Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Banana Waffles

I love the flavor of hazelnuts mixed with chocolate and banana.  These waffles taste amazing and can be topped with Nutella, vanilla Greek yogurt, syrup, peanut butter, or honey.  They are made with whole wheat mix and have some added protein to boost their nutritional power.

Recipe adapted from Food Network

Ingredients-

1 mashed banana

2 cups whole wheat waffle mix

1 scoop chocolate protein powder

2 tablespoons powdered peanut butter

2 tablespoons unsweetened apple sauce

1 ½ cups almond milk

½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (plus a few for an optional topping)

2 tablespoons chopped hazelnuts

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Toppings: Nutella, nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt, chocolate chips, pure maple syrup

Directions:

1. Pre-heat waffle maker.
2. Mash a banana in a large bowl. 
3. Add the waffle mix, protein powder, peanut butter, applesauce, almond milk, brown sugar, chocolate chips, and hazelnuts.  Mix.
4. I have a Belgium waffle maker.  I made 4 waffles using 1 cup of batter for each waffle.  If you have a smaller waffle maker ½ cup may suffice. I spray my waffle maker with butter nonstick spray before adding waffle mix each time.
5. Note: You can also make these as pancakes.
6. Add toppings and enjoy!