I just love fall and fall traditions! For years, one of our traditions was pumpkin pancakes for breakfast on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. This year being all 2020, we switched things up. Instead of pancakes, we had Spiced Pumpkin Waffles for supper on Thursday three weeks before Thanksgiving.

Using Fresh Pumpkin

Personally, I prefer fresh pumpkin over canned. If you have never used fresh pumpkin before, don’t stress! It’s super easy.

Step 1: Choose a small pie pumpkin or sugar pie pumpkin. (The two are the same, they just different names in different parts of the country.) It is important that you use a pie pumpkin, not a carving pumpkin. Carving pumpkins are stringier and not as flavorful.

Step 2: Turn on your oven to 350°. Give the pumpkin with a quick rinse. Place in a shallow dish, such as a pie plate or quiche dish. Add water to about an inch deep. Place the dish in the oven and bake until the pumpkin can be easily pierced with a fork. The bake time will depend on the size of the pumpkin, but an hour and a half is the average.

Step 3: Remove baked pumpkin from the oven and allow to cool completely. Once it is cool, peel the pumpkin and remove seeds. Store in refrigerator in a sealed container or wrapped in plastic until ready to use.

If you use canned pumpkin, be sure to buy plain pumpkin, not spiced pumpkin.

Cooking Tips

When mixing pancake batter, leaving a few lumps is fine since you don’t want to over mix. When mixing waffle batter, you want the batter to be smooth.

Letting waffle batter rest for 5 minutes before baking is a very important step!

Spiced Pumpkin Waffles Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose or bread flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tablespoons pie spice
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups pumpkin
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups milk
• chopped walnuts or pecans, optional

Directions

1. Stir dry ingredients together. Set aside.
2. Place eggs, pumpkin, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, & milk into blender. Blend until smooth. If batter is too thick, add milk in small amounts until it is the right consistency.
3. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients with pumpkin mixture until well blended.
4. Set batter aside to rest for 5 minutes. While batter is resting, heat your waffle iron as directed by the manufacturer.
5. Once the batter has rested & iron is heated, cook the waffles as directed by the manufacturer.
6. Serve with butter, syrup, & chopped nuts, if desired.

More Waffle Recipes

• Classic Buttermilk Waffles
• Banana Waffles
• Blueberry Waffles
• Oatmeal Pecan Waffles