Pizza Waffle Dippers

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Everybody loves pizza, and it can even be a healthy snack with this Pizza Waffle Dippers recipe.

Pizza Waffle Dippers

Welcome to #EatHealthy16 where over 30 bloggers are coming together to share recipes to help you with your start 2016 off on the right track with food that is nutritious and delicious. I’m so excited to welcome Deanna from Teaspoon of Spice, whom I’ve enjoyed connecting with virtually over the years, and finally meeting in person last summer when we were part of Cabot Fit Team! Then check out the recipes from the other hostesses –  Jamie of Love Bakes Good Cakes will have healthy meals, and Jenny of The Melrose Family will have healthy desserts. And make sure you follow the #EatHealthy16 hashtag throughout the month of January for tons of inspiration. 

Hi there! I’m Deanna – a food-loving dietitian who blogs with my biz partner and fellow dietitian over at Teaspoon of Spice – and I’m thrilled to be guest posting here today as part of the #EatHealthy16 series.

I got to know Brianne from afar over the years – admiring her blog for her recipes, honesty and sense of humor especially when it comes to parenting.  Last year, I finally got to meet her in person and hang out with her for a weekend in Maine through the Cabot Fit Team (and watch her kick butt running her first 10K!)

So, I was more than happy to contribute a healthy snack idea to this 2016 healthy eating series she’s running along with Jenny and Jamie.

As a dietitian, I really believe snacks are crucial for many reasons including:

• Keeping your energy levels up
• Keeping your blood sugar levels from crashing
• Helping you get in the necessary nutrients you need daily
• Helping you not overeat at your next meal

But as a food lover, I believe healthy snacks should always taste good (really, that’s my mantra with anything you are eating.) If nutritious doesn’t taste good, don’t bother!

Now, obviously I’m not talking about sitting down with a large bag of cheez-o-puffs as your typical snack. I have 3 main guidelines I try to follow when snacking:

1) BALANCE your snack. Have a combination of carbohydrate, protein and a little bit of fat – nutrients that give you immediate energy and also sustaining energy to curb your hunger until your next meal.

2) Keep portion sizes REASONABLE

3) Include a FRUIT or VEGGIE whenever you can.

My typical, day-to-day snacks are cheese and crackers with fruit, peanut butter toast with banana, a small smoothie or even a small bowl of soup. Pretty basic stuff.

So, it was fun for me to come up with a snack recipe that I thought both me and my 8-year old daughter would enjoy.

Enter Pizza Waffle Dippers.

[Tweet “Everybody loves #pizza! Make it a #healthysnack with Pizza Waffle Dippers!”]

Last year, I finally got a decent waffle iron and my two go-to waffle recipes are Wild Blueberry Oatmeal Waffles and Brownie Banana Waffles. But I wanted to try savory waffles for awhile now and cheesy waffles morphed into this snack.

Admittedly, these aren’t the quickest snack to make but the key is to make ahead of time and freeze. Then you practically have a month’s worth of snacks on hand (they’re great to serve when you have a crowd of kids over!)

Here’s what I did to make the dippers more nutritious:

• Added white whole wheat flour
• Cut back on calories with one less egg and used low-fat milk
• Used low-sodium pizza sauce
• Added in veggies. You can use any typical pizza topping you like such as spinach, mushrooms, peppers and/or onions in the batter.

4 from 2 votes

Pizza Waffle Dippers

Everybody loves pizza, so turn it into a healthy snack.

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 15 minutes mins

Total: 25 minutes mins

Servings: 9

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Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup white whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1½ cups low-fat milk
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup chopped veggies such as sautéed spinach, sautéed mushrooms, roasted peppers and/or cooked onions
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese
• 3 1 ounce pieces of string cheese, pulled apart
• 1 15 ounce can low-sodium pizza or tomato sauce

Instructions

• In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, basil, oregano and black pepper.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, oil, eggs and chopped veggies. Pour into dry ingredients and stir until batter is just combined.
• In a heated waffle iron coated with cooking spray, pour in 1 cup of batter. Layer the strings from one string cheese over top and close iron. Cook according to waffle iron directions or until golden brown on each side. Remove and repeat two more times.
• Once waffles have cooled, cut into 36 strips and serve with pizza/tomato dipping sauce. Freeze any extras.

Notes

9 – 12 servings (3 or 4 waffle sticks per serving + 2 tablespoons sauce)

Nutrition Facts

Pizza Waffle Dippers

Amount Per Serving (4 sticks)

Calories 214 Calories from Fat 90

% Daily Value*

Fat 10g15%

Saturated Fat 3g15%

Cholesterol 47mg16%

Sodium 150mg6%

Potassium 213mg6%

Carbohydrates 21g7%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 2g2%

Protein 8g16%

Vitamin A 180IU4%

Vitamin C 13.3mg16%

Calcium 145mg15%

Iron 1.4mg8%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Author: Deanna @ Teaspoon of Spice

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

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Happy dipping and happy snacking in 2016!

More snacks I love to make and eat:

Baked Oatmeal Squares with Cherries

Peanut Butter Sandwich Graham Crackers

Peek-A-Boo Corn Muffins

And here are some of Brianne’s favorite dippable snacks…

• Cheesy Veggie Quinoa Bites
• Blue Cheese Cauliflower Cheesy Bread Sticks
• Herbes de Provence Baked Sweet Potato Fries