This year, we’ve combined the two into one fun recipe: Banana Split Waffles. The waffle becomes the split banana.

It’s timely, too August 24th is National Waffle Day and August 25th is National Banana Split Day.

Prep time is 10 minutes, total time 25 minutes. A round waffle maker is required. Thanks to Krusteaz for the recipe.

But first:

 
 
RECIPE: BANANA SPLIT WAFFLES

Ingredients For 4 Servings

For The Waffles

 
For The Fillings

[2] In addition to the “banana split,” a round waffle maker enables you to fold the waffles, taco style, to hold the fillings (photo courtesy All-Clad).

1. PREHEAT the waffle iron. To toast the nuts, preheat a dry, heavy skillet over medium heat, add the nuts and toast for 1 to 2 minutes, or until they’re golden brown and give off a rich, toasty fragrance. Stir constantly for even toasting. Remove from the pan to cool.

2. WHISK all the waffle ingredients together in a medium bowl. The batter will be slightly lumpy.

3. POUR the batter onto the prepared waffle iron. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the waffles are golden brown, or according to the waffle iron directions.

4. FOLD the waffle into a small bowl and add the fillings.
 
 
MORE BANANA SPLIT FUN

[2] Hot dogs are available in different sizes and seasonings.

[3] Hot dog production: ready to roll into the oven for smoking.

A & H, Abeles & Heymann, is an old-world-style producer of top-quality kosher processed meats—corned beef, hot dogs, pastrami and salami. The products are made from recipes brought from Austria to New York City.

Founded in 1954 by an uncle and his nephew, the small company prospered. Decades later, when the founders planned to retire, they didn’t want to sell to a large corporation that might seek higher profits by changing the quality of the ingredients and the manufacturing process. So the company remains privately owned, and the quality is still the highest.

The hot dogs are glatt kosher. The difference between kosher and glatt kosher is a higher standard of supervision. To be certified glatt kosher, the meat must come from an animal with adhesion-free or smooth lungs; glatt means smooth. Here’s a longer explanation.
 
 
PRODUCING THE HOT DOGS

After creating the proper lean-to-fat ratio, the mixture is moved into a rotating paddle machine where the ground meat and fat create a bind that reduces greasiness. The meat then goes into an emulsifier, where spices are added.

The spiced meat heads to the stuffer, where the meat is extruded into the linker—the machine that forms the individual hot dogs, or links in trade parlance.

The linked hot dogs are placed on a hanging tree (photo #3) and rolled into ovens, where the meat is smoked for 12 to 24 hours. After cooling, the links are separated, packaged and shipped.
 
 
YOU CAN TASTE THE QUALITY

Most hot dog brands taste fatty and overly-spiced. That’s to cover up lesser-quality meat and a greater percentage of [cheaper] fat.

Bite into an A & H hot dog, and you’ll immediately taste the meatiness. It’s one of the best-tasting beef hot dogs you can hope to find.

There’s no sponginess (an indication of fat), no excessive spicing ready to be burped.

If you’re looking to grill something more special for the holiday weekend—or any day of the year—pick up some A & H hot dogs. They’re more expensive than big brands; but isn’t all good meat more expensive?

If you can’t find the hot dogs locally, you can buy them online from A & H.
 
 
LEARN MORE AT ABELES-HEYMANN.COM.

The history of the hot dog explains the terms frankfurter and wiener. The hot dog traces its lineage to the 15th-century Viennese sausage, or wienerwurst in German.

Johann Georghehner, a butcher from the German city of Coburg, in Bavaria, is credited with inventing the “dachshund” or “little dog” sausage in the 17th century, and he brought it to the larger city of Frankfurt. The style became known as the frankfurter.

Yet, it was still a sausage eaten with a knife and fork, no bun. The hot dog, a slender sausage in a bun, was undeniably an American invention.

The attribution is given to a German immigrant named Charles Feltman, who began selling sausages in rolls at a stand in Coney Island in 1871.

The 1893 World Exposition in Chicago marked the debut of the hot dog vendor. According to National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, around this time that the hot dog first made its first appearance at a ballpark, at a St. Louis Browns game.

The first published mention of the term “hot dog” as a food first appeared in print in a September 1893 issue of The Knoxville Journal. However, it was well established prior to then.
  

Updated August 2026

August 22nd is National Bao Day, a relatively newly-established holiday reflecting the increased availability of bao in the U.S.

If you like bread of all types, including steamed, doughy bread with a savory filling, then celebrate: It’s National Bao Day.

Below:

> What are bao?

> Types of bao.

> Vegetarian bao recipe.

> The canned dough hack.

> The history of bao.

> Links to recipes.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The different types of dumplings.

> The year’s 15 Chinese food holidays.
 
 
1. WHAT ARE BAO?

Bao (rhymes with cow), short for baozi, is a type of soft, yeast white bread, formed into filled buns wrapped around savory or sweet fillings.

