Every day I bring you an item on Amazon that I personally use or has been purchased by many members of the audience and I have researched enough to recommend.

Today’s TSP Item of the day is The Dash Mini Waffle Maker.  This little gadget is only 15 bucks and it just works and works perfectly every time.  You can use it to make waffles of course, a variety of other things from gooey treats, to awesome sandwiches and even omelets.  Thing is as you guys know, most of that is off my menu permanently.  In August of this year I went on a Keto diet, I have stayed on it and I have lost and kept off about 40 pounds, I am never going back!

So what gives with a waffle maker?  Oh my low carb friends have you heard of the chaffle?  The Chaffle in some ways is a cheese and egg omelet with a bit of almond flour mixed it.  In fact ingredient wise and nutrition wise that is exactly what a chaffle is.  Yet in my opinion this is a disservice to the chaffle to describe it this way.

No for those living on a low carb eating plan, the chaffle is the holly grail.  It can stand in for that breakfast waffle, it can also make a damn good substitute for a bagel as you will see in the video below.  Make two and you can finally make a totally decked out burger again and use them as buns.  Craving something sweet, use some Lakonto Sugar, 100% coco powder and some low carb chocolate chips in the mix and you have something sinful tasting but still low carb all the way.

We are not done yet my friends, want a BLT, use a chaffle.  What about pizza, yes you can make pizza, just make the chaffles first, top as you wish and pop in the oven to heat toppings and melt cheese.  In fact know what I did one time.  I thinly sliced pepperoni into ribbons and some Italian sausage into small crumbles, I then mixed both into the chaffle mix and essentially cooked them into the crust, less to fall off that way.  I then topped with cheese, sauce, mushrooms and basil.

There is really no end and one of my favorite things to use is cream cheese and Everything Bagel Seasoning on the top.  In the video below I do that with some arugula, chard and water cress from my back yard.  I have done smoked salmon and cream cheese too.  Rest assured this is a bagel stand in, not a babel substitute.  It does not taste like a bagel, but it tastes very good and functions like one.

There were two keys to making chaffles a happy part of my life, one was finding the perfect recipe and the second was getting the technique right.  You can use any cheese but here is the recipe that has worked best for us.

• 1 Large Egg
• 1/2 Cup of Cheese – this is our favorite one for these – https://amzn.to/2ROzGd1
• 1 Heaped TBS of Almond Flour – https://amzn.to/2RPWPfm
• 1/2 TSP of Baking Powder – https://amzn.to/2voomgn
• 1/4 TSP Xyanathan Gum (I no longer use this) – https://amzn.to/36tm2Bm

Few things, I tried coconut flour, it made them firm but too firm and not chewy.  Also while lots of people say use mozzarella cheese because it is neutral cheddar does not over power, the oils in it get you a better little bit of crisp the longer you cook.  You get better color, better chew, better flavor.  I also now routinely add things like finely cubed ham, chopped bacon, sausage crumbles, jalapeno peppers, what ever sounds good.  I don’t measure any of this I just eyeball it.

My other hack is I now make up a 4x batch in a sealable bowl and keep it in the fridge.  I then have chaffles for the week all ready to go.  I actually think they come out better after a day or so in the fridge this way.

Last almost every recipe sight you find will say to use the Dash Waffle Maker it is how I found it.  They will also say the above or their version of the recipe is for two chaffles.  DO NOT BELIEVE THEM, they sit on a throne of lies!  It is more like 2.5 and this is important, if you watch the video you will see why.  In the early days of the chaffle wars, the recipe was simply egg and cheese, no baking powder, no almond flour so there was simply less volume.  When you add in things like bacon or ham it only increases it more so.  The early days were dark days, chaffles were literally egg and cheese and while they looked like a waffle they didn’t taste very good.

The keto community though was desperate, these days wee dark in many ways.  This was before keto really caught on and there were few if any dedicated things for those on keto, at times it felt like meat, salad, bacon, eggs and black coffee were all that existed in our universe.  So people tried other cheeses, various nut flours, etc and eventually the chaffle matured into what we have now.

Sadly most recipe sites though are just money makers, the site you read today about keto this is likely run by people with many sites, perhaps one on cooking exclusively with cookie dough.  Trust me if you make my recipe and shove all of it into two batches the batter is going to ooze out the front, cook into the rim and make turning the damn thing or getting it out a fricken mess.

The keys to making a perfect chaffle are, first follow my recipe.  Two if the shredded cheese is course chop it to a finer consistency.  Let the batter sit for a bit so it can come together a bit.  Biggest thing though is, DO NOT over fill the maker, thin coat using the back of the spoon to spread it out.  Let it cook about 20 seconds till the edges start to dry, then close cook 2-2.5 minutes.  About one minute into the cook set a coffee cup or something on the lid for weight.  Then flip and cook for another 45 seconds to 1.5 minutes.  The longer you cook the more of a bit of a crisp you get.  These times are not hard rules and you will find you want to let it go longer when you add meat inside the chaffle.

I just gave you the formula, it will take you a few missions to get it just right but I gave you what you need to leap ahead of the game and get to chaffle perfection in just a few tries.  Once you master a basic chaffle the sky is the limit.  From sweet to savory and anything you can conceive of, the chaffle is amazing.

Also in spite of all the detail above once you get it right it is FAST and easy.  So much more so than most “keto breads” and such.  Again what I really like is from a nutritional profile unlike many treats it really is healthy keto, mostly a cheese omelet.

Right after Dorothy and I did this video I ordered a second waffle maker.  Life is better now.  If I am making two for myself I may or may not fire up both but if making them for both of us, you bet I fire up both.  They are super quick to heat up, they are easy as pie to clean, nothing sticks to them if you follow my instructions.  I am going to bet many of you will pick up one Dash Mini Waffle Maker, give this a shot and down the road pick up a second.  It is the perfect tool for this job.

Two more things.  There are lots of colors and most of them at 10 bucks, a few are more expensive.  Just be aware of that.  Also a couple are not waffle makers, there is one that makes a heart, one a pumpkin, you get the idea.  To me these will not make a great chaffle, the holes are the magic of the chaffle.

Last while I put a lot into chaffles in this review this little thing rocks as what it is designed to be, a waffle and sandwich maker.  So even if you are not keto or low carb it is dang good little tool.  So consider giving The Dash Mini Waffle Maker a shot.  Here is one example of a totally no keto hack, put 2 TBS of cookie dough in it and cook until done.  Someday I am gonna do that, but not anytime soon.

Remember you can always find all of our reviews at TspAz.com

P.S. – this video shows you exactly how to make your chaffles perfectly.

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