I warned you, didn’t I? I have a lot of fresh pumpkin puree to use up. Call it my late German grandmother communicating her values to me from the great beyond, but I hate throwing away food. It literally makes me sick to my stomach, that in this land of excess and in a city that appears at times to have run out of ways to spend money so it churns out new ones daily that I am part of this ridiculousness, so frequently throwing away old eggs, milk days before its inevitable demise, fruit and vegetables we always forget about, elaborate dishes that bored me too much to eat twice.
This pumpkin, it’s gonna get used.
And if each use were as delicious as that soup and now these waffles, I might even be tempted to roast that third pumpkin, still lingering all lonesome in the corner of the living room. Tell me, would there be mutiny if I used the remainder of NaBloPoMo (or as Alex affectionately called it just a little while ago, NaBloDishesMo) for pumpkin recipes? Pumpkin, 19 more ways?
Okay, okay, calm down. I was just joking. I wouldn’t do that. Eventually I’m going to have to give up on this bottomless vat of orange puree, but I hope we get a least one more batch of these for breakfast before I do. Not only were they incredibly delicious, when we returned to the apartment this evening, our late breakfast still perfumed the air. I wish finding uses for my excess was always this heavenly.
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.
I was just thinking about how much I badly I wanted waffles for tomorrow morning and voila! you posted a delicious recipe for pumpkin waffles. Awesome! I also need to use up my buttermilk too so this will come in handy!
i’m going to use this as a start of a desert to bring to our pre-thanksgiving potluck next weekend. sounds delicious!
I am experiencing intense waffle envy, which I don’t think I’ve ever felt before. Also I think I just drooled on myself.
Boy did I need you this morning. But alas i went to Diner for breakfast and got, are you ready? An egg sandwich with beer battered fried green tomato’s with melt Vermont Cheddar. YUM!
Ok, back to sleep.
Ciao
We don’t do dairy, so I substituted 2 cups oat milk with 2 Tbsp Apple cider vinegar mixed in for the buttermilk. Also substituted 4 Tbsp ghee + 2 Tbsp cooking oil for the melted butter. It turned out delicious.
You might be interested in this recipe, then…
Pumpkin Chocolate Almond Truffles with Amaretto
Ingredients:
1 c pumpkin puree
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
3 Tbsp butter
1/4 c amaretto or other liqueur
2 egg yolks
1 c toasted almonds, ground
2 c powdered sugar
Cocoa powder
1. Spoon pumpkin puree onto double layer of paper towels, cover with another double layer of paper towels, and press gently to squeeze out excess liquid. Leave covered with paper towels until step 4.
2. Melt chocolate and butter in double boiler (or microwave: heat for 45 seconds and stir, heat again for another 45 seconds, stir gently until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is smooth). Let cool a few minutes.
3. Stir in liqueur and egg yolk. Whisk until smooth.
4. Add ground almonds, sugar, and pumpkin. Whisk or stir until smooth.
5. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, refrigerate at least one hour.
6. Pour some cocoa into a shallow bowl. Remove truffle mixture from fridge. Scoop with a mellon baller and roll into small balls, then roll them in cocoa. Put in wax-paper-lined airtight container. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Made approx. 36 truffles.
That sounds so yummy….it has been so long since I had waffles, great idea to use pumpkin in it!
Alright… it’s official… you need to send me box of kleenex to sop up the drool that your recipes always cause.
pumpkin cupcakes are awesome, seriously; i put a recipe on 10.31. totally worth trying out to use up the puree.
I’m pretty sure you can freeze pumpkin puree…so maybe one week this winter can be Pumpkin Week on the blog or something?
Those look so good! I know my mom reads this every day so…. Mom, make these for me!!
I love pumpkin waffles. Time to break out a can of pumpkin.
I also love your site. Honestly, I spend a long time drooling over the photos before I get around to reading the text!
Personally, I’d be more than happy to have the rest of the month being pumpkin. All pumpkin, all the time! Yay!!!
Pumpkin…waffles? Swoon! I think I know what I’m having for breakfast on saturday!
I love the idea of using pumpkin in so many different ways, both sweet and savory – the waffles look fantastic!
Deb, do you have an email address that I can write to you privately? I have a couple of questions regarding your blog that are not related to food.
Bring on the pumpkins – I, for one, would be very happy with all pumpkin all November :)
I know this feeling of not being able to throw away food. When I was a kid, I used to not like Thanksgiving, because it meant that my mother was going to use up the extra pumpkin in pumpkin pancakes with apple syrup. While it was too strong to say I hated them, there was something about the consistency that I didn’t like (they never fully cooked in the middle), and the apple syrup just didn’t work for me. To this day I have no idea why I didn’t like them — I like pumpkin, pancakes, and apples — but that was one thing I could skip.
They did smell wonderful, though. These waffles look good.
What say you to the possibility of using acorn squash rather than pumpkins? At the end of the day, it’s all squash, right? And I have two acorn squashes hanging out in my fridge that I can’t bear to throw out despite the fact that they’re getting into a-little-past-prime territory.
I can’t throw away food either — which becomes a problem when the other person in your household isn’t a fan of leftovers… But I just can’t bring myself to waste food! And when you can throw together yummy recipes like this, why would you??
I love pumpkin pancakes and waffles. I, uh, usually order them *covers mouth* IHOP in the fall. I saw the pictures and the title and was willing to throw myself on the floor, begging you to make them for me.
Oh, if you could – whilst you still have the puree – PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE!?!
