Fall is here! Texas has gotten its act together and we are having beautiful chilly days and colorful leaves, the whole shebang. I love love love love it and have been celebrating by eating these *amazing* pumpkin waffles twice a week (luckily for me they make a big batch and freeze beautifully). We've eaten them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, for dessert and for a late night snacking. We've had them with regular syrup, butterscotch syrup (recipe below because this was the Best Thing I Ate this Month), with butterscotch syrup and whipped cream, plain warmed out of the toaster, and with Blue Bonnet Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream (which you should try if you can).
These waffles are dense, spiced, and filling, just a little sweet, and they feel healthy because of the pumpkin/whole wheat combo. They're not crispy on the outside which is something James was wary about initially, but they hold up beautifully to syrup, and I haven't gotten any complaints. Bonus: they make your house smell like fall.
Pumpkin Waffles (adapted from Two Peas and their Pod*)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
4 large eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Preheat your waffle iron.
In a large mixing bowl, combine wet ingredients. Your butter will solidfy a little when you mix it with the cold milk, but it shouldn't cause you any problems.
In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients thorougly.
Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until the two are just incorporated.
Use Pam or brush baking oil on your warmed waffle iron. Bake according to manufacturer's direction (mine had a red light/green light system) till cooked through. Keep warm in warm oven or tortilla warmer. Or, better, just eat them straight without even sitting down.
This recipe yields 6-8 waffles on a large iron. Freeze extras and reheat in toaster (I usually have to toast them twice to get them warm all the way through. Post-toaster, they're crispier, a little browner, and still delicious.)
*If you go to the original recipe, you'll notice a bunch of amazing stuff that I took out. Like brown butter. And buttermilk. If you're a brown butter enthusiast, you'll probably have to make them once to convince yourself that with the whole wheat and spices, it really doesn't add a lot to the recipe (tragedy). Also, feel free to used buttermilk if you have it (or add 1 T vinegar or lemon juice to each cup of milk), but I tried it both ways and am not convinced it makes much of a difference.
Butterscotch syrup
I stole this recipe (and directions) straight from Smitten Kitchen--I've tried some other versions (watch for my upcoming Harry Potter post for details) and this is easiest and most delicious.
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons, 2 ounces or 1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (about 109 grams) packed dark or light brown sugar (I used dark)
1/2 cup (118 ml) heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) flaky sea salt (or 1/4 teaspoon regular salt), plus more to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons (8 ml) vanilla extract, plus more to taste
Melt butter in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add
the sugar, cream and salt and whisk until well blended. [A flat whisk works great here.] Bring to a very gentle boil and cook for about five minutes, whisking occasionally.
Remove from heat and add one teaspoon of the vanilla extract,
stirring to combine and this is where, despite the simplicity of the
recipe, you get to feel all “chef-y”. Dip a spoon in the sauce and
carefully taste the sauce (without burning your tongue!) to see if you
want to add additional pinches or salt or splashes of vanilla. Tweak it
to your taste, whisking well after each addition. I ended up using a
full teaspoon of flaky salt and the listed amount of vanilla to get a
butterscotch sauce with a very loud, impressive butterscotch flavor but
the strength of your vanilla and intensity of your salt may vary.
This sauce will keep at least two weeks in an airtight container in the fridge.
