Once you think of a waffle iron as an indoor grill, you’re off to creativity-land

Nobody hates waffles – yet.

They’re too versatile and delicious to become anti-trendy, the butt of infinite jokes, like kale and quinoa (and no, there is neither kale nor quinoa in the recipes below). They rise to the occasion of breakfast, sit down for a leisurely lunch, and feed a crowd at dinner. They can be stuffed, but they simply can’t be stuffy. They can be savory, sweet, spicy, vegetarian, paleo, neat or messy, healthy or decadent. Waffles reign over a parade of YouTube videos (check out “Can You Waffle It?” and its ilk), and they are equally mesmerizing as brilliant successes (glazed doughnuts?) and hideous failures.

Yes, it’s true that to properly waffle, you will be required to buy a special, unitasking appliance. Suck it up, because once you think of a waffle iron as an indoor grill, you’re off to creativity-land.

They also are ridiculously informal. They remind us, “Hey! Let’s eat!” So here are some things to worry, and not worry, about with waffles.

Do sweat: 

• If that’s raw meat, cook it. Before you put it in a waffle iron, preferably.
• If that’s raw egg, you want the waffle that contains it to be cooked. Don’t worry if things are singed or burned; what you want to avoid is the uncooked-in-the-middle waffle.
• What you put on them. Only put real things on your waffles. Real maple syrup or real agave or real honey or real fruit or real jam, or real tahini or tzatziki sauce. Or real sausage gravy. Waffles are casual, but for the love of batter, show some respect.

Don’t sweat: 

• How your waffles look – overcooked, undercooked, tidy edge, messy edge. Practice makes perfect. Make lots of waffles. Try lots of different temperatures.
• How fluffy they are. Use the egg-white trick in the Classic Fluffy Belgian Breakfast Waffle recipe below. Adjust the amount of baking powder or soda. Experiment. If your mix calls for liquid other than milk, and you want a really fluffy waffle, try adding unflavored seltzer. Make lots of waffles and take lots of notes.

Here are just a few ways you can waffle, from classic breakfast to dinner

Classic Fluffy Almond Flour Waffles

Top these with peaches until those beauties go out of season, and add butter and maple syrup or vanilla ice cream. The almond flour makes them a little less fluffy, but a lot more substantial and healthy. Makes 4 square waffles.

Ingredients

• ½ cup all-purpose flour (wheat, or an all-purpose gluten-free flour)
• ½ cup almond flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons honey
• Cooking spray

Directions

Preheat waffle iron to medium high. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl, preferably with a pouring lip. Separate the eggs. Beat together the yolks with the vanilla and honey; then add the yolks to the dry ingredients. Mix until well-combined. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy and about doubled in volume. Fold into the flour and yolks mixture, stirring slowly until well-combined. Pour into waffle iron until each square or quarter round is just filled. Close the lid and bake until timer goes off. Check waffles for doneness and cook longer if desired. Serve with soft butter and real maple syrup.

Falafel Waffles with Roasted Tomato Dressing

Ingredients

• 1 cup falafel mix
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• Avocado cooking spray
• Cucumber slices
• Tzatziki sauce
• Roasted tomato dressing (recipe below)

Directions

Prepare falafel mix according to package directions, with this exception: include two teaspoons lemon juice in the added liquid, if the directions do not already call for them. While the falafel mix is absorbing the liquid, preheat waffle iron to medium high. When mix is ready and the iron is preheated, drop a scant quarter-cup of falafel batter onto each square of a square waffle iron, or an eighth cup onto each triangle of a round waffle iron. Close and cook until waffle iron announces that it is done. Check waffles; they may need at least 2 additional minutes. Don’t worry if the batter sticks to the top plate; this will happen with irons built to make thicker waffles. When brown and crispy, loosen waffles with a non-stick utensil or a single chopstick. Serve warm with cucumber slices, tzatziki sauce and roasted tomato dressing.

Roasted tomato dressing

This is much easier than making tomato sauce, but it will have the seeds and skins. It’ll also have a fresh garden taste. Freezes well. Makes about 2 pints.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds small paste tomatoes
• ¼ cup fresh chopped basil
• 1 teaspoon garlic chive flowers or 1 garlic clove
• 2 tablespoons good-quality olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Wash and halve the tomatoes (quarter them if they are larger than a golf ball). Place tomatoes in a single layer in an oven-safe casserole. Add basil and garlic chive flowers and drizzle with olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Roast in oven for about one hour, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are soft and liquid is about half evaporated. Serve hot over fish and pasta, or cool and store in glass containers in the freezer.