We don’t have a waffle iron, so is there a way to morph this into pumpkin pancakes? I hear from Alton Brown that waffle batter is not at all the same as pancake batter, so I can’t bring myself to drop this recipe on a griddle with a clean conscience.
I too roasted and pureed pumpkins for the first time this season. And I agree with you – not worth it. My husband, basing his opinion on pumpkin bread alone, claims he can taste the difference.
I ended up using the last of mine (darn) last night cooking up pumpkin soup. I have a pancake recipe I swear by & it would have been interesting to add some pumpkin to it. And Chocolate. My husband also thinks everything tastes better with chocolate.
Thanks for the idea!
the best part of this was the pic of the waffles – showing that you don’t overflow your machine EVERY FRIGGIN TIME like i do. you just let those edges do their thing and everything is beautiful… so great! what an awakening!!!
i’m posting today about a pumpkin cake that also called for well shaken buttermilk. wassup with that? anyway i shook it well. yes i did…
If I’m feeling lazy and am using Bisquick (blech!), then I usually use more egg in the mix for waffles, so maybe if you play around with the egg content, the pancake thing may work. I tried this a couple of years ago with canned pumpkin puree and they were great- try with a berry sauce instead of maple syrup.
Deb,
My family used to freeze butternut squash all of the time. I’m sure you can do the same with pumpkin.
Also, my husband used your pizza dough and sauce recipe this weekend. Super tasty. It never rose though. Not sure why. (I purposely removed myself from the kitchen for the cooking so I can’t hazard a guess.)
Oh my….I’m delurking to say that yes, I think I’m going to have to get a waffle maker. I love your blog, Deb and the pictures…you’re a great photographer. I have my eye on a Canon Powershot G9 for Christmas. :-)
Your waffles look awesome! These would be great for a Holiday brunch. I can also see them with a little ice cream and caramel sauce on top. Uh oh, I can feel my blood sugar rising already!
oh dear lord. these look heavenly! now you have me wondering if it’s possible to make pumpkin pizzelles and put a scoop of vanilla bean gelato in the middle.
Yummy! We had these for breakfast this morning and it was just the thing to cheer up our day. I substituted 1/4 cup quinoa flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, and 1 cup white flour for the 2 1/4 cup white flour. Delicious! My 9 month old couldn’t get enough of them. Thanks for the morning treat!
I’m having the same pumpkin issues. I felt so virtuous and pleased with myself when I roasted and pureed my pumpkins, but now I’m looking for ways to use it up. So far I’ve done pumpkin muffins and madeleines and I’m thinking pumpkin ice cream next. I wish I had a waffle maker, because these are beautiful. I love how pumpkin makes things so golden.
Deb,
Oh, please roast that other pumpkin and spend the next few days posting pumplin recipes! My husband can’t get enough pumpkin right now and I’d love to have more ideas. Thanks!
Just a suggestion: the puree freezes well. Freeze the leftovers and make something else with it when you are not so pumpkin-overwhelmed.
those look delicious! i’m not much of a waffle-eater, but they certainly are pretty enough. and if you’re looking for another use for pumpkin, this month’s Bon Appetit has a recipe for pumpkin marscapone pie that i think i’m going to try soon.
Oh thank god you were joking… I like pumpkin and all but sheesh! haha… One of the things I love about your blog is the massive variety in the things you cook, so please don’t change that! :-)
I liked your comment about sometimes throwing away elaborate dishes that you’ve made and just can’t find the desire to eat again – I have felt that same way about some things I’ve made. Woops, it just fell right down the garbage disposal!
keep the pumpkin recipes coming, Deb!! I too am on a pumpkin-recipe-baking-kick, due to leftover pumpkin that needs to be used – these waffles of yours are STUNNING!!
whoa
these look wicked tasty
thnx for passing along the info!
Pumpkin Waffles! I was just researching for a recipe. and Lo and Behold.
I had a can of pumpkin puree that I decided to use in pumpkin bread. I added toasted pecans and chocolate chips. It is delicious.
I don’t like to throw away food either and it happens in our house more often than it should. I need to figure out a better way…to start, buy less food, maybe.
Now all I need is a waffle iron!
I cant seem to find canned pureed pumpkin in my part of the world… but boy do I love pumpkins!!! Maybe you can send some of your leftover puree this way? :p Love your blog. :)
Use a squash or yam instead
Just when I’d convinced myself that I really could live without a waffle iron!
Mmmm. Getting out the waffle iron is always the way to my guy’s heart. Another possibility — my favorite diner in Vermont serves pumpkin-pecan pancakes at this time of year, with, of course, 100% Vermont maple syrup. I can’t think it would be too hard to find a recipe, or even to invent one. Ditto for the other thing I had in Vermont, several years ago, at one of those candy-filled tourist traps: pumpkin fudge. I can’t tell you how delicious THAT was.
ACK! All week I have wanted waffles and I kept telling myself I didn’t NEED waffles. These pictures tell me that I do in fact NEED waffles.
i read this recipe yesterday morning and didn’t realise how deeply it penetrated my soul until this morning when i came back and was thoroughly enjoying the mushroom polenta posting and scrolled down just enough to see the golden, glowing waffle picture which triggered the memory that last night i dreamt i made these waffles. i am going out today to buy a waffle iron. pumpkin isn’t in season in sydney but i’m going to see if i can rustle some up and i’m having these for breakfast on saturday. your site is just wonderful.
thanks
jill
Ooooh….pumpkin waffles….what a great idea..I love it when a fragrant breakfast greets you home at the end of the day, I can almost smell these now, I am definitely making these pronto!
Made these last night: heavenly! They taste great with apple butter.
