To Be Cooked

I have a not-so-secret, deep-set, bordering-on-the-obsessive love for pumpkin. Yes, I know it’s unoriginal, and that half of the country is also obsessed with pumpkins (mostly the female half). But I don’t care. I love how pumpkin spices up so well to make it taste exactly like fall. I love how it keeps things moist and gives baked goods this nice warm orange colour. I love that it gives me something to look forwards to when the sun decides it’s done with us and it’ll see us next year (thanks, Pacific Northwest).

I would like to tell you that I picked up some pumpkins from my local pumpkin patch, cut them up and hand roasted them and then did something amazing with them, but the true story is that I was at Costco with my boyfriend, saw these giant cans of pumpkin puree, let out a war cry of “PUMPKINNNNN” and made a beeline for them. All in all, it was pretty undignified. But who cares, when canned pumpkin is a trillion times easier and almost as good.

It was a close call, but the first of my Costco bounty went into these pumpkin waffles. Hello, breakfast.

I have a longstanding argument with my boyfriend about waffles vs. pancakes. I will never say no to pancakes, but somehow waffles just speak to me. All those little craters just waiting to be filled with syrup… plus they are so much easier to make than pancakes if you have a good waffle iron. No more standing endlessly over the stove. It’s the dream.

I wanted to bump up the heartiness of these waffles (and I think pumpkin can take it) so I added a bit of whole wheat, which has the added benefit of letting you tell yourself it’s healthy as you pour a cup of maple syrup on top. I was pretty happy with the spice level but you could probably increase it even more if you want a spicier waffle.

Pumpkin Waffles

Made 3 large waffles in my wafflemaker – I’d double for more than two people. Adapted from the Smitten Kitchen recipe.

• 1/2 cup (56 g) whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup (90 g) all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (55 g) packed light brown sugar
• 1 1/8 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• pinch of nutmeg
• 2 large eggs, separated
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 can (7.5 oz) canned pumpkin
• 3 tbsp (42 g) unsalted butter, melted
• Oil for brushing the waffle iron

1. Preheat the oven to 250 F and preheat your waffle iron. I usually spray/oil my waffle iron first before I forget. Remember to melt your butter, if you haven’t already (I always forget to do this step ahead of time, so noting it here).
2. Stir together both flours, brown sugar, baking powder and soda, salt, and spices.
3. Whisk egg yolks in a large bowl with buttermilk, pumpkin and butter until smooth.
4. Whisk in dry ingredients to your wet ingredients until just combined.
5. Whisk the egg whites in a stand mixer until they have soft peaks. Fold them gently into your waffle batter until just combined.
6. Spoon batter into waffle iron (I spread to almost the edges to get a full waffle). Cook according to your waffle iron.
7. Keep finished waffles in the oven until they’re all ready, then eateateat.