Photography and styling by Melina Hammer.

Quickly roasting the bananas makes them extra soft and intensifies their flavor and sweetness, which also allows you to skip any additional sugar in the batter for these waffles. Moreover, roasting the bananas in butter means you get melted, ever-so-slightly browned butter in your batter. Flavor, flavor, flavor! Note that the amount of waffles this batter makes depends entirely on the size of your waffle maker and the amount of batter you put in it.

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 400ºF.
2. Place the 2 bananas broken into large pieces and the butter in a small baking dish and roast until the bananas and butter are a little bit browned and the bananas are very soft when you press them with a fork, about 15 minutes.
3. Turn the oven down to 250ºF and heat your waffle iron to its highest setting.
4. Using a fork or a potato masher, crush the bananas directly in their baking dish with the butter.
5. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and whisk in the eggs and the sour cream. Whisk in the baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. Stir in the whole wheat flour. Be careful not to overmix—just stir it until everything is combined.
6. Spray your waffle iron with cooking spray. Add enough batter to your waffle iron to cover most of the surface area (the exact amount will depend on the size of your waffle iron). Close the waffle iron and cook the waffle until the iron has stopped steaming and the waffle is golden brown and crisp, about 4 minutes, but the exact timing will depend on the heat of your waffle iron and the size of your waffle. Transfer the waffle to a sheet pan and keep it warm in the 250ºF oven while you repeat the process with the rest of your batter (spray in between waffles as needed).
7. Serve the waffles warm with the sliced banana, extra sour cream, and maple syrup.