Recipe: Banana Waffles with Blueberry Sauce (using whole wheat flour and oats)

BANANA WAFFLES WITH BLUEBERRIES AND WALNUTS

"Who doesn't love banana bread or banana muffins? How about banana waffles? Made with white whole-wheat flour and oats, these waffles are delicious and high in filling fiber."



"With blueberries as a topping and banana in the waffles you'll be on your sweet way to eating the recommended 1 1/2 to 2 cups of fruit daily."

1 medium banana
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup white whole-wheat flour or whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats, uncooked
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
Cooking spray
1/3 cup toasted, chopped walnuts*
Blueberry Sauce (for serving, recipe follows)

Prepare Blueberry Sauce below.

Preheat waffle iron. For golden brown waffles set browning control on medium. For crisper, darker waffles set browning control to higher setting.

In large mixing bowl, mash banana with fork. Add egg, milk, oil and vanilla extract and stir together. Add flours, oats, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Stir together until just combined. Batter will be lumpy.

Spray both sides of waffle iron with cooking spray. Pour batter in center of waffle iron (amount will vary depending on waffle iron size; check manufacturer's instructions for amount). Cook until waffle iron indicates waffle is done, about 3-5 minutes.

Remove waffle from iron and place on serving plate. Top waffle with walnuts and Blueberry Sauce and serve.

Waffles are best served when made to order. Cooked waffles may be kept warm in oven or toaster oven set on 200 degrees F. Waffles will lose crispness upon holding.

*Any toasted nut may be added as a crunchy topping with the Blueberry Sauce but walnuts taste especially good with bananas!

TO FREEZE AHEAD:
Freeze leftover waffles in plastic storage bag and reheat in toaster or toaster oven.

Makes six (6 1/2-inch) waffles

BLUEBERRY SAUCE
Makes 2 cups sauce; eight 1/4 cup servings

"For a flavorful topping, this blueberry sauce made with whole berries, honey and lemon juice is delicious and beautiful on the waffles. Save leftover Blueberry Sauce as a topping for pancakes, yogurt parfaits and grilled foods."

1/4 cup honey
2 cups fresh blueberries
2 Tbsp. lemon juice

In small saucepan over medium heat, warm honey, stirring until thin, about 2 minutes. Turn off heat and add blueberries and lemon juice. Let sauce sit until ready to use.

RECIPE NOTES:
- All purpose white flour, unbleached or bleached, has had its bran, endosperm and germ removed making it less nutritious and low in fiber. On the other hand, white whole-wheat flour is milled from hard white spring wheat (a different variety from the more well-known red wheat) making it perfect for baking because it is more like pastry flour but still has its cancer-protective and health-promoting fiber and phytonutrients. It has a milder flavor than the whole-wheat flour milled from red wheat.
- Though these waffles may be made entirely with white whole-wheat flour or whole-wheat pastry flour, if you're not used to whole grains, using some white flour in the recipe can help you get used to a different flavor and texture. The oats provide fiber in the form of beta-glucan, which lowers cholesterol and helps control type 2 diabetes, and polyphenolic substances that can help reduce cancer-promoting inflammation.
- This one mixing bowl recipe calls for mashing a banana and combining with wet ingredients before adding dry ingredients. Like with any quick bread batter, mix gently and quickly to avoid stretching the gluten protein in wheat, which makes for tough waffles.

Per serving (waffles): 302 calories, 16 g total fat (2 g saturated fat),
33 g carbohydrate, 9 g protein, 4 g dietary fiber, 405 mg sodium.

Per serving (blueberry sauce): 54 calories, 0 g total fat (0 g saturated fat), 14 g carbohydrate, 0 g protein, <1 g dietary fiber, <1 mg sodium.

Source: American Institute for Cancer Research, Photograph by Heather Victoria Photography