Banana Nut Waffles

I had a four-day stretch at home this week, which feels luxurious, like someone gave me a vacation in my own house. I used it the way I use all unexpected time: cooking. I made enough food to fill the freezer, feed the family, and stock Gayle refrigerator for a week, because when I am home I cook like I am never coming back, and the kitchen counter looks like a battlefield of pots and pans and the satisfaction of a woman who has been productive beyond reason.

Monday: tater tot casserole in the oven, chicken noodle soup on the stove, bread dough rising on the counter. Tuesday: meatloaf for dinner, banana bread for the week, pork chop marinade for Wednesday. Wednesday: grilled pork chops, corn on the cob, tomato salad with basil from the garden. Thursday: the leftovers assembled into a feast of improv that included meatloaf sandwiches on homemade bread and a soup made from whatever was left in the fridge, which I call Clean-the-Fridge soup and which is always better than it has any right to be.

Clean-the-Fridge soup is not a recipe. It is a philosophy. You take everything in the fridge that needs using: half an onion, three carrots, a potato that is getting soft, some celery, leftover chicken, half a can of tomatoes. You put it all in a pot with broth and seasoning and you simmer it for an hour and you call it soup, and it is soup, and it is good, and it costs nothing because everything in it was already bought and paid for and was going to be thrown away. Waste-nothing soup. The most Novak thing I make.

Gayle came for Sunday dinner. I made her favorite: pot roast. She ate with her usual measured pace and her usual measured praise, and afterward we sat on the porch and watched the sunset and she said your garden looks good this year, Brenda. I said thanks, Mom. She said better than last year. I said I learned from last year. She said that is how you get better. You learn from last year. She was talking about the garden. She was also talking about everything else. Gayle wisdom comes disguised as gardening advice, and I am smart enough to hear both layers.

I made banana bread on Tuesday because that’s what you do when the bananas on the counter have gone past eating and turned into something better. But the truth is, by Sunday morning, after Gayle had gone home and the pot roast pan was soaking in the sink and the house was quiet again, what I really wanted was something warm and a little indulgent — something that used up the last two bananas and didn’t ask much of me. Banana nut waffles are that recipe. They taste like the end of a productive week should taste: sweet, nutty, and completely worth it.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large ripe bananas, mashed (about 3/4 cup)
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted
Cooking spray or additional butter, for the waffle iron

Instructions

Preheat your waffle iron. Set it to medium-high heat and let it come to full temperature before you begin. A properly heated iron is the difference between a waffle that steams itself soggy and one that comes out with a real crust.
Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and sugar until evenly combined. Set aside.
Mash and combine the wet ingredients. In a separate medium bowl, mash the bananas thoroughly with a fork until smooth with only small lumps remaining. Whisk in the eggs, buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla extract until well blended.
Combine wet and dry. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir gently with a spatula until just combined — a few small lumps are fine. Do not overmix or the waffles will be tough. Fold in the toasted nuts.
Cook the waffles. Lightly coat the waffle iron with cooking spray or butter. Pour enough batter to fill your iron (typically 3/4 to 1 cup, depending on the size) and close the lid. Cook until the waffle is deep golden and releases cleanly from the iron, about 4 to 5 minutes. Repeat with remaining batter, keeping finished waffles warm in a 200°F oven on a wire rack if needed.
Serve. Plate the waffles and top with sliced fresh banana, a drizzle of maple syrup, and an extra handful of chopped walnuts if you like. A pat of butter while they’re still hot is never wrong.

Nutrition (per serving)

Banana Nut Waffles — When the Week Calls for Something Sweet and Earned