I've lived my whole life in houses without central air
conditioning and the biggest drawback is that turning on the oven just isn't an
option between Mother’s Day and Halloween. That means lazy vacation mornings in
the summer can’t include whack and bake cinnamon rolls. Fortunately, the
internet provided the solution; the humble waffle iron. And so began my adventure...
Cinnamon Rolls
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1 can of cinnamon rolls
How to Waffle It
Plug in your waffle iron (or turn it on if you have a fancy one with switches and dials and stuff). Once it gets hot, spray it with some nonstick cooking spray. Whack the can and separate out the rolls. Depending on the
size of your waffle iron, put as many on as fit comfortably. Resist the urge to
cram them all on there at once because you’re probably going to have to flip
your rolls around. Since my waffle iron is hinged at the back, the stuff at the
front of the plates doesn't get as much contact with the plates as the stuff in
the back does. After 2 minutes or so, flip the rolls in the back over and swap
them out with the ones in the front. Give them another couple of minutes to
finish cooking and then carefully move them to a plate using tongs. Smear them
with icing and put the next batch on.
Verdict
Unqualified success! I will never wait for my oven to heat
up to have delicious cinnamon rolls.
Pigs in Blankets
Ingredients
Can of crescent rolls
Cocktail wieners
(I confess those are things I just happened to have in the
fridge. I didn't buy them special for this)
How to Waffle It
While your waffle iron is heating up, whack open your can of
crescent rolls and separate them out. Cut each one roughly in half. Roll up a
cocktail wiener in each one. Don’t worry about neatness or getting them
perfectly even. The waffle iron is a great equalizer when it squished them
down. Space them out on your waffle iron so they have a little room on the
sides. They cook pretty quickly, maybe 4 or 5 minutes. I experimented with
putting small pieces of pepper jack cheese in some of them but I found they
cheese got super-hot and leaked out so it wasn't discernible in the finished
product. I need to experiment more with that. They screamed for a fancy dipping
sauce but I was far too lazy and just served them with some ketchup and
mustard.
Verdict
My taste tester declared these the BEST HING I MADE ALL
WEEK! I agree, they were pretty tasty and adorable. If I ever got around to
cleaning my house so I could have people over for an ironic cocktail party, I
would totally serve these.
Donut French Toast
Ingredients
4 Glazed donuts (preferably a little stale)
2 eggs
2 Tbsp milk or half and half
Vanilla
Cinnamon
How to Waffle It
This one requires a little advanced prep. Beat together the eggs, milk or half and half, vanilla, and cinnamon. I don’t measure seasonings so I can’t tell you
exactly how much I used. Poke a bunch of holes in your donuts (enough for the
eggs to get in but not so many they fall apart) and put them in a ziploc bag in
the fridge for a while. How long is a while? That depends on how hungry you
are. I think I left mine for about half an hour and they were fine. I wouldn't
leave them in there too long or they will lose their structural integrity
completely. Heat up your waffle iron and spray it down. When it’s hot, put as
many donuts on as you can fit. After they've been on a minute or so, apply some
gently pressure to the waffle iron to make sure the ones in front are making contact
with the waffle iron. Because I’m paranoid about salmonella, I let these go for
a while, maybe 5 or 6 minutes just to make sure they were cooked through. Just
keep an eye on them because the sugar in the glaze can start to burn.
Verdict
Heaven. I've made donut bread pudding before but these had a
caramelized layer of almost burnt sugar that formed a crust for the fluffy,
gooey insides. No syrup or sugar of any kind needed on them. But I do recommend
a side of something salty and porky to offset the sweetness. But honestly, what
isn't better with a side of bacon?
Quesadilla
Ingredients
Flour tortillas (preferably a little bigger than your waffle
iron)
Shredded Cheese
Salsa
Anything else you have lying around
How to Waffle It
This one is a no-brainer. Heat up your waffle iron, spray it
down, slap down a tortilla, dump on the other stuff, add another tortilla on
top, and close the waffle iron. I applied some pressure to try and flatten it
out, which worked well for cheese distribution except I had some cheese oozing
around the sides and onto the counter. When it’s the color you want, grab it
with your tongs and carefully slide it onto a plate. Holding the plate right up
the edge of the waffle iron helps to avoid more counter messes.
Verdict
Qualified success. I wasn't able to get the crispiness I
like in a quesadilla but the insides were good and melty. The best part about a
waffle quesadilla is you get really neat and even guidelines to cut perfect
wedges. If you’re retentive like me, this is a huge bonus.
Hashbrowns
Ingredients
Frozen hashbrowns, right out of the bag
How to Waffle It
OK, this is even easier than the quesadilla. Heat up your
waffler iron, spray it down, dump a bunch of frozen hashbrowns right out of the
bag onto the waffle iron, and close the lid. That’s it. Wait for your desired
level of brown and crispiness, slide them onto a plate, and salt liberally
while still hot.
Verdict
Meh. I like super crispy hashbrowns and I was not able to
achieve them. The top and bottom were almost burnt and the middle was still
squishy. This is one thing I like better from a pan. That said, a nicer waffle
iron with temperature controls might make crispy not burnt possible. Or, if you’re
like my friend Pookie and you like squishy hashbrowns, this is perfect.
Sausage Cheese Biscuits
Ingredients
Can of biscuits
Cheese
Sausage (patties would be better but I did this with pieces
of link sausage because that’s what was left over from breakfast)
How to Waffle It
Get your waffle iron heating up and sprayed down. Whack the
can of biscuits and separate them out. Take a biscuit and split it in half.
Cram some cheese and sausage into the biscuit and slap the other half on top.
Carefully seal the edges all the way around. Repeat until you’re out of
biscuits. I could only fit 3 on my waffle iron at a time and I did have to swap
them front and back to get them evenly cooked.
Verdict
Blech. I’m not sure if it’s because I used low quality biscuits
or if the flaky layered kind would have worked better (I used “buttermilk
style) but these came out really tough and unappealing. I think the concept is
sound but I need to play around with ingredients to see if I can make them more
palatable.
All of my waffling was done with my little Sunbeam EasyClean waffle iron. True to its name, it was really easy to clean. Here’s a tip
for cleaning if things get stuck on. While it’s still hot, UNPLUG IT! Soak a
paper towel and wring it out. Stick in in the waffle iron and close it. Now
just leave it. Let the steam loosen things up before you go in and wipe it out.
That made even the crustiest cheese super easy to clean off.
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