Every culture that makes pastry creates some form pastry with meat. One of our favorites is Chinese barbecued pork buns (char siu bao).

But there are many variations in fillings (meat or vegetarian) and preparations based on regional cuisines, although the buns are most often steamed.

Bao are served at restaurants as appetizers, made at home, and sold by street vendors. They’re a popular choice on dim sum menus.

is a traditional Chinese steamed filled bun (photo #1).

Unlike dumplings, bao are not made with a pasta/noodle dough but with a soft yeasty white bread made from wheat dough. Steamed in bamboo baskets and served warm, they are a real comfort food.

They are a variation of mantou from Northern China.
 
 
2. TYPES OF BAO

Meats or vegetables are the most common fillings, and you’ll also find sweet bao, filled with custard, chocolate, red beans or other sweet.

And there are different presentation styles, too.

 
Chinese immigration brought bao to other Pacific Rim countries, each putting their own touch onto fillings and shapes (source).

While bao can be eaten at any meal, and are a go-to breakfast food, in the U.S. bao have gotten the “American breakfast treatment.”

Wow Bao in Chicago sells bacon, egg and cheddar bao; scrambled eggs bao with mushrooms and spinach; and spicy sausage and egg bao.

We’re waiting for the PB&J bao for lunch.

Check out the many different types of bao. But be warned: They will make you hungry.
 
 
3. RECIPE: VEGETARIAN BAO

This recipe was created (photo #5) for the American Egg Board by Paul Sletten, Chef/Owner of Abreo in Rockford, Illinois.
 
Ingredients For 4 Pieces

• 6 large eggs
• 4 bao buns
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1 red onion, julienned
• 1 Persian cucumber, julienned
• ½ cups apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 4 teaspoons white sesame seeds

 
Preparation

1. MARINATE the julienned vegetables in vinegar, sugar and kosher salt for at least one hour but up to three days.

2. SET UP a bamboo steamer or similar steamer. Add the bao buns to steam, approximately four minutes. Meanwhile…

3. WHISK the eggs and scramble them in nonstick pan over medium heat. Stir and scrape the sides with a rubber spatula to prevent browning. Once eggs are 80% cooked…

4. TURN OFF the heat and cover the pan with lid to allow the eggs to finish cooking by steam. When the eggs are done…

5. SEASON the eggs with salt and cover with sesame seeds. Then cut each bao into four equal pieces.

6. TO ASSEMBLE, remove the bao from the steamer and place a portion of eggs on each; top with the pickled vegetables and drizzle with oyster sauce.
 
 
4. BREAD DOUGH HACK

If you want to try bao without investing a lot of time, use store-bought biscuit dough. They won’t taste exactly the same, but will give you an idea of what from-scratch will be like.

[2] Some styles of bao have perfect, smooth domes. Here’s the recipe for these (photo © Thirsty For Tea | WordPress).

[3] Gua Bao bao, a “taco-style” bao from Fuzhou, the capital of China’s Fujian province. Here’s a recipe (photo © Wow Bao).

[4] Dessert bao can be filled with custard, chocolate or other sweet. How about Nutella (photo courtesy Wow Bao).

[5] The bao version of the Egg McMuffin (photo © American Egg Board).

[6] It’s easy to start making dumplings with a basic cookbook like this one (photo © Callisto Publishers).

According to legend, baozi was invented by the Chinese military strategist and chancellor of the state of Shu Han, Zhuge Liang, during a military campaign in the third century C.E.

In actuality, bao were derived from mantou, steamed buns without a filling, that originated in the north of China.

Mantou are thought to have originated in the Qin State of the Zhou Dynasty during the reign of King Zhaoxiang (307 B.C.E.-250 B.C.E.).

Along with other wheat-based foods like noodles, mantou and bao became popular during the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E.-206 C.E.)

Originally both styles—plain and filled—were called mantou. But centuries later, by the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127 C.E.), the term bao or baozi was used to differentiate the buns with filling (source).

But bao didn’t stay in China.

It is believed that the Mongols brought bao to Central and East Asia, about the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty in the 13th century. Thanks to them, filled dumplings emerged in the cuisines of Persia, Turkey and Uzbekistan, among other cuisines.

With the arrival of more Chinese immigrants to the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s, Chinese cuisine expanded beyond the Americanized Cantonese foods that were previously available.

Ask for bao the next time you visit a Chinese restaurant. It will most likely be BBQ pork, but you may find chicken bao, seafood bao, and those delicious dessert bao filled with sweet custard (recipe below).
 
 
6. MORE BAO RECIPES

• Bao Beef Buns
• Char Siu Bao (BBQ Pork Buns)
• Coco Swirl Steamed Buns
• Dou Sha Bao (Sweetened Red Bean Buns)
• Gochujang Chicken Bao
• Gua Bao With Hoisin & Ginger Pulled Pork
• Hoisin Duck Bao
• Lai Wong Bao (Custard Buns/Milk Yolk Buns)
• Steamed Vegetable Buns

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