Stuffed Pizza Waffles

Pizza Waffles are simply pizza dough stuffed with mozzarella cheese and pepperoni, then cooked in a waffle iron until golden brown.  Serve them with a marinara dipping sauce for a fun lunch idea for kids.  And adults love this recipe too!

So are you feeling overwhelmed by summer yet?  Yeah, me too!  Mainly, I am overwhelmed by the amount of food I have to supply for my children when they are out of school.  They eat all day long and my grocery bill definitely reflects the season change.  I won’t even mention all the friends that hang out at Casa Jones looking for a snack or ten.  Yes, ten.

Lunch time in the summer is very much a “fend for yourself” type of setting around here.   Except for the youngest, they are all capable of preparing something healthy and appropriate to eat for lunch.  Not that they always do, but they are capable 🙂  This leads me to my next Kids in the Kitchen Secret…..

Kids in the Kitchen Secret #3 – Provide food they already love and adore in new and exciting ways!

When I offered these Stuffed Pizza Waffles as a lunch option to my 14 year old son and his friends, they were all intrigued enough to agree to the idea and were quickly in  the kitchen making their own food.  They had a blast making them together and found the gooey cheese leaking out of the waffles especially intoxicating.  Boys.  So easily entertained.

I was inspired to let my kiddos try this out for themselves when I saw it on the Pillsbury website but I didn’t like that they used biscuit dough.  I decided to give pizza dough a try and it worked perfectly.  You can either make your own pizza dough (here is my favorite recipe) or you can buy pre-made pizza dough from the grocery store.

Want more recipes that are kid friendly and that kids can make for themselves?  Check out my whole series of Kids in the Kitchen recipes!

Stuffed Pizza Waffles

Ingredients

• 1 recipe pizza dough
• 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, sliced
• Sliced pepperoni, cut into quarters
• Marinara sauce for dipping

Instructions

1. Preheat your waffle iron. Roll out the pizza dough on a lightly floured surface and cut into equal sized squares, about 3″ x 3″ but it doesn’t have to be exact.
2. Lay the sliced mozzarella in the center of the dough, being generous with the cheese because some will leak out. Add the pepperoni, then top with another square of pizza dough.
3. Place on the waffle iron and close the lid, pressing down firmly but do not lock the lid. The lid will raise slightly while the dough cooks, but that is fine. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the dough is golden brown. Serve with marinara sauce for dipping.