Waffles? Panini? It’s a Wa-nini!

Last night a friend posted on Facebook that she made a grilled cheese sandwich in her waffle iron and it got me thinking… wouldn’t that be fantastic if you used waffles instead of bread!?! Then she, being the genius that she is, suggests adding ham and I couldn’t wait for morning to make this waffle-y concoction.
So this morning I busted out my waffle iron and got to work. As I started making those beautiful, golden, crispy waffles I quickly realized there was just no way I was going to be able to fit two waffle and those glorious fillings back in the waffle iron. For a moment I thought all was lost… yeah, sometimes I get a bit dramatic in the kitchen. So I started looking around trying to come up with a plan B and I saw my Grill press pan. YES! It’ll be just like making a Panini.. but with waffles!

I think this may be our new favorite way to have our waffles. The waffles stay crispy, gooey cheese, slightly salty ham.. it’s definitely scrumptious.  We also tried it with some warmed up marinara sauce that I had hanging  around the fridge and it was, I think, even better then with the syrup.

I use the waffle recipe from my trusty and well used Betty Crocker cookbook but you could use any waffle batter recipe you like. You could even use frozen waffles in a pinch.. but I think that homemade waffles are so much better and they really don’t take that much time to make.

The waffle recipe from the Betty Crocker Cookbook:

2 Eggs

2 C All Purpose Flour

4 tsp. Baking Powder

1 tbsp. Sugar (white or brown)

1/4 tsp. salt

1 3/4 C milk

1/2 C vegetable oil

Mix the eggs with an handheld mixer until frothy. Add the remaining ingredients and mix just until smooth.

Take one of your waffles and put on a slice of cheese, some ham, then another slice of cheese and then top with another waffle. We used Havarti cheese because that’s what we happened to have in the fridge but you could use any type of cheese you like. I think next time we’ll try some brie or fontina cheese. Now pop that bad boy in a griddle pan or just a regular skillet

It doesn’t take long, just a few minutes, to get that cheese all melted and gooey. While your waiting heat up your syrup or marinara sauce both are equally tasty. Remove it from the pan, cut it up, and enjoy! If you devour it like the cookie monster don’t worry… I understand.

Muffin Madness

Today was the first day of school for the boy so I decided to take advantage of having the house to myself and make some muffins. Muffins are a great breakfast for the harried mornings we have at the beginning of the school year as we get back into the swing of it. I also love the fact that muffins freeze so well and that’s great because right now there are 3 dozen muffins cooling on my kitchen counter… I may have gotten a little carried away.  With a teenager in the house, who is always hungry, nothing seems to last that long so I’m sure I’ll be digging out those muffin pans again pretty soon.