Pumpkin Waffles

My inquisitive 3 year old loves to ask food related questions.

"Mom, what is it when you mix breakfast and dinner?" 

"Brinner."

"Mom, what is it when you mix breakfast and lunch?" 

"Brunch"

"Mom, what is it when you mix lunch and dinner?"

"Uhhhhh.... linner????"

Anyway, when my sister and I decided to make pumpkin waffles and maple sausage links for "brinner" the other night, my son was over-the-moon excited to be experiencing "brinner" for the first time in a long time!  I guess I need to do brinner more often!  It was delicious and everyone ate a ton of food!  Yay for brinner!

Pumpkin Waffles

Recipe adapted from www.smittenkitchen.com

1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
4 large eggs, separated
2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil for brushing waffle iron or cooking spray


Mix together flour, brown sugar, baking powder and soda, salt, and spices. Whisk egg yolks in a large bowl with buttermilk, pumpkin, and butter until smooth. Whisk in dry ingredients just until combined.

In a mixing bowl with a whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites until they hold soft peaks (as in, far softer than the over-beaten whites you’ll see in my picture above). Folk them gently into the waffle batter, until just combined.

Brush waffle iron lightly with oil and spoon batter (about 1 1/4 c. for regular waffle iron) into waffle iron, spreading quickly. Cook according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Serve with maple syrup (or if you are feeling a bit naughty, it would be really good with a dollop of whipped cream on top!). 

Food for Thought:  We doubled the recipe for this because I knew I would want extra waffles for the freezer.  The trick to freezing waffles is to let them cool on cooling racks.  If you stack the waffles they get really soggy.  But, if you spread them out on cooling racks, they cool nicely.  Then, simply stack them in freezer bags.  When you are ready to reheat, pop them into the toaster for one or two rounds and eat, just like you would any other frozen waffles.  Much healthier for your kids than store bought ones and much tastier too!