A crispy, golden brown sandwich with a sweet, rich mixture of maple butter soaking into the still-warm bread.
Waffled Ham and Cheese Melt with Maple Butter
When Daniel Shumski first dreamed up this sandwich, he wanted the maple butter to go on the bread before it went into the waffle iron, but that turned out to be a recipe for disaster: The sugars in the maple syrup burned quickly, much more quickly than the cheese melted. There would have to be another way. And there is! After a few modifications, he hit on the right balance of pre- and post-buttering.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 slices sandwich bread
- 2 ounces Gruyère cheese, sliced
- 3 ounces Black Forest ham, sliced
- 1 tbsp Maple Butter
Special Equipment: Belgian or standard waffle maker
Directions
- Preheat the waffle iron on low.
- Spread a thin, even layer of butter on one side of each piece of bread.
- Pile the cheese and ham on the unbuttered side of one slice of bread, and put the open-face sandwich in the waffle iron as far away from the hinge as possible. (This allows the lid to press down on the sandwich more evenly.) Place the second slice of bread on top, with the buttered side up, and close the waffle iron.
- Check the sandwich after 3 minutes. About halfway through, you may need to rotate the sandwich 180 degrees to ensure even pressure and cooking. If you’d like, you can press down on the lid of the waffle iron a bit to compact the sandwich, but do so carefully—the lid could be very hot. Remove the sandwich from the waffle iron when the bread is golden brown and the cheese is melted.
- Spread the Maple Butter on the outside of the sandwich. Slice in half diagonally and serve.
- This recipe is from Will It Waffle?: 53 Irresistible and Unexpected Recipes to Make in a Waffle Iron, © 2014 by Daniel Shumski. Reprinted by permission of Workman Publishing Company.