Pumpkin mousse–it’s FABULOUS.
Wow do those look good! And they will surely help me out with my pumpkin challenge!
Any ideas about modifying this to make pancakes?
These look absolutely amazing. I can’t wait to try them!
If you’re still looking for some more uses for pumpkin puree, I’ve made some awesome pumpkin mini muffins a few times that I’m sure Alex would love (they have chocolate).
I’m tempted by the waffles though. But I think I might make the pumpkin butter instead.
we are officially addicted to these. made a double batch and froze what we couldn’t eat for brunch. they warm up perfectly in a toaster oven for breakfast “to go”.
the success of this recipe prompted me to make the tiramisu cake for for a gathering tonight… thank you!
I love pumpkin waffles. There’s nothing better. My favorite recipe for them is here – http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/PUMPKIN-WAFFLES-ULTIMATE-PUMPKIN-1270615 – but I’m going to keep playing with yours, too!
I made these for my husband and three year old son this morning. They were the best waffles any of us had ever tasted. My son ate two of them, licked his plate, and then asked me for more! Never again will he be satisfied with plain Egos.
Side note: Milk required
I just made these for breakfast, and they were really good. Nice and crisp on the outside, tender inside. Not too much work either.
Thanks for a great recipe! I loved these!
you need to find a better way to make it easier to print out this web site. it a waste of paper to make all 17 pages print. thats just wrong this site is a joke.
Uuuh, okay. There is a link to a printer-friendly format (“Print”) at the base of each entry, before the comments begin. For this entry, the link brings you to this page.
Nice Jane.
Deb I am so excited to make these this morning, and comments have been SO helpful! I am going to try to make them and freeze the leftovers for quick frozen waffles the rest of the week. Thanks!
Great waffles! Delicious. I have to agree with the other poster, Justinian, about the pumpkin waffle recipe on epicurious – http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/PUMPKIN-WAFFLES-ULTIMATE-PUMPKIN-1270615 – which is extremely awesome, as well.
I think I must’ve done something wrong. My husband and I tried this but even after we sprayed our nonstick waffle iron, it still stuck. We eneded up with a crazy mess. Now a good tasting mess, but not quite the pretty waffles we were hoping for. Any suggestions?
Wow…this is just like the recipe I just read on Epicurious.com. Except separating the egg whites.
For those of you who have given up making waffles because they stick. First clean and dry your waffle iron plates to make sure you have removed all old butter, oil, stuck waffle bits, etc. Now spray your waffle iron with Pam high heat cooking spray, the kind used for cooking with woks. I have a 30 year old GE waffle maker that I got from my father-in-law. Nothing sticks to it now! I even use the reversable plates and make killer grilled cheese and grilled ruben sandwiches. The cheese slides right off with a damp towel. It’s best to wipe it down while still warm, something about the steam created by the damp paper towel loosens even burn’t cheese. I recommend using an oven glove as the steam given off can be very hot! Happy waffling!!!
Just made these but as pancakes because my Scooby Doo waffle iron makes teeny waffles and I would have been cooking them all day instead of eating them! Another huge hit! I used 1/2 c. wheat flour and sprinkled a few with pecans. Topped mine with applesauce and chantilly cream…hubby and I are stuffed but happy! And the kitten enjoyed licking pumpkin off the can lid. Silly girl.
These were so wonderful, my kids throughly enjoyed them. All three of them, which doesn’t always happen:) I posted it on my Home and Garden blog, not the recipe, I referred them back here. Thanks so much!!
Delicious! I just tried this recipe – breakfast for dinner, my favourite!. Didn’t change a thing.
we were all out of AP flour used KA white whole wheat and they came out a little fragile (tore easily) but otherwise super tasty! you could hardly tell there was whole wheat in there, yum. Great w/ warm cinnamon honey on top and breakfast soysages on the side. thanks for the recipe!
Nice photos! It brings to life the Gourmet magazine (via Epicurious) recipe from which you adapted these. But like the original recipe, they come out too wet. And the use of buttermilk vs. regular milk just makes the wetness/gumminess more of a problem.
@goodiegumdrops — I agree, they were very moist (I just made them for the first time today) at first, but once I starting leaving them on the waffle iron a bit longer, that helped. But, in both cases, these waffles were a huge hit with my wife, my three-year-old and my one-year-old. Great recipe.
That was the BEST waffles I have ever eaten. Thanks. I have never heard of folding in the egg whites like that, but my mom said that my grandmother used to do it. I don’t think I will ever enjoy waffles again unless I eat these!
Absolutely scrumptious. No problems with being too moist or falling apart. I always use my waffle iron on the highest setting, maybe this helped. I’ve stocked the freezer with extras!
Made them. LOVED THEM. Blogged about them. Have some sitting in my freezer waiting to be toasted for the rest of the week. Mmmmm.
I made these yesterday. Absolutely fabulous! These are the best freaking waffles.
I can’t wait to make these for my Thanksgiving brunch! Do you have any suggestions as to what to top them with? I thought I read somewhere of an apple butter recipe? I’m a newbie so any help is greatly appreciated!
Great recipe, thanks again Deb! Made them Saturday & they were fabulous with maple syrup. I did end up doubling the spices after tasting the first waffle–am a big fan of pumpkin pie spices and with double the spice they still weren’t overly strong. Great leftover warmed up in the toaster as well :-)
Made these this morning for a whole slew of family and they came out spectacularly! I used regular milk instead of buttermilk and pumpkin pie spice in place of the cloves and nutmeg (just using what I had on hand).
