I feel like I have been slacking on the blog lately, since I have been sewing, sewing, sewing! But I’ll take a break from the needle to share a little festive recipe this morning. Whether you’re celebrating Halloween or Reformation day, or just glad it’s fall, this is a wonderful, comfort food kind of breakfast- Pumpkin Waffles! I’m trying to think of a funny cooking anecdote to go along with this recipe, but for now, here are your ingredients (just ignore the baking soda- there isn’t really any in this recipe.)

I am doubling the original recipe here, because I like to make a lot and freeze the leftovers for future breakfasts. But I’ll give you the regular measurements as I go. Start with your wet ingredients. In a large bowl, combine

1 cup of pumpkin puree, either canned or fresh
I cup of buttermilk (regular milk works fine)
1/2 a stick of butter melted
A splash of vanilla (not pictured)

Now I like to separate my eggs for waffles. This is not absolutely necessary, but if you beat your egg whites, it makes for a nice light and crispy waffle. So either crack two eggs into the bowl, or just the yolks, and set the whites aside.

Now for the dry ingredients. In another bowl, stir together
2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 cup of sugar
Your favorite pumpkin spices to taste- here I used about 1/2 tsp nutmeg and a hefty dose of cinnamon

Add the dry to the wet and stir until barely combined.

If you separated your eggs, now is the time to get out your mixer and beat them until they are stiff.

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Aren’t eggs amazing?
Just gently fold the whites into your batter. It should be fairly thick when combined.

Now get your waffle iron, (or irons as the case may be) warmed up.

Ooh, wait, I just remembered a funny waffle anecdote! Humor me, would ya?
Back when we were young, carefree and child free, (is that redundant?) my sister and brother in law came for a visit. I decided to make these waffles for breakfast. All went well- no baking powder mis-measurements or burnt waffles. But we were in a hurry to get out the door for something, and instead of pulling the last waffle out, I just unplugged the iron, so it would stop cooking, and off we went. When we got home hours later, I grabbed the iron and stuck it back in the cabinet, never thinking to check if there was still a waffle in it.

Had it been a regular waffle, it probably would have simply dried into a crispy waffle cracker, no harm done. But because of the moist, sugary pumpkin content, it grew into something black, hairy and terrifying. The next time we had waffles, say about three weeks later, I of course didn’t check the iron to see if there was an old growth of waffle inside, but plugged it in to warm it up. The resulting smell was truly the stuff of Halloween horror stories. When I finally discovered the source, I could hardly open the thing. Not only was I afraid, but it was pretty well glued together by three week old pumpkin muck. I was brave enough to try to clean it, but all the non stick covering came peeling off with the old waffle, so it ended up in the trash. Let that be a lesson to us all. Don’t leave these waffles in your waffle iron!

So as I have been rambling on, you should have made a decent stack of waffles by now. These are great with maple syrup of course, but since it’s a holiday, I decided to make a fabulous little sauce that we only have on very special occasions, since it really is positively sinful. Toffee sauce!
And here you were, thinking I was gonna post a recipe without whipping cream. Trick or treat!
In a saucepan, if you dare, combine

1/2 cup brown sugar
1 stick of butter
1 cup of heavy cream

Told you it was sinful. Now let it come to a simmer until it is nicely combined and a wonderful toffee color.

This sauce goes well with tons of things- over cakes, on ice cream, and you wouldn’t believe what it does to a cinnamon roll. But today, pour it liberally over your crispy, spicy, delicious waffles, and don’t think about tomorrow. It is bulky sweater season after all!

Happy Fall!