Wash and peel the green plantains, I recommend doing this under running cold water to help prevent any stains from the plantains.

Cut the peeled green plantains into halves and place them into a large pot of boiling water, you can also add a teaspoon of salt to the water.

Cook the plantains for 30 minutes or until they are tender and soft.

Keep the plantains in the pot and let them cool down a bit, but keep them in the warm water to help them stay soft.

Next proceed to mash the green plantains to make the dough. There are several ways to do this, one option is to use an Ecuadorian wood masher. Some very talented home cooks in Ecuador will even do this with a fork. Another more modern option is to use a food processor, I used to do this when I started making green plantain dough, but the dough can sometimes be a bit sticky due to overmixing the plantain starch. My current favorite method is to use a potato ricer as it gives the best texture and is still less work than using a manual masher.

When you have finished mashing or ricing the cooked green plantains, mix in 2 tablespoons of the warm plantain cooking water, 2 tablespoons of butter and salt to taste. You can also add a teaspoon of garlic powder for extra flavor. Mix and knead the plantain dough until you have a smooth but firm dough.

Use your hands to form 10 medium sized plantain balls (you should be able to get 2 waffles for each plantain). If the dough is sticky, rinse your hands with water and use your wet hands to shape the dough.

You can make the green plantain waffles plain or fill them some cheese (similar to Ecuadorian tortillas de verde). Both options are delicious. To fill them with cheese, make a hole in the middle of each plantain ball and fill it with 1-2 tablespoons of grated cheese. Then carefully push down the cheese while closing the dough and shaping it into a thick patty.

If you are not stuffing the waffles, then simply flatten and reshape the balls into thick patties. The waffles will expand as they are flattened in the waffle maker, so make them slightly smaller than the room they will have in the waffle maker.

You can make the green plantain patties ahead of time and refrigerate until ready to make the waffles.

Heat the waffle maker as you usually would for regular waffles. Place the green plantain patties in the waffle maker. If you have a round waffle maker that makes single large waffle, place a patty on the center, close the waffle maker, and let it cook until crispy, about 7 minutes.

If you have a square waffle maker that makes multiple waffles (4), place each patty in the center of each waffle section and cook until crisp, it might take a little longer (10 minutes). Open the waffle maker gently when checking for doneness.

Remove the green plantain waffles from the machine and serve them warm with your favorite toppings (mashed avocado, fried eggs, smoked salmon, aji sauce, etc).