pumpkin waffles

Monday was a rainy cool day here. My favorite kind! (besides snowy days of course) It was dark and cozy early in the morning while everyone was still sleeping. I wanted to make something for breakfast that matched my mood. So, I made these delicious pumpkin waffles. They so smelled like pumpkin pie while they were cooking. (sorry Shell) :)

Pumpkin Waffles

2 1/2 cups 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

Preheat oven to 250°F and preheat waffle iron. Sift 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 2 cups for four 4-inch Belgian waffles) into waffle iron, spreading quickly. Cook according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Transfer waffles to rack in oven to keep warm and crisp. Make more waffles in same manner.

I made a couple of substitutions/deletions. I left out the butter entirely (no need for extra fat when I knew I was going to drown them in syrup anyway), used whole wheat flour in place of the white and sucanat instead of sugar. YUMMMMMY. It was a great start to our day!