Waffle Iron Ideas That Will Make Your Mouth Cry

The premise of this video from ChefSteps is so simple it’s genius: As one of the chefs in the video explains, it’s about “putting anything and everything in a waffle maker.” We’re all familiar with the unmatched ability of the waffle iron to produce that paragon of breakfast foods, the waffle. But it turns out that you can put almost anything in a waffle maker, as long as it’s squishable enough to squeeze between the two sides of the iron.

One thing I love about this video is that it makes the word “waffle” into a verb,* so that food produced in the waffle iron is “waffled,” and if you put food into the iron, you’re “waffling” it. The chefs in the video try out a variety of waffled concoctions, from leftover Chinese food to a full English breakfast, and the results are about as varied as you’d expect. Dishes involving batter, like brownies and confetti cake, do really well in the waffle iron, which makes sense given the fact that the appliance was created to cook waffle batter. The layered, waffled confetti cake that the chefs construct has particularly intriguing implications for the home baker/sugar addict, as the indents in the waffled cake create space for little pools of icing throughout the cake.

These are some of the other foods that get the waffle treatment:

Ham and Cheese Sandwich

Brownies

Fried Rice

Mac and Cheese

Gyoza

Amy's Frozen Gluten-Free Mexican Casserole (This one does not go well)

This video will have you eyeing your waffle iron and making a list of things you’d like to see waffled. Here’s mine so far:

• Waffled breakfast tacos
• Waffled pain au chocolate
• Waffled bacon
• Waffled lasagna
• Waffled frozen pizza
• Waffled muffins
• Waffled waffles. Because all this other stuff is all well and good, but let’s not forget how astoundingly glorious waffles are all on their own.

Watch how it’s done in the full video:

*Yes, I know that “waffle” is already a verb meaning “to equivocate,” but here it’s being used differently. And while we’re on the subject, isn’t it sort of ironic that “waffle” refers to both delicious baked goods and the inability to make a decision? Because no human in his or her right mind would ever waffle about waffles. The answer to "Waffles?" is always “YES.”

Images: YouTube (8)