Chocolate Waffles with Banana
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These healthy Chocolate Waffles are a great way to start the morning. The banana adds a touch of sweetness and some added nutrition and kids will love the idea of eating “chocolate” for breakfast. Feel free to add mini chocolate chips to the batter or sprinkle them on at the end if you’re wanting an extra decadent waffle.
About This Recipe
This Chocolate Waffle recipe (previously known as our “Banana Brownie Waffles”) is a family staple that can be easily made with ingredients you likely have on hand. I like to use a round Belgian Waffle Maker but this waffle mix can also be used in a standard waffle maker. The batter does get thicker as it stands so be sure to add extra milk if you feel like it’s getting too thick.
Ingredients Needed
I’m a big fan of sneaking nutrition into my kid’s food when I can, so I’ve added in a few ingredients to up the health factor of these waffles.
- Flour (I use some all-purpose flour and some white whole wheat flour)
- Ground flaxseed or wheat germ (You can sub more flour if you don’t have either of these.)
- Cocoa powder
- Sugar
- Baking powder
- Ground cinnamon
- Salt
- Milk
- Bananas (this recipe is a great way to use up ripe bananas by the way!)
- Eggs
- Avocado oil (you could sub melted coconut oil or vegetable oil)
- Vanilla extract
Tips for Great Waffles
Since you are clearly in the waffle-making business at the moment, here are a few tips to make your waffles AWESOME.
- Strike while the iron is HOT! If your waffles come out a little pale and soft, it could be because the waffle maker you’re using isn’t hot enough. It’s important to preheat the waffle maker for at least 5-10 minutes. Yes, seriously that long! Also, pause for a couple minutes between batches to let the iron heat up again.
- Opt for oil instead of butter. For crispier waffles, use avocado oil or coconut oil instead of melted butter in your recipe. Unlike butter, oil doesn’t have any water content, which adds moisture and hinders a crust from forming.
What Type of Waffle Maker Should I Use?
There are two main types of waffle makers out there:
- A Belgian Waffle Maker: This is what I used for the photos in this post. They are thicker in size with extra deep pockets and can be square or circle.
- American Waffle Makers: Usually made with a smaller waffle iron that doesn’t make pockets as deep. Because of the waffles’ thinner size, they cook faster. These can be square (I have this one that makes 4 waffles at a time) or round.
How to Serve Chocolate Waffles
Oh man, there are so many great ways to serve this recipe. Here are some ideas:
- Spread a little peanut butter or almond butter over it and drizzle with syrup.
- Slice up another banana and serve it on top.
- Put a dollop of Maple Whipped Cream on top!
- Sprinkle some berries over the top (like the pictures) and add a little powdered sugar.
- Sprinkle some mini chocolate chips over the top when serving. Kids will love that!
- Sever alongside one of our Top 7 Smoothies, or some scrambled or hard-boiled eggs.
Can you freeze waffles?
We are big fans of prepping meals ahead and freezing them for later. (Here is a list of our best of the best freezer meals, btw.) So it shouldn’t be a surprise to you that we have freezer meal instructions for waffles! In fact, waffles are a fabulous make-ahead breakfast idea. I almost always double the recipe and make a whole batch for the freezer.
To Freeze: Make and cool waffles completely on a cooling rack. Place waffles in single layers in a gallon-size freezer bag with parchment paper between layers. Seal tightly and freeze.
To Prepare From Frozen: Toast frozen waffles. If still slightly cold inside, microwave in 10-second increments until warmed through.
Want More Make Ahead Breakfast Ideas?
Foolproof make-ahead breakfast recipes that will help you start the morning the right way.
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Chocolate Waffles with Banana
These healthy Chocolate Waffles are a great way to start the morning. The banana adds a touch of sweetness and some added nutrition and kids will love the idea of eating “chocolate” for breakfast. Feel free to add mini chocolate chips to the batter or sprinkle them on at the end if you’re wanting an extra decadent waffle.
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1/4 cup wheat germ or ground flaxseed (sub: flour if you don’t have these)
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 3/4 cups milk (sub: unsweetened, plain almond milk)
- 2 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1/4 cup avocado oil (or melted coconut oil)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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Instructions
- Preheat the waffle iron according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Whisk together the flours, wheat germ or flaxseed, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
- In another bowl, whisk together the milk, bananas, eggs, canola oil, and vanilla extract until well combined. Add to the dry ingredients and stir until just moistened.
- Coat the hot waffle iron with nonstick cooking spray. Pour the batter onto the hot waffle iron and cook on medium-high setting. Repeat with the remaining batter.
- Serve with sliced bananas or strawberries on top and a drizzle of pure maple syrup.
TO FREEZE:
Make and cool waffles completely on a cooling rack. Place waffles in single layers in a gallon-size freezer bag with parchment paper between layers. Seal tightly and freeze.
TO PREPARE FROM FROZEN:
Toast frozen waffles. If still slightly cold inside, microwave in 10-second increments until warmed through.
Notes/Tips
Tips for Great Waffles
Since you are clearly in the waffle-making business at the moment, here are a few tips to make your waffles AWESOME.
- Strike while the iron is HOT! If your waffles come out a little pale and soft, it could be because the waffle maker you’re using isn’t hot enough. It’s important to preheat the waffle maker for at least 5-10 minutes. Yes, seriously that long! Also, pause for a couple minutes between batches to let the iron heat up again.
- Opt for oil instead of butter. For crispier waffles, use avocado oil or coconut oil instead of melted butter in your recipe. Unlike butter, oil doesn’t have any water content, which adds moisture and hinders a crust from forming.
These were a big hit with my three kids tonight! Everyone said 5 stars! We do breakfast for dinner most Fridays and this was a fun new recipe to try!
Love to hear this Haley! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review.
This recipe is so good!!! I added 1 cup of chocolate chips and it’s very much like a banana brownie 🙂
Awesome, so happy to hear you like it! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review. 🙂
It was a little too “healthy” tasting for my kids. It’s needs lots of syrup on to mask the wheaty taste
Do you have a nutrition count? Such as calories, fiber, etc.?
I’m sorry but at this time we don’t offer the info. There are many free sites that do that for you like Spark People, if you want to try that.
How do you freeze these and reheat?
Good question. I need to update the recipe. Just fully cook, cool, and freeze in a freeze gallon-sized bag in single layers divided by parchment paper. To serve, pop a frozen waffle in the toaster for one cycle and then microwave in 10 second increments until warmed through.
I’m suppose to stay away from white flour…can I use all wheat flour? Does it change the texture or taste? Do I need to increase the liquid or anything?
You for sure can make it 100% whole wheat, but I think adding more banana would moisten it more. Also, I find that the white whole wheat tastes the best and is the lightest.