Waffling About Waffles

I’ve never met someone who didn’t enjoy waffles. Whether stuffed with blueberries, drizzled with maple syrup, or simply eaten on their own, these airy pillows with just-crisped edges are the perfect treat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. To find international variations on the waffle right in Philadelphia’s own backyard, here’s a guide from our Fall 2013 issue.

For now, though, I’m more interested in the contraption used to create these pocketed squares of dough: the waffle iron. It’s the unsung hero of the kitchen, a multi-tasking workhorse that can be used to make more than just waffles. Read on for some of its most creative applications!

If you’d prefer to stick to as “normal” a waffle batter recipe as possible, just get creative with the accoutrements. The “Cheese and Herb Waffle Toasts for a Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich” recipe from Barb of Creative Culinary turns standard waffles into something savory with her rift on a BLT.

Staying on the sweet end of things, make your cinnamon roll waffle-shaped to switch up the same ol’ weekend routine. Make the doughy batter from scratch or take the easy-peasy Pillsbury shortcut. That Doughboy always did make me smile.

For something else to dip into your hummus, whip out a pita stuffed with falafel waffles. Actually, Waffleizer’s website is one giant, exceptional answer to the question, “Will it waffle?”

If you’re feeling particularly brunchy during the holidays, this stuffing waffle recipe courtesy of Serious Eats may fit the ticket. Chief Creative Officer Kenji posed the questions, “What’s your favorite thing?” and “What’s your favorite part of your favorite thing?” For him, stuffing is his favorite thing, and his favorite part of stuffing is the crispy edge bits. “The idea is easy,” he writes, “Prepare a batch of stuffing, and rather than baking it in a casserole dish, which only offers one plane for crisping, cook it in a waffle iron.”

Waffle irons get hot. They also provide a good amount of pressure. These are perhaps the perfect conditions for cooking up hash browns: no skillet needed. If you want to prep your own potatoes, the process can’t take more than 10 minutes according to this recipe from Macheesmo. An even simpler recipe involves taking a handful of tater tots, arrange them just so on the waffle iron, and you’ll munching on a spiffed-up latke in no time.

Crunchy edge bits seems to be a trend: that’s the best part of the brownie according to Tara of Tea & Cookies With a waffle iron, you get almost all edge–a clever discovery on her part. With some deft maneuvering in getting the brownie waffles out of the iron, the rewards are paramount: top that brownie with ice cream or fruit and whipped cream and you’ll be heaven.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I believe my waffle iron will be working double-duty tonight.

— Nicole Woon