National Waffle Iron Day is June 29, and in celebration of this most auspicious day, we at the Daily Clog decided to have fun in our kitchen and experiment with some of the more alternative uses of a waffle iron. What we quickly found was that almost anything that needs to be grilled or fried on a stove can easily be cooked in a waffle iron. Truly, the possibilities are endless! Here are the recipes to our most successful dishes.

Note: We used a Cuisinart waffle maker that had one setting, which measure minutes from 1 to 5. Adjust your own heat and time settings accordingly.

Fried egg

The fried egg has long been the bane of every breakfast lover. Chances are if you’ve attempted to make a fried egg, you’ve had about a 25 percent success rate. The yolk breaks and you end up with a scramble, an obviously inferior method of eating eggs. Well, lucky for you, we braved the unknown and found that using a waffle iron is the solution to the perfect fried egg!

Style: 8/10

Effectiveness: 10/10

Ingredients:

• 1 egg cracked into a small bowl

Instructions:

1. Turn your waffle maker to a heat setting of one, depending on how cooked through you want.
2. Spray waffle iron with cooking spray or some other oil.
3. Slowly pour your cracked egg into the center of the waffle iron. Allow time for the egg to begin cooking before pouring the rest of the egg into the waffle iron.
4. Close the waffle iron and wait for the egg to finish cooking.
5. Serve immediately after adding salt and pepper to your individual taste.

Quesadilla

While quesadillas are not a difficult food item to make on the stove, we are always looking toward the future, toward innovation. If you have a waffle iron, why not make a quesadilla? It will always come out delicious.

Style: 4/10

Effectiveness: 7/10

Ingredients:

• 2 small corn tortillas
• ¼ cup shredded cheese

Instructions:

1. Turn your waffle maker on to a heat setting of two.
2. Place one corn tortilla in the center of the waffle iron.
3. Sprinkle a light layer of shredded cheese on the first tortilla and top it with a second.
4. Close the waffle iron and check the quesadilla frequently (as the cheese melts, it may spread out of the confines of the tortilla and onto your waffle maker — checking it may prevent this).
5. When the tortilla begins to develop golden-brown waffle marks and the cheese is melted, place on a plate and serve.

 

Grilled Cheese

Grilled cheese sandwiches are the crème de la crème of comfort foods and rank above ramen as our favorite late-night study meal. Unfortunately, most students may not have access to all the cookware neccesary to create this delicious sandwich. With a waffle iron, all one needs is electricity. Plus, the cook time is cut drastically. No more waiting by a hot stove, checking and rechecking the sandwich to see if it’s cooking.

Style: 10/10

Effectiveness: 10/10

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of sourdough bread
• 2 thin slices of monterey jack cheese
• butter

Instructions:

1. Turn your waffle maker on to a heat setting of two.
2. Butter one side of each slice of sourdough bread.
3. Place on slice butter side down on the waffle iron.
4. Place cheese on the slice of bread and top with the other slice of sourdough bread, making sure to place this one butter side up.
5. Close waffle maker and wait for the easiest grilled cheese you will ever make.
6. Serve and enjoy.

 

Banana-graham s’mores

This is by far our favorite alternative waffle iron recipe. The banana-graham mixture makes a perfect dough-like substance that cooks wonderfully on the waffle iron. With all good things, however, comes a price. In this case, the price is that this recipe is slightly more intricate and time consuming than the others. But who wouldn’t want to wait for the king of all s’mores?

(Note: Not pictured — the second s’more that was tragically lost during an attempt to remove it from the waffle iron and place it on the plate. We mourn it’s gooey loss.)

Style: 10/10

Effectiveness: 8/10

Ingredients:

• 1 medium banana
• 5 graham cracker squares
• 2 marshmallows (small or medium)
• 2 squares of chocolate

Instructions:

1. Turn your waffle maker on to a heat setting of three and let it warm up while you prepare the ingredients.
2. Slice the banana into chunks and place in a bowl.
3. Crumble the graham cracker squares into the same bowl.
4. Mix together until the graham cracker has been thoroughly mashed together with the banana. The resulting mixture should be a dough-like substance.
5. Pour the banana-graham mixture onto the waffle iron and close. Wait for the banana-graham mixture to cook. Once it is cooked, it will look and feel like a pancake in the form of a waffle.
6. Take the banana-graham waffle out of waffle iron and cut it into quarters.
7. Turn the waffle iron down to heat setting one.
8. Place two of the quarters back into the waffle iron on opposite ends, making sure the grid on the waffle matches the grid on the waffle iron.
9. Place one chocolate square and one marshmallow on each quarter and then cover with the remaining waffle quarters.
10. Gently close the waffle iron. It’s OK if the waffle iron will not close; do not force it, or your s’more will be squashed.
11. Monitor the s’more the entire time it is cooking; the marshmallow and chocolate will melt quickly.
12. As soon as the marshmallow and chocolate begin to melt, remove the s’more from the waffle iron and place on a plate.

Image source: Dylan Parker under Creative Commons