Savory (and Sweet) Stuffed Waffles

Waffles stuffed with Spinach Salad

Irving is out of town this week and I have had way too much time to stay up til all hours of the night looking at recipe blogs!  Ahh…there are so many things on my list to make!  When I saw this idea on Spa Bettie I knew this was what I would make tonight.  David and I often do waffle night when Irving is away, so this was a great fit.

David kept saying “oooh” over and over when I told him what was inside his waffle! He ate every bite!

I made two different “stuffings” for this recipe.  I made some sweet waffles for David stuffed with pineapple and bananas, and I might have stolen one of his for my dessert!  (Ooh…and if you make them for dessert they would be awesome with Coconut Whipped Cream!)  For my own dinner I made a spinach salad with tomatoes, kalamata olives, and tahini lemon dressing.  Delicious!  Since it was just David and I we skipped other side dishes and I had two waffles for myself, he ate one.  But I would recommend serving one waffle per person, with a cup of soup, a quick roasted vegetable, or a side salad if you wanted to make it more of a complete dinner.

David’s sweet Piña-Banana waffles

This recipe makes 6 waffles.  I’ve adjusted the stuffing amounts so that you could use one or the other.  If you choose to make some of each, adjust the proportions accordingly.

I had two leftover tonight…looking forward to heating one up with my Moroccan Garbanzo Soup for lunch tomorrow!

Stuffed Waffles (makes 6 4-inch waffles)
2 c flour (I used half white, half whole wheat)
1 ½ T baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 T coconut oil
1 of your favorite egg replacer (I like 1T chia seeds gelled with 3T of water)
1 ¼ c club soda
1 T maple syrup

Spinach Salad Filling (fills 6 4-inch waffles)
3 c spinach
½ c grape tomatoes
¼ kalamata olive
2 T tahini
juice of 1-2 lemons
salt and pepper

Piña-Banana Filling (fills 6 4-inch waffles)
3 super ripe bananas
1 c pineapple
1 T dried coconut
1 T mini chocolate chips (I didn’t use them, but I think they would be awesome!)

To make the waffle mix:  Mix all dry ingredients together.  Mix up your favorite egg replacement.  Mix with wet ingredients.  Add to dry ingredients and whisk to combine.  Set aside.

To make Spinach Salad Filling:  Mix 2 T tahini with lemon juice.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Wash and dry spinach, and chop into small pieces.  Slice grape tomatoes into thin rounds.  You want to makes sure that they are small so they will fit inside of the waffles without pushing through.  Slice kalamata olives into thin rounds as well.  Pour dressing over vegetables and toss to coat well (it will be more dressing that you would use in a normal salad).  Set aside.

To make Piña-Banana Filling:  Using a fork, mash banana until almost smooth.  Dine pineapple very finely.  Combine together with coconut, and chocolate chips if using.  Set aside.

Place just under ¼ cup of waffle mixture into each well of your waffle maker.  Spread around towards edges.  Place about 2 T of filling in the center of each waffle, leaving a border on all sides.  Top with another scant ¼ c of waffle mixture and close.  Be careful not to over fill waffle maker.  I’ve heard that it can make a huge mess all over your kitchen counter if you over fill it!  Yep, that’s what they’ve told me!

careful not to over fill

Cook waffles according to your machine.  Mine take about 6 minutes to cook.  Remove from waffle maker when they are crisp on the outside.  To serve, top with some of the filling.  Enjoy!

Yum!