Deb, seriously, I’ve tried so many of your recipes that I thought at first glance were “out of my league” but they’ve all come out wonderfully. I trust your instructions so much that I made these for the first time with my in laws over expecting breakfast and with no back up plan. THANK YOU for making me look like I know what I’m doing in the kitchen :)
Made these for my sister over the weekend. We made a double batch because the recipe is basically for half a can of pumpkin and half the buttermilk we got. Luckily, they are yummy because I have 16 waffles in my fridge. We used both my waffle makers to get some speed. I usually like waffles more but I think pumpkin pancakes may be better than waffles….. but these are very good.
This was the recipe that made me an SK fan in the Fall of 2008. I adore these waffles. We have them for Sunday breakfast or a weeknight dinner at least 2-3 times a month. I’ve made them for my family as well as the in-laws. They are truly amazing. I use the VillaWare waffle iron from Williams-Sonoma on the 6th heat setting. PERFECT. A long owed thank you!!
I’m a little late to the pumpkin waffle party, as I just recently stumbled across your site while searching for a roasted potato recipe; I love it and spent hours looking through your archives and making lists of recipes to try! I was wondering what your thoughts would be on substituting mashed sweet potatoes for the pumpkin. A while back I was eating a sweet potato, and sweet-tooth me realized there was no brown sugar after my potato was cooked, so drizzled some maple syrup instead; and it was delightful, and inspired me to create some sweet potato pancakes; however I could not find a recipe and decided to wing it. While it was not a terrible disaster, it was rather disappointing as the sweet potato flavor did not really come through and the texture left something to be desired. I was also wondering like some other posters if waffle batter might be converted to pancake batter easily? Just wanted to say again how much I love your blog and have thoroughly enjoyed the few recipes I have had a chance to make (your key lime cheesecake was a huge hit especially since it was only my second cheesecake making experience; and I used the idea of your mustard roasted potatoes to roast some of the tastiest potatoes I have ever eaten) Thanks!
Could this recipe become gluten free by putting in quinoa flour for the regular flour and can I put in lactaid milk for regular milk? I saw a recipe of chocolate
waffles with only quinoa flour. It’s under Quinoa Cocoa Waffles on google.com.
Katie — I have not tried to make these gluten free but should you give it a spin, let us know how it goes. I am sure others will want to try the same! Thanks.
these are delish! i’ve made them now several times (as pancakes also) and they’re always perfect. i never have buttermilk on hand, but substitute 1 cup yogurt 1 cup of milk and they’re divine! thank you so much for the recipe. i’m a big fan.
not quite what i expected. unfortunately, i was a little disappointed…well, alot disappointed. i was so looking forward to these waffles. though the waffle was crispy and amber brown on the outside, the inside was doughy. i believe the issue is that this recipe is not intended for an eight inch Belgium waffle makers? i welcome any suggestions on how to get it right; i added 1/3 c. batter the iron, and then 1/2c. on the second try. there was still no difference.
These were the BEST waffles!!!! Yes, it took some time to get it all together but the end result was great, everyone loved them! Simply delish!
Deb: Just made these on Saturday-delicious. Could the batter be made the night before?
Oh my, these were fantastic. Worth the extra work (and I used fresh pumpkin because it’s all I had), really, really worth it.
I forgot to put the 6 T of butter in the waffles and they came out just fine. A lot healthier too! I used a regular waffle iron with 1 cup mix per waffle cooked for 3 min each. Didn’t stick, although waffles were not very crispy on outside. Might be because of missed butter. Loved them.
I was looking for the perfect pumpkin waffle recipe and I can’t wait to try this one. One problem, I don’t have buttermilk. What else can I use? Is it ok to just use milk?
You can make your own faux-buttermilk!
Quick tip: if you make Smitten’s pumpkin bread pudding on, say, a Thursday night, while watching 30 Rock, you’ll have just enough pumpkin left over from one can to whip these waffles up on a Saturday morning. Provided, of course, that you’re as devoted to pumpkin (and butter) as we are.
Also, yes, I made my own buttermilk (and swapped in 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour, for kicks) and they were absolutely delicious.
My husband says Aaaaaaaaaaamazing!
I just got done making these for my mom for mother’s day. She loved them, and requested them for next year. As always, you did wonderfully with this recipe. Thank you so much!
Those are the best waffles I have ever eaten in my life. I chopped up walnuts and put them in batter. I put real syrup,not imitation, over them. Out of this world, good!!!! Five stars is not enough!! Amazing!!
just made these and they turned out great… thanks!
Super fluffy and super yummy.
I substituted buttermilk with curdled almond milk, and it turned out well.
Thanks!
My family and I LOVE this recipe! It is delicious any time of year. Last weekend, I substituted soy milk (curdled with lemon juice) for the milk. I also used 1 cup white flour, 1/2 cup spelt flour, 1/2 cup almond flour, and 1/2 cup cornmeal. They were just as delicious and magically became “multigrain” as well.
I really enjoy this blog. Thanks for posting such easy, delicious, dishes. I have never made anything from this blog that didn’t become an instant favorite…
I will need to double the recipe next time-out of this world!!!!!!!
i do agree with the comments about them being slightly, “wet”…damp, maybe. i’d like to fix that if i could. BUT….marvelous even damp.
LOVED these! Made them this morning after searching on pinterest for a yummy pumpkin waffle recipe … am freezing the leftovers for quick snacks for the kids!
I just made a gluten free version subbing equal parts Bob Red Mills AP GF flour (I am not GF but jujst keep as package in the cupboard) and they turned out wonderful. Fluffly moist…. perfect. I would recomend this variation for a GF alternative. Solid recipe Deb!
