My husband and I having been wanting to buy a waffle iron for a while now.  I like waffles better than pancakes.  And we always love the waffles we make when we stay at hotels.  We really didn’t want to spend the money on those super duper waffle makers that you flip over.  They are nice, but they are also huge and take up too much space in the cabinet.  So we just bought a simple Black and Decker waffle iron that is compact and looked sturdy enough.  I picked out a waffle recipe from the Food Network site and adjusted it a little

Banana Waffles

adapted from Food Network Kitchens

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cups milk, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature, separated
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted, plus more for brushing the iron
• 1 large egg white, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 bananas, mashed
• Serving suggestions: Maple syrup, jam, fresh fruit, or yogurt

Directions

Preheat a waffle iron to medium-high.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, egg yolks, vanilla, and 1/4 cup melted butter. Whisk the milk mixture into the flour mixture until a batter is formed. Take care not to over mix the batter.
In medium bowl, with a hand-held electric mixer or whisk, whip the 3 egg whites until they just begin to hold a loose peak. Scatter the sugar over the whites and continue beating until they hold a soft peak. Using a rubber spatula, fold a third of the egg whites into the batter to lighten the base. Fold in the remaining whites.  Gently mix in the bananas.
Brush the inside surface of the iron with butter. Pour in enough batter to lightly cover the surface of the iron, about 1/3 to 3/4 cup, depending upon the size of the iron. (Take into consideration that the batter will spread once the lid is closed.) Cover and cook until golden brown and slightly crisp, about 5 minutes. Repeat with the remaining batter. (If the waffle iron is well seasoned or nonstick it is not necessary to brush the inner surface each time before cooking the waffles.)
Serve the waffles immediately with syrup, jam, fresh fruit, or yogurt.

makes about 6 waffles

The waffles came out beautiful.  They were delicious and the waffle iron was so easy to use.  The waffles were so big that my husband and I couldn’t eat more than one a piece.  Thank goodness you can freeze them.  I will definitely be trying out new waffle recipes in the future.  We put maple syrup on these ones, but I will have to test out some homemade preserves recipes.