A Taste of Fall

I have a new favorite recipe. PUMPKIN WAFFLES! My friend Amber and I have been getting together to try new recipes, and this was one we just HAD to try yesterday. And boy am I glad that we did. We both grew up in places with four seasons, and this triple-digit heat is not cutting it as Fall. So we decided to bring Fall to us. We got this recipe from the Smitten Kitchen. I invite you to bring fall to your kitchen with this delicious recipe.

Pumpkin Waffles
Adapted from several sources

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.

(Side notes: We had to make some substitutions. I didn't have cloves, so we used nutmeg instead. Mmm! It was a perfect spice blend. I didn't have buttermilk on hand either, so I made sour milk by combining 2 T. lemon juice with enough milk to make 2 cups. Let that sit for about 5 minutes. (The ratio is 1 T. lemon juice or vinegar to enough milk to make 1 cup.) And not that we had to make this substitution, but we decided to use 1 c. of wheat flour with 1 1/2 c. white flour. So good!)

If I had thought about it before we ate it all, I would have taken pictures of our Fall flavors. So you'll just have to imagine, or check out the tantalizing pics on the SK website. Oh, and while you're imagining our plates with scrumptious pumpkin waffles, imagine those golden waffles with plump ruby raspberries dressing up the plate. So pretty and so very tasty!

Enjoy!