Google led me here, when I was looking for a breakfast recipe to use some leftover pumpkin. Let me just say, sometimes recipes like this SOUND good, but don’t really deliver. This was all that and an extra helping. My (picky!) four year old had three helpings. And an hour later, she wandered back into the kitchen and asked if there were any more waffles. It’s a good thing this makes a big batch!
These are the absolute best pumpkin waffles! I have made these 3 times and plan to make them again this morning. The recipe makes a lot of waffles. I just saw the review about skipping the butter so I may try that this morning. A wonderful fall treat! Yum!
Oh so good! Just made these! Threw some chocolate chips in a few – some crystalized ginger in a few too. I like the latter, but my boyfriend thought they were weird. Delicious! Thanks for helping me use up my extra pureé!
Just made these and they are delicious! Thanks for the great recipe!
My husband is not really a breakfast bread sort of a person. He wants fresh fruit or a smoothie, or something light each day. This is probably the first time I’ve ever made a baked good for breakfast that he didn’t complain about.Meaning: he really really liked it. And you’re right…the house still smells delicious!
I made these for Thanksgiving brunch. Doubled the recipe because I didn’t think it would make enough, but that was a (delicious) mistake, now I can freeze some :)
The only change I made was to add some nutmeg. Excellent recipe.
Deb, this recipe is almost word-for-word the recipe Gourmet published in 2000. Aside from a couple small changes … the ingredients, their order, the quantities, and the directions match basically identically. Not very cool to steal others’ work, when you’re a prominent blogger. (frowny face)
Stealing would be passing off someone else’s work as my own — full credit is loudly given, as the recipe was wonderful and needed little change. The word “adapted” is used to give people a head’s up that the recipe is not exactly the same due to minor changes.
OMG baking is SO dependant on the ingredients, order and quantities. Chill Adam, artists interpretation. . . .
Amazing with pulled pork!
just made these with leftover frozen pumpkin — they were amazing and my two little boys devoured them. thanks so much.
what can I sub for the buttermilk? I like to make vegan breakfast when I can and these just sound so yummy. esp. cuase i love pumpkin so mucj!
My husband made these last night and we had them for dinner w/ some whipped cream he made up… I could have sworn I was eating pumpkin pie! They are amazing!
These sound great! How many waffles does it make?
Yum! I had a pie pumpkin from my CSA to use up, and this recipe made for a wonderful Sunday brunch. Thank you for always having such consistently delicious recipes. Yours is always the first blog I check when I need a recipe for a specific ingredient, or when I’m in the mood for something specific (hello, oatmeal cookies!)
I can always count on you for a good pumpkin or buttermilk recipe…but to incorporate both in one…you’re amazing!
I heard about this website last week from my mom’s friend and I’m soo glad I did! This morning I made this recipe for pumpkin waffles for my husband and I and they were out of this world! On top I added some sauteed apples (2 apples cooked iin a tad of butter, some brown sugar and cinnamon) and a squirt of whipped cream. I’m new to this whole cooking thing since we recently bought our first home, but this recipe was easy to follow, iinexpensive to make and really impressed him! THANK YOU! I can’t wait to try other recipes on here!
OMG! These are now my go to waffles. I only used it because it called for 1 cup of pumpkin, but they are amazing! And, they made so many that I will have plenty of them in the freezer for quick breakfasts. I didn’t have buttermilk or lemon juice/vinegar but I tried them anyway and I’m happy I did because they are my new flavorite! :D Oh, and I also added nutmeg because it is, in my opinion, a must in anything involving pumpkin.
These are wonderfully delicious! You might want to note that they make a bizillion if you use a regular waffle iron, instead of a Belgian waffle iron.
These were indeed the ultimate pumpkin waffles. I made these tonight, following the recipe to a “T”, and they were so tasty. No one spice overpowered and the flavor was spot on! Thank you for doing all the hard work in creating this recipe and then posting it so the rest of us don’t have to go through that and can jump to the end result which is a truly great recipe.
So good! Only had 1 cup buttermilk so I used 1 cup milk with it. Added some freshly grated nutmeg – perfect pumpkin waffles, thank you!! My sick 18-month old requested “vaffle” – so happy i could oblige him!
I made these! They are perfect. This recipe is a keeper!!
My 2 year old decided to pour the just-separated whites in with the rest of the egg mixture. Rather than throwing it out I kept going. Much to my surprise they were still light and fluffy like last time. We used white whole wheat flour for all of the flour, pumpkin pie spice for the spices, and runny homemade yogurt for the buttermilk. They were still delicious. Last time we made them following the recipe. Outstanding! Thanks for sharing.
These waffles are our family favorite. I just made them for the fourth time and based on our preferences, we increased all the spices a bit, using heaping measures. A dash or two of almond extract is nice too. I always use whole wheat for at least half of the flour and it still gives fluffy waffles. This makes a ton using a regular waffle iron, so for our family of three, I get to freeze at least 6-7 waffles for busy mornings…bonus!!
Well, you know you’ve influences your readers when one of them starts making these and just can’t help but brown the butter first!!
Hey there in America,- lovely recipe!!! But! Your German grandmother would never have ever accepted CANNED pumpkin. And why should you? Here in Germany nobody would ever use that (in fact, I do not think, we would get it somewhere). We all buy or grow neat little Hokaido-Pumpkins or any other kind of pumpkin and just cut them in pieces, boil those for a little while (say 10 minutes), puree it and have fresh and smoothe pumpkin puree. Though I have never ever tasted canned pumpkin I would suppose that it makes a HUGE difference, try! Lots of love from Heidelberg, Stephanie
Hi Stephanie — Actually, my German grandmother only made two things: brisket and egg noodles and had no quibbles with canned pumpkin in pies. The pumpkin tips are useful (I have my own prep suggestion, as well), but there’s no need to be unfriendly here. If people want to use canned pumpkin, nothing bad is going to happen.
