Steve’s Cornbread Waffle Grilled Cheese

In Steve's Recipes by Steve Sliwa

This is a healthier, tasty, replacement for the classic grilled cheese sandwich.  It is based upon gluten-free, cornbread waffles uses as the sandwich bread combined with melted cheese filling.  Kids will love the cheese and cornbread combination.  Adults might prefer a little zip so jalapenos can be added to the waffle mix and/or one of the melted cheeses could be a pepper jack.  Although the waffles and waffle sandwiches can be made ahead and saved for future snacks, don’t be surprised if whatever gets made gets consumed at the first seating. 🙂

Ingredients

2 cups Gluten Free Medium Grind Cornmeal

1/2 cup Organic Brown Rice Flour (or regular rice)

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cups soy milk (or buttermilk, or regular milk)

3/8 cup canola oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs (or 1/2 cup egg beaters)

small can (8 oz) of cream corn

optional: 2 tablespoons chopped jalapenos
1 tablespoon jalapeno jar juice

sliced cheeses for melting (provolone, pepper jack,

Directions
  1. Turn on the waffle iron and preheat to desired temperature.  I prefer half-way between medium and dark.
  1. Combine the cornmeal, rice flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
  1. Add medium bowl’s ingredients (fluids) to the large bowl (powders) and mix until lumps are eliminated with the whisk and/or spatula.
  1. Cook on the waffle iron.  My waffle iron makes a large four square Belgian thickness waffle (Calphalon HE400wm No Peek Belgian Waffle Maker) and suggests pouring two cups and spreading with a nylon spatula to get even thickness before closing.  My waffle iron is a no-stick design and does not require adding spray canola oil prior to pouring the batter.  I use a ladle to add mixture to a 2 cup measuring beaker for pouring onto the waffle maker.
  1. Remove waffle from waffle iron at appropriate time and place on cooling rack.
  1. After waffle cools (10 minutes) either take one square and carefully split with a bread knife to create a sandwich or take two squares to lay on top of each other to make a thicker sandwich (my favorite).  Put 2 to 3 pieces of cheese between the sandwich halves.  Children seem to prefer American / Provolone / American, but the sliced mozzarella can go over well too.  I think adults will prefer my hot-pepper-jack / provolone / hot-pepper-jack cheese slice combination.
  1. Place sandwich in a microwave oven and cook for about 15 to 20 seconds times the number of pieces of cheese or until cheese has melted appropriately.
  1. Cut sandwich diagonally twice (I use a big pizza cutter blade) to create little sandwich triangles and serve when cheese is cool enough to eat.
Preparation Time Estimates

Mix Ingredients:  10 to 15 minutes

Grilling Time:  3 to 4 minutes on a waffle iron (or when the light goes out and/or bell rings)

Cooling Time:  5 to 10 minutes

Microwave Time:  30 to 60 seconds

Resting Time:  5 minutes

Notes

Source:  Steve Sliwa invention … feedback welcome!

Suggested Course:  Lunch/Dinner or Hearty Snack

Servings/Yield:  2 Large Waffles – Makes 8 thin sandwiches or 4 thick sandwiches

Background

I spent months working to perfect a specialized grilled cheese sandwich that would be loved by kids and easily adapted for adult enjoyment.  I was motivated by sampling a ‘mozzarepa’ at a Brooklyn street fair – it had a unique taste blending melted cheese and crusted cornbread.  I tried duplicating aspects of the arepa, but discovered it was tough for me to get the consistency that I wanted and was not easy to repetitively reproduce the results.  I also thought I could get a better organic/gluten free strategy so my wife would appreciate more.  So ultimately I worked the strategy of a cornbread waffle adapting a pancake recipe from the Gluten Free Mommy with online advice on waffles.

Note that I use Bob’s Red Mill for my source of Gluten Free Medium Grind Cornmeal and Organic Brown Rice Flour as the main ingredients.  I also created a version with jalapenos to create a little bite for the adults.  Cheese choices are a matter of personal preference.  The waffle iron reference below can be purchased at Amazon here.

My goal was to create a grainy cornbread sandwich experience with melted cheese.  Enjoy!

Nutrition Estimates

Calories: TBD

Total Fat: TBD

Cholesteral: TBD

Sodium: TBD

Total Carbs: TBD

Dietary Fiber: TBD

Sugars: TBD

Protein: TBD

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