These cheesy sweet potato waffles are a perfect lunch, brunch or dinner. They have a subtly fiery kick from the jalapenos to compliment the sweetness of the sweet potatoes and are topped with a crown of cheddar shards for a showstopping crunch.
Commissioned post.
I once knew a girl in school who refused to eat cheese unless it was cooked. No cheese on crackers for her, no grated cheese sandwiches. The only way she’d eat it was oozing, hot and straight from the oven.
I tend to agree with her. There’s something special about those crispy bits at the bottom of a tray of nachos, the nearly-burnt bits on a bubbling lasagne, the extra-dark corners on welsh rarebit…
So why do we deny ourselves and only have the odd bit of crispy well-cooked cheese that’s stuck to the pan? Let’s make crispy cheese the star of the show – let’s make cheese shards to go atop Cheddar and Jalapeno Sweet Potato Waffles!
Cathedral City (the nation’s favourite cheese, no less!) asked me to come up with a recipe to celebrate the launch of their new packaging with the campaign, Love Cheese? Welcome to the Club, about the nation’s most notable cheese habits.
As part of the campaign, they discovered some ‘cheese rules’:
– Bubbling cheese must on no account be allowed to go unwitnessed.
– The piece that’s too small to grate must always be eaten immediately.
– Never feel guilty about returning to the cheese board.
– If you burn yourself on melted cheese, you will make a big fuss about it.
And my personal favourite….
– Absolutely no effort should be made to resist a crispy bit.
To match Cathedral City’s distinctive, smooth and creamy mature cheddar, I’ve added it to pureed sweet potato (a great way to use up leftovers!) and added a bit of heat with finely chopped jalapeno peppers.
For an extra cheese hit, I’ve made showstopping (but super-easy) cheese shards to give the meal a bit of crunch. There are those lovely crispy bits!
- 2 medium sweet potatoes
- 100g (1 cup) oats
- 125g (1 cup) cheddar cheese, grated (I used Cathedral City Mature)
- 3-5 jalapeno slices (or 1 fresh jalapeno - to taste), finely chopped
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 Egg
- 180 ml (¾ cup) milk
- 1 tablespoon oil (vegetable, olive, or coconut)
- 125 g (1 cup) cheddar cheese, grated
- 4 tablespoons creme fraiche or sour cream
- 2 handfuls rocket (arugula)
- Roast the sweet potatoes for 40 minutes in a hot oven (200C / 400F) until soft and cooked through. Allow to cool and remove the skins. (This recipe is great for using up leftover cooked sweet potato from the night before!)
- Preheat the waffle iron and spray with a little oil.
- Whiz the oats in a blender or food processor until fine. Pour into a large bowl and stir with the cheese, jalapenos, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Puree the sweet potato in a blender or food processor, then add the egg, milk and oil and pulse to combine. Pour into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix well.
- Pour the batter into the waffle irons until ¾ full and cook until golden. Repeat until the batter is used up.
- Meanwhile, for the cheese shards, heat the oven to 200C/400F and line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Arrange the grated cheese in small thin circles and cook until hot and starting to brown, 5-7 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the tray. They will get crispy as they cool. When cool, snap into shards.
- Serve the waffles topped with creme fraiche/sour cream, rocket/arugula and the cooled crispy cheese shards.
What are your cheesiest habits? Tell me below or follow the cheese love with the hashtags #CheeseRules and #LoveCheese on social media. You can also follow Cathedral City on Facebook.
Still have leftovers after making sweet potato waffles? Don’t waste it – try these!
Planet Veggie’s Sweet Potato, Mushroom and Wild Garlic Frittata
Thinly Spread’s Vegan Picnic Pies
Natural Kitchen Adventures’ Sweet Potato and Buckwheat Brunch Bowl with Avocado Cream
Tin and Thyme’s Cauliflower Rice with Jerk Sweet Potatoes in Coconut
Farmers Girl Kitchen’s Bola de Caco – a traditional bread from Madeira
Disclosure: This recipe for Cheddar and Jalapeno Sweet Potato Waffles with Cheese Shards was commissioned by Cathedral City. All opinons are my own and no editorial control was given. Thanks for supporting the brands that make it possible for me to mess up my kitchen, bake vegetable cakes and write Veggie Desserts – and Healthy Meals and Lifestyle.