In addition to Deb’s answer……canned pumpking serves a real function in that it’s consistent. Especially when making recipes for the public (as opposed to cooking only for yourself), what works for you will work for others because the product used will be the same.
Hello, I just made these and they are fantastic. Way less sugar than other recipes I saw (and honestly, we put maple syrup on out waffles so who needs sweet batter?). I was hoping to have some leftover to freeze but they were all gobbled up. The kid that would maybe eat half a waffle at breakfast ate 2! I had mine with smoked bacon and syrup on top, yum yum.
I love the texture and the slightly eggy taste. Now that Canadian Thanks giving is over I have stocked up on organic canned pumpkin (SUPER SALE!!). Buttermilk is also on sale this week for some reason, I might just have to make these again tomorrow!
Thank you!
I am delighted to find this website this morning. Looking for pumpkin waffles. This will do nicely!! :)
I tweaked this recipe to make apple waffles (had a lot of leftover apples from apple picking!). Used homemade apple sauce instead of pumpkin puree, reduced the sugar (since there was sugar in the apple sauce), left out the ginger and cloves but added a little allspice. They were fantastic! Wonderfully moist and fluffy. Can’t wait to try it again with pumpkin in a week or two…
Forgot to mention (in the apple waffle comment above) that I also used 1 cup of wheat flour and replaced half the butter w/ canola oil (husband has to watch his cholesterol)–they were still moist and wonderful!
Deb, oh Deb, what did I do before I found you? There I was, lamenting the fact that I could not find a good, let alone great, pumpkin pancake recipe, and I stumbled across your six-year-old pumpkin WAFFLE recipe. And it is brilliant! I made this this weekend, tossing a few chopped pecans into the waffle iron before ladling the batter in. Then I topped it with a little homemade applesauce with cinnamon and a dab of whipped cream. It was one of the best things I’ve had in years. You are amazing!
Found this recipe through the LifeHack blog. Waffles are already a favorite, but never thought of a pumpkin version. Delicious – Thank you!
Deb, would you share (if you haven’t already) your waffle iron recommendation? Thanks, for that, and for all of the recipes. You have been my ‘go to’ for years now!
I don’t own it (yet) but when I asked readers for a waffle iron suggestion on another recipe, dozens near unanimously recommended this one from Black and Decker. One plus is that it has removable waffle plates — easily washed!
Made these on Christmas morning for my hubby. A hit. An absolute hit. So delish.
You know you can freeze pumpkin purée, right? We can it (I know, I know…they say you can’t/shouldn’t…we’re rebels!!!) but we also freeze some!
We measure it out in one or two cup amounts and just put them in zipper bags! Flatten them out while pressing out the air and they stack nicely once frozen!!!
Just be sure to label how much is in each Baggie (we do both amounts, for use in different recipes).
Our dogs ADORE pumpkin purée “ice cubes” too!!! We just scoop some into ice cube trays and pop them out into a Baggie once they’re frozen. We grab out one for each of them as a cool (and nutritious) summer treat!!!
I’m new to this blog (recommended by another I follow – The Little Loaf) and just wanted to say I LOVE the ‘surprise me’ page. What a great idea! I’m a fairly new food (baking specifically) blogger and will be checking back here for inspiration I’m sure :)
Made these pumpkin waffles this morning for my roommates (and myself) and we all loved it! They got a nice level of crisp to them, and the flavor is divine. I ate mine with maple syrup and cream cheese, a combination I would definitely recommend. I halved the recipe, and that batter was enough for about 3-3.5 waffles using my round 8 or 9″ waffle maker.
I’ve been reading this blog for years, mostly to get some inspiration and for the beautiful pictures, but this is the first recipe I actually made. So glad I did.
These are awesome.
How many servings does this make?
Yikes, I never noted it when I made them. I’ll just have to make them again soon. :) A few people in the comments (such as 138, above you) mention getting 3 to 4 waffles but this will vary by waffle maker size and depth.
I just made these subbing in 1 c of whole wheat flour, and I skipped the egg-separating step because I am lazy. They came out great – the recipe made 6 Belgian waffles in my maker that uses approx 1 c batter apiece. My 3 yo ate hers dipped in olive oil because ours is in a very similar bottle to the maple syrup, and OBVIOUSLY the 3 yo can’t possibly be mistaken about what she wants… :)
The first one is out – and they are delicious! My kid, ages 2 and 5, are gathered around the plate on the floor, eating a section each. Winner! I used 2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour and a 1/3 cup almond meal. I used 3 T. butter and 3 T. coconut oil, mostly because I love coconut oil. As far as I can tell, then, this is a forgiving recipe – but the spice quantities are spot-on for flavorful but not overpowering. Thank you!
I’m sorry — these were just plain amazing! Made buttermilk with regular milk and vinegar. I can’t say enough about these waffles — proud that they have christened my new waffle iron (I’d never even made waffles before these). Thank you, as always, for the amazing recipe and clear instruction.
(Tried adding chocolate chips — they were great (obviously) but we liked the plain ones even better!!)
FYI – Don’t throw out milk that has just turned sour! (I’m not talking about the lumpy stuff … ieeewww) – but the stuff that is sour smelling – Added in place of regular milk for scones or other biscquits can take them from ordinary to extraordinary!
