Ham & Cheese Waffles

My dad bought a Belgian waffle maker a few Christmases ago and while at first I thought it was a waste of space, a useless piece of junk and something that would just end up being forgotten about, I’ve actually really grown to love our waffle maker.

It reminds me of being on vacation and staying at one of those hotels with the continental breakfasts where there’s a do-it-yourself waffle station; and honestly, that’s a type of magic that gives me the tingles, and quite frankly, massive nostalgia.

I digress.

Since it is the Christmas holiday, this is when our waffle maker gets a lot of use. Not sure why, but waffles seem like a good idea when every day in between December 24th through January 1st seems like a lazy weekend morning. Waffles essentially become their own food group around this time of year!

The last Canadian Christmas I had, we actually put cinnamon buns in the waffle maker for a funky rendition on a regular cinnamon bun…yeah, I’m not sure what the difference was either, but the internet made me do it. However, this year we opted to make regular waffles. Well, sort of.

Since we made a glorious honey ham, but were left with an ungodly amount of leftovers following another Covid Christmas, I decided that savoury waffles would be the perfect way to revamp our leftovers!

This recipe is actually adapted from this fabulous Belgian waffles recipe, so definitely check out the link if you’d like a regular (read: sweet) waffle.

The fabulous thing about this recipe is that you can make easy substitutions with the milk, which often presents a challenge in most baked goods and sweet recipes, but I actually used skim milk and oat milk on different occasions and the batter was still airy and light meanwhile remaining able to crisp up the way a good Belgian waffle should.

You can top these bad boys with regular ol’ maple syrup or turn it up a notch by whisking in a dash of hot sauce to syrup. I even added leftover roasted Brussels sprouts to my waffles…the choice is really yours!

. . .

Ham & Cheese Waffles

*Makes 4 waffles*

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/4 cup cornstarch

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

• 1 cup milk (I used skim)

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

• 1 egg

• 1/2 cup ham, diced

• 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

METHOD

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.

2. Add milk, vegetable oil, egg and mix well.

3. Fold in ham and cheese.

4. Let the batter sit for 30 minutes.

5. Heat the waffle iron, making sure to spray with cooking spray before adding a hearty scoop of batter to the waffle iron. Cook accordingly based on your waffle iron (roughly two minutes). Keep waffles warm in a 200°C oven if not served immediately.

6. Top waffles and enjoy!