Janice @FarmersgirlCook
What a great idea, I love that crispy cheese that drips off cheese on toast and you’ve made it look so pretty! Sweet Potatoes are also one of my favourite veggies, they are so versatile, waffles look brilliant. Thanks for including the link my Bola de Caco recipe, it was a lot of fun to make.
Claire @foodiequine
I am a complete cheese addict!!! I even had a cake made of cheese for my 40th. Love your cheesy shards.
Chris @thinlyspread
You have surpassed yourself! What an incredibly beautiful dish AND full of tasty gorgeousness! Cheese shards are top of my list – I think I’ll make them for my second born’s ‘end of A levels feast’ in a couple of weeks time – he’s a total cheese head AND loves sweet potatoes, perfect!
littlesunnykitchen
Wow these cheese shards look lush! I will have to try this! And sweet potato waffles are the best, beautiful recipe Katherine!
Gingey Bites
Love these! YUMMMMMMMMMY! And for the record, I’ll eat cheese any way!
Kate | The Veg Space
Those look absolutely incredible – better than anything i’ve been served in a restaurant recently, in fact! I remember watching Jamie Oliver make his ‘ultimate’ cheese toastie on TV, which deliberately has lots of cheese oozing out the sides which he then crisps up in the pan. Your cheese shards made me think of it straight away. Right, I’m off to melt some cheese…..
Jenn
Gorgeous presentation!
Lucie Bright (@BCTinyKitchen)
I wonder if this would work with a bit of careful flipping on a griddle pan, They just look so good but sadly I don’t have room in my kitchen for a waffle iron.
Margot
For a longer while I was trying to figure out how to smuggle my favourite sweet potatoes into something my family would not suspect… now I know what to do. The cheesy bit will definitely fool them 🙂 Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Jemma @ Celery and Cupcakes
Oh yum! I love making sweet potato waffles, but I usually load them up with maple syrup and berries. I really want to try this savoury option.
kellie@foodtoglow
Weirdly I make something not too dissimilar but in rosti form (no oats), with added cheese and jalapenos. But I must give these a go as a main, perhaps with a poached egg on the side. But one the side because I don’t want to mess with that gorgeous cheese shard!
Matthew From Nomageddon
I aspire to make cheese shards as gorgeous as that! Seriously keep kicking ass!
Paola
Mmmm that looks yummy specially the cheese part!
laura_howtocook
This is defintely a dish with serious visualimpact and I can well imagine it tastes just as good as it looks. What a gorgeous dish!
Tina Marie
Wow! I love those crispy cheese wheels! I’m the one standing by the stove because I love picking the bits off the pan! This recipe looks so very delicious!
Suchi @elegantmeraki
I have never heard of sweet potato waffles, this stuff is making me so hungry!
Cassie
Ooooooh, I LURVEEEEEE sweet potatoes AND waffles! Love how you combined the two together!
rika
I love cheddar cheese! This is a beautiful recipe and presentation! Love it
Kristen
I love sweet potatoes in baked goods! these almost look too pretty to eat!
Ceri Jones
You had me at cheese shard! and then sweet potato, what a great looking dish!!
Jolina - The Unlikely Baker
These look stunning! There is nothing about this dish I don’t love – jalapeño, sweet potato, crunchy cheese. And I absolutely agree with the cheese rules, especially about eating the piece that’s too small to grate ha!
April J Harris
What a beautiful dish! Those cheese shards are just irresistible. What a great idea to use sweet potatoes for the waffles and I love the touch of spice too!
Mark, Compass & Fork
I really love the presentation in the photo. I am jealous! I love sweet potato so will need to try this out. Great job.
Nicki Parker
Oh wow they look and I should not read about food before I have lunch making me more hungry