Squaffles

If your kids grew squash this summer, reward them with this fun way to cook up the harvest together. Serves 4.

Ingredients

• 2 medium zucchini
• 1 small Rosa Bianca or other very mild eggplant
• 1 medium yellow summer squash
• 1 beaten egg
• 1 cup fine Italian breadcrumbs
• 1 1/2  teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ teaspoon paprika
• Coconut or avocado oil cooking spray for waffle iron

Directions

Wash the vegetables and remove stem and blossom ends. Slice on an extreme angle into quarter-inch-thick slices, yielding long ovals. Sprinkle the eggplant slices (not the zucchini or squash) with salt and remove to a colander over a plate; allow to drain for about an hour.

Preheat waffle iron to medium-high. Also preheat oven to its lowest setting and place an oven-safe casserole dish inside. Beat egg into a shallow bowl. In a second shallow bowl, combine breadcrumbs, salt, and paprika until evenly mixed. Taste breadcrumb mixture to correct seasonings; you want them to be fairly spicy. Pat vegetable slices dry, then dunk into beaten egg and roll in breadcrumbs, coating each side as evenly as possible.

When waffle iron is heated, spray with cooking spray. Arrange squaffle slices on waffle iron. Close lid; cook until coating is brown and crispy (this may be several minutes after the iron says they are done) and the squash are beginning to soften. Remove the squaffles as they are cooked to the pre-heated casserole dish. Serve warm.

Messy Chicken and Cheese Dinner Waffles

There are infinite variations on this waffling theme. With the cooked, shredded chicken (pulled off of a store-bought rotisserie chicken is best) you can add ham and cheddar; or bacon and smoked gouda; or pancetta and fontina. Just keep the quantities of chicken, pork and cheese about the same as in this version. Makes 8-12 waffles.

Ingredients

• ½ cup chopped ham, pancetta, or cooked bacon
• 3 cups finely shredded cooked chicken meat
• 1 cup shredded hard or semi-hard cheese – cheddar or smoked gouda work well.
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 3 tablespoons prepared Dijon or stone-ground mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 large egg (or two small)
• Coconut or avocado oil cooking spray for waffle iron

Directions

Preheat the waffle iron to medium high. If using ham or pancetta, saute in a skillet over medium heat and drain on paper towels to remove some of the fat. Combine the pork, chicken, cheese, thyme, mustard and salt and pepper in a mixing bowl and stir until well-combined. (Don’t hesitate to remove and re-chop any chunks of chicken that aren’t fine enough.) Add seasonings and taste to correct. Break egg into a separate, small bowl and beat well. Add beaten egg to chicken mixture and stir again to combine well.

When waffle iron is preheated, spray with cooking spray. If your waffle iron is square, pack a scant half-cup of chicken mixture loosely into a scoop, then unload it into the center of one of the the four squares of a square waffle iron. Repeat with the other three squares. If your waffle iron is one of the smaller round ones, use a scant third-cup measure for each quarter-round. Close the iron and heat until the iron says the waffles are done. Check them first; if they don’t release easily, or stick to the lid, close it for another 1 to 2 minutes. Lift waffles with a non-stick tool, or if they are stubborn, loosen with a single chopstick.

Serve hot, with ranch, spicy ranch or bleu cheese dressing.

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Waffle iron features to look for

Sure, you can waffle with some success with a bargain, no-temp-control appliance. But spring for the following features and you’ll be a lot happier.

Removable waffle plates. You can get griddles or panini presses that come with interchangeable plates that allow you to grill burgers or fish or eggs, as well as waffles. But some of these bigger, more versatile appliances aren’t particularly well-reviewed, and they are expensive. An iron whose waffle plates are removable, however, allows for washing the workhorse surfaces in the sink once your waffling is done. This promotes fearlessness in your waffle experiments.

Floating hinge. This means that the top waffle iron doesn’t squish the batter unevenly toward the front. Waffles that rise are allowed to push the entire top plate higher. But you do need to remember to push whatever lever allows the hinge to float, so that the waffles farthest from the hinge get the same amount of pressure and contact.

Temperature dial. Enough said. Different batter, different temperatures and different purposes.

Lights and alerts. You want to be pinged when the iron has reached the temperature you’ve instructed it to reach. A ping when the waffle is done can be more of a suggestion. The recipes below tell you if optimum color and consistency required a longer time with the top closed with my own waffle iron. Your waffle may vary.

Square or round? It’s your call. But if you do want to reheat waffles in the toaster, then a square iron is more useful. On the other spoon, a round waffle fits a place nicely.

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