Waffle Grilled Cheese

Ever wanted your own in-home panini press? If you look around your kitchen everyone usually has a waffle iron, right? It's a similar concept except for the deeper grooves.

When we were staying at the beach house in the summer, we were left to our own resources and came up with a few recipes we still use back home. First off, we simply cracked some eggs into a bowl with a bit of salt and pepper and placed the egg mixture directly on the waffle iron. The result was quick and effortless eggs in fun shapes the kids and adults liked.

Next up we came across this delicious recipe for grilled cheese sandwiches. Instead of spraying the iron with oil, we just used extra butter on the bread. It was quick and easy - like our very own gourmet panini press. We even used a variation of this recipe. In addition to the various cheeses, we added some thinly sliced meat (chicken and salami) and had a delicious snack enjoyed by all ages.

My husband even turned his waffle panini into more of a waffle pizza with the addition of tomato paste and leaving the lid open for a bit while the cheese melted. You have to watch out for the cheese as it tends to ooze out while melting and can get a little messy. Just enlist in some helpers like a hungry husband or children.

When you wipe the warm waffle iron with a cloth and water, it easily cleaned off any parts that were stuck and cleaned up was instant without messy frying pans to clean. We came across some other ideas we will try next time like making cinnamon buns in a waffle iron - but personally I would just use the pre-made cinnamon buns you can get at the supermarket to try in the iron as I want the kids to be involved with minimal mess.

If you like hot crispy grilled cheese sandwiches, you should check out the 'Williams-Sonoma Home' website below.