These were fantastic, thank you! I have lots of pumpkin puree to use, up, so I’ll be making another batch of these soon. I 1.5x the recipe for my family of 5. We got 22 square waffles, more than enough for dinner and breakfast tomorrow!
This recipie was delicious! I substituted the full pumpkin purée with half sweet potato and loved the extra sweetness. This recipie yielded about 7 waffles for me. Thanks so much! (Oh and also did this with sautéed apples and maple sausage – perfect!)
I’ve been making this recipe for two years now. My entire family absolutely loves it. Great pumpkin flavor and perfect texture. Thanks Deb!
These were delicious, but I had to add a bit of nutmeg and a bunch of chopped pecans! Happy Fall!!
I need a waffle iron–the circa 1930 one my parents got as a wedding present just doesn’t seem safe. Have you found one with removable plates? I thought I saw such a comment, but can’t find it.
Hi if I were to make my own puree how much would the recipe need?thanks
1 cup, still.
My husband baked pumpkin scones earlier this week and we had planned to make pumpkin waffles with the leftover pumpkin…and then I saw this recipe on twitter! It was a great recipe to break in our new waffle iron, the waffles came out very fluffy and we both enjoyed the spiced pumpkin flavor. We froze half of the leftovers for toasting later, the other half we’ll eat this week. Thanks for the great fall recipes!
I halved the recipe and made it with homemade pumpkin purée. They turned out great and were very flavorful. I would definitely make these again!
Waffles are a big deal in my family, and I love your blog. And cookbook. And pie crust. So… I’m not sure why it how it took me so very long for me to get to your waffle recipes. But I’m her now and I just want to say… They are all amazing!!! Yeast raised, gingerbread… Amazing. But these ones are special. They are actually better than my dad’s. Don’t tell my dad. Or, at least let’s wait to tell him until he had these. Pretty sure they’d charm anyone!!!
Love your recipes.
One question for you – If I replace flour with whole-wheat flour, should I bump up the baking soda amount? Any suggestions there?
Thank you
Shubha
when I “folk” the egg whites into the batter, do I use a banjo or mandolin? You are the bomb dot com, Deb! :)
Great waffles! My eight year old is chowing them right now. I used half batch and got 8 sizable waffles so I am glad I didn’t make the full batch for just the three of us. Maybe for a big brunch or party that would be good. Love the recipe. Did not have buttermilk (gasp) so I used the plain yogurt with water trick (3/4 cup of yogurt to 1/4 cup of water). Made it pretty thick but worked fine.
Do you know about powdered buttermilk? You can get it at any grocery store. It keeps forever if you refrigerate it after opening.
Freeze your puree! Just have to strain it a bit when thawing.
Made these dairy free with almond milk (and a little apple cider vinegar) instead of buttermilk and margarine instead of butter and they turned out absolutely amazing!
How many waffles does this recipe make?
These are delicious!!! I added a whole can of pumpkin by accident and it was fine!! My egg whites weren’t quite soft peaks either. As someone else mentioned, this recipe is very forgiving. Thank you DP!
We just made these delicious waffles for the first time. Thanks for this recipe, Deb! We will definitely make again.
The whole family loved these waffles! Not too sweet, which was perfect, and the texture was the best blend of fluffy and crispy. Guild the lily with some butter and a local pumpkin butter…yum!
I’m making your pumpkin 🎃 bread with a whole 15 ounce can of pumpkin! I loved the way the recipe came together so quickly. My next baking project will be your pumpkin sour cream topped baked pudding.
Due to being asked to stay in due to Corona Virus, I’m baking. Not sure if sharing with neighbors is ok ?????? Bread is in the oven !
These waffles are terrific and the recipe makes a boatload! I found a can of pumpkin in my pantry, and this was the solution. I did not have any buttermilk, so used some plain yogurt thinned with a little almond milk.
After nine years, still our favorite!
I made these with oat milk (didn’t have buttermilk in the fridge) and they turned out delicious! Great weekend breakfast for this time of year.
I love these. A lot. After making the first time, I wondered if I could turn this “3-Bowl” recipe into a “2-Bowl” recipe without sacrificing deliciousness. (Sometimes a 3-Bowl recipe looks like too steep a hill…) This was achieved by not separating the eggs. I also scaled back the butter to 4T from 6T, which didn’t cause any problems. And added pecans. All of these mods still resulted in awesome waffles.
FYI these aren’t listed under your waffle subcategory!
Can this recipe be adapted to make pancakes?
Ha, I just saw this question after commenting my pancake adaptation. I’m sure Deb would have excellent advice as well, but you can look at my comment to see what I did to make pancakes with this.
I’ve been looking for a good pumpkin pancake recipe, so I thought I’d try adapting these. Reduced eggs to three, and didn’t bother separating the whites; reduced butter and brown sugar to 1/4 cup each.
It made darn good pancakes.
I wanted to use the full can of pumpkin so I decreased buttermilk (using the powder) to 1.5 cup. Also used 2/3 white and 1/3 whole wheat flour. My eggs were medium sized but didn’t seem to affect the batter. Only had 3 tbs of butter left in the fridge so used oil for the rest (but Coooks Illustrated says oil makes crispier waffles anyway). Only used 1/4 cup brown sugar for personal preference. Waffles turned out great, crisp on the outside, airy on the inside!
Nice to know about the oil – thanks! 🎃
Do you know approximately how many waffles this makes?
Just posted and made a point to include this- made about ten waffles for me, in a round ~ 8 inch waffle iron. Should be part of the recipe IMO, I would have halved the recipe had I known ahead of time (but ended up with a nice amount of frozen waffles so can’t complain).
