girls thrilled.

I don't think I have ever had them so excited. Princess number 3 couldn't stop eating them and at first told me how good they were. Then, after coming in again for more, she said, "I think I will need to take some of these to college with me." Then later, I found her in the dark eating one straight out of the bag. I laughed and she said, "Is this all that is left?" I told her it was and that Princess number one and Prince number one wouldn't get any when they come to visit if she kept eating them that fast. She said, "They won't have to know they missed out!"

She is probably my least excitable child when it comes to food so for her to have that reaction, I think I have found a new winner addition to our favorite waffles. The other thing that I like about it, is that it uses up the dried fruit that no one seems to like from those several years of going through so many dehydrators. I use them so much that they burn up the elements. It is almost cheaper for me to buy a new one than to get it fixed. So, I keep buying the brand I like and then I can use the extra trays I already have from the burnt up units. I wait until they are on sale though.

Anyway, that was a tangent. I am excited to try banana flour in some other recipes. Pancakes might be good. My friend Sonja shared one a few months ago with me that her sister-in-law makes and I have been so busy that I haven't had time to try it. Perhaps this weekend will be a good time.

I just had another thought. I bet it would be good mixed in with the baking mix on Jay's french toast.... mmmm

My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I'll let you know if I try it. Oh, another thought, what if I added the banana flour to the brownie mini muffins I make as I add extra flour for higher altitude. If I substitute that, I bet it would give it a yummy flavor.

I need to stop or I am going to go in and eat something.... Have fun experimenting but I am for sure going to add yogurt and banana flour again. I just found myself laughing. I was finishing up loading pictures for this post and was thinking back to not so many years ago where I would NEVER have dared change up a recipe or strayed from one. I was funny thinking if I did something different then it would be ruined.

I laughed again thinking about when I first started painting walls in my house. So worried I would mess something up. Really, I laugh and how uptight I was. I have sooooo changed. Now, I would just throw a coat of paint over it. If the recipe is ruined, I make my kids eat it anyway! lol No, in all fairness, there have only been one or two things that even I wouldn't eat. It has been good to relax and just try new things. How about you giving it a "try?" ;-)