I was looking for a breakfast option that didn’t have oats and wasn’t a muffin-which is kind of hard considering every breakfast option that is easy is one or the other or cereal.  I saw this recipe and thought this looked rather appealing.  Who doesn’t love a recipe that starts off with banana bread?

I adapted the recipe from how sweet it is‘s Banana Bread Pancakes.  When I saw this recipe I thought…mmm…banana bread and pancakes? Yup, breakfast it is.  I am always looking for ways to make a sugar-free or less-sugar options for breakfast…or any meal.  It is hard to not eat sugar or processed foods, so if I can make them with none or less then that is less temptation that I give myself.

I love waffles.  I don’t eat them very often because they are a carb lovers nightmare.  I am not that big of a fan of pancakes; something about the texture of a squishy pancake does nothing for me.  But a crunchy waffles covered in melted butter and tons of syrup? Bliss…except the syrup does nothing good for my blood sugar and the butter does nothing good for my arteries.

    When I read over the recipe ingredients I knew I would need to make a couple significant changes to the original recipe.  The first change is obvious-I used Silk Light Vanilla Soy Milk instead of regular cows milk or almond milk, and the vanilla adds extra flavor.  The second change I made was using no sugar. I decided to try using favorite peanut butter, Smart Balance Creamy, as my sugary ingredients.  I also added flax seed for extra fiber and omega 3’s.   The last was no added butter.  I didn’t think it was necessary especially since most people put it on top to melt over them, so I didn’t want any in it.

This was my first batter and waffle experience and it didn’t start off to well.  First it was too thick-kind of like cookie batter, so I had to add extra milk to loosen it up.  The original recipe only called for 2/3 cup milk, I had to use 1 1/4 cup.  Then my first attempt at the waffles maker was disastrous.  I guess you are supposed to use Pam to make sure they come off the burners…second and third attempts were much better!

Whole Wheat Banana Waffles, 12 servings

2 C Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

2 Tbsp Flax Seed

2 Tsp Baking Powder

1/4 Tsp Salt

1 Tbsp McCormick Cinnamon

1/4 Tsp McCormick Nutmeg

1/3 C Smart Balance Creamy Peanut Butter, melted

1 Tbsp McCormick Vanilla Extract

2/3 – 1 1/4 C Silk Light Vanilla Soy Milk

3 Mashed Bananas

1.  Plug in waffle maker.

2.  Put all dried ingredients into mixing bowl and mix well.

3.  Melt peanut butter in microwave safe bowl/measuring cup.

4.  Measure out and pour all liquid ingredients into bowl and mix well.

5.  Mash up bananas in bowl then stir into batter.  Add more milk if batter is to thick.

6.  Using a ladle, pour two scoops per waffle onto burners.

7.  Wait until waffle is fully cooked to open. Using a fork, carefully pull waffle off burners and onto a plate.

8.  Ladle batter on for the second and third waffles.

  ***Serving Size-1 fourth of the waffle is a serving-I did this so I could portion out lower calorie breakfasts.  I used one tablespoon on top of two servings.

Totals Per Serving:

Calories:  149

Total Fat:  4g

Cholesterol: 0mg

Sodium:  41mg

Total Carbs:  24g

Protein:  4g