Thanks!! That’s great to know.
These were the best waffles ever! They smelled amazing too! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! 🎃
I made these with your revised proportions today – so good and soooo pumpkin-y. Will definitely be making again!
So tasty! Makes about ten waffles, so you could easily half the recipe for a smaller crowd. I didn’t have buttermilk so used 2% milk with 2 tablespoons of white vinegar added. We ate along with bacon as breakfast for dinner and my 4 year old was thrilled! Froze the remaining waffles too.
To me, these are really the only waffles worth eating. I make them about this time every year. My sole modification is canola oil instead of butter. I use at least three bowls and the kitchen is a total mess by the time I’m finished but I don’t care because the results are so delicious, either fresh or a few hours later when they’re a bit flabby, or after being frozen.
I wanted to love these, but they came out a little bland for me. I’m not sure if they needed more sugar, more spice, or more salt but they just didn’t taste as potent as I expected. I also felt the pumpkin flavour was lacking. Maple syrup improved things a bit and the texture was good but I just felt this recipe promised more than it delivered.
Delicious…and made them gluten free! I made these for dinner and already shared the recipe with my sister. I made these gluten free by substituting Bob’s 1-1 Baking Mix for the flour. I told my kids I was making “cinnamon and spice” waffles and they had no idea a pesky vegetable was hidden inside. This recipe is genius! Thank you, Deb!
We love these waffles…it’s a real crowd pleaser. I make them 2-3 times a month for my kids. It’s so forgiving…I’ve used many types of flour (whole wheat flour, gluten free, all purpose) and both butternut squash and pumpkin…and it always turns out delicious. I rebranded these a “cinnamon spice” waffles and leave out the details about pumpkin/squash … no one tell my kids 😇
I made these per the recipe and tried not to over mix. They turned out really dense and very moist inside even after extra time in the waffle iron. The extra time in the iron did finally get the outside a bit crispier, but almost burnt and inside was still over moist. I used a Belgium waffle iron. I thought they had a good flavor, but needed a lot more salt, and I added allspice bc I really like that flavor.
I really like all the recipes I have tried from your website. I work in a restaurant and found out the chef has used some of your recipes too. She said, SM is one of the few that she doesn’t alter. I thought, that is a pretty big compliment!
Do you have a favorite waffle iron?
Super Fluffy and delicious. I will add make again!
I subbed allspice for clove.
I used 3/4c for 7″ Belgian waffle maker.
It made 8.5 waffles.
My first one stuck and was not crisp at all. (Still very tender and just as delicious)
So, I turned up the heat & used a little more oil on the plates.
The rest came out perfectly and we’re lightly crisp.
They’re not very sweet which is great in my book.
I wonder if using 1/2 c. Brown sugar would increase the crisp/Browning factor?
How big of a can of pumpkin?
I made these with a TON of adjustments. Did oil instead of butter since I saw another reader posted that they read oil makes for crispier waffles, I used a mix of GF flour, I added a bit more sugar, I didn’t separate the eggs but just whisked all the liquid ingredients together, I did homemade buttermilk (whole milk with lemon juice added), and they turned out really dang good! My kids loved them, I would make them again!
Hey Deb, not sure you’ll see this anymore (and especially in light of the fact that it’s thanksgiving and things might be a bit .. busy). But I had a few questions about this recipe.
First, I just want to say I felt very betrayed by the fact that you didn’t warn us (ok, by the fact that I didn’t read first) that this recipe was way more involved that the average waffle! Halfway through realizing I needed to separate eggs and channel David Rose to fold that sh*t in had me in a panic. But afterwards I admit I was excited to have finally formed peaks with egg whites for the first time:)
Ok, on to the main issue. The waffles were soft. No crisp whatsoever. I’m pretty certain I didn’t overmix (they weren’t dense or chewy) and they were definitely fully cooked all the way through. But the outsides were just as soft as the insides. It was so sad😭
The flavor also seemed lacking a bit?
The only thing different was I didn’t have buttermilk on hand (I told you the recipe needed a warning!) so I made some with vinegar and the only milk I had – oat. Butter was also vegan. Everything else was the same. I did notice the recipe seemed very liquidy, but double checked the ingredients and I’m 99% sure I did everything correctly.
Any ideas what the problem might be? I have a round electric waffle maker, 8” I think. Maybe the heat doesn’t get high enough? I also saw you mentioned throwing out old eggs in the intro .. are old eggs bad to use? Mine often sit in my fridge quite a while (depending on current random eating prefs of my kid 🙄), but never to where they seem off. How about the vegan butter, or lack of real buttermilk?
Thanks in advance, and happy food-and-family day to you.
My first waffle was soft so, I turned up the heat and it was crisp on the outside tender on the inside. I hope this helps. My family thought they were awesome. Try them again with the buttermilk. & check that your vegan butter has the same water content as cow butter.
These are a huge hit in my household right now Despite the fact that “pumpkin season” is past (I’m writing this in late January) we keep making them every Sunday.
If any OTHER recipe told me to separate the eggs and use three bowls to make waffles I would have skipped on by but I trust that if Deb tells me to use three bowl and separate the eggs, it will be worth it.
A few notes – out of sheer laziness I use 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice and then 1 more of cinnamon. We like a touch more salt to bump up the flavor. Mixing the brown sugar into the dry ingredients was wonky due to the damp nature of brown sugar, but mixing it in with the wet ingredients worked fine. Freezes and reheats for school day breakfasts beautifully.