No Waffling About These Waffles

I love a lazy Sunday morning. We don't see them very often, so when they happen, we revel in them. Because these rare moments usually involve food, I have a whole host of delicious, seasonal brunch recipes such as pancakes, stratas, benedicts, hot cereals and the occasional waffle. My husband, Mike, has just one recipe - spicy Bloody Mary's, which usually accompany our brunch options.

I still waffle on the waffle. It's a once or twice a year indulgence that requires special equipment. Like my mother did, we keep our maker in a cabinet far removed from the everyday workings of the kitchen, right next to my lion head soup bowls and wire asparagus steamer insert (used exactly once).

A cup of leftover pumpkin inspired this Sunday's waffle-making endeavor. Mixing the batter together, Thor and I co-created this recipe with a little of this and a little of that after using the Sweet Potato Waffle recipe from Bill and Cheryl Jamison's A Real American Breakfast as a rough model.

Crispy on the exterior, soft and warm on the inside with crevices to hold the spicy-sweet maple syrup, I remembered why I love waffles and wondered why we don't make them more often.

Pumpkin Waffles
4 servings

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cardamom
1 ½ cups pumpkin puree
1 cup 2 % milk
3 large eggs, separated
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons honey

Stir together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom in a large bowl. Mix together the pumpkin, milk, egg yolks, honey, and butter in a medium bowl. Heat a waffle iron. Beat the egg whites with a mixer until stiff. Fold the egg whites into the batter. Cook the waffles according to directions of the waffle-iron’s manufacturer. Serve immediