Over the years, I seem to have acquired an unexpectedly large amount of kitchen appliance; the one I get the most use out of, however, is arguably the most unexpected of all: My waffle iron. I break that thing out at least twice a week — and now, thanks to BuzzFeed's “7 Ingenious Waffle Iron Snacks” video, I'll probably be upping that number to once a day. Seriously, you guys. These food hacks are game-changing.
Admittedly, it's not totally surprising that some of the suggestions on this list waffle so well (and yes, I just used “waffle” as a verb); after all, what is a waffle iron, truly, but an electric griddle with a slightly wacky-looking pattern scattered throughout? The beauty of it, though, is that it's fast to heat up, easy to use, and easy to clean up — which makes it perfect for everything ranging from epic brunches to midnight snacks. Heck, you could even use it to make your own Criss-Croissants, IHOP-style, if you really felt like it.
Check out four of my favorites below, and scroll down to watch the entire video for all the information you need to make them. The best part? Odds are you already have the ingredients to make most of these creative eats. Yum!
1. Scrambled Eggs
I'm not really this dish strictly qualifies as scrambled eggs — but I would imagine a beaten egg or two heated up on a waffle iron for a few seconds would be a crispy-on-the-outside, fluffy-on-the-inside piece of heaven.
2. Waffle Pizza Bites
If you're not the sort of person who regularly keeps cans of Pillsbury crescent roll dough in your fridge, you might have to plan ahead for this one. That aside, though, these bite-sized snacks look as easy to make as they do delicious: All you have to do is wrap a slice or two of pepperoni and a sprinkling of mozzarella up in a triangle of dough, stick it on your blazing hot waffle iron, and voila — mini calzones for one.
3. Deluxe Breakfast Biscuit
Fun fact: You can cook an entire breakfast on a waffle iron that doesn't actually involve any waffles. All you have to do is take some store-bought biscuit dough, lovingly mash it between the two halves of your waffle iron, add some ham and cheese, and mash it again. Then, once you've removed your spectacular ham and cheese biscuit to a plate, crack an egg over the waffle iron and make yourself a nice sunny side up treat. Load it on top of your biscuit and you're good to go.
4. Waffled Macaroni Bites
Mac and cheese is already the best — but you can make it even more exciting by coating your fridge-cold leftovers in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs, then squashing it in your waffle iron for a moment. If you've never had fried mac and cheese before, you haven't truly lived.
Check out the whole video for the blow-by-blow for each snack, as well as ideas for three more:
Images: groovehouse/Flickr; BuzzFeedVideo/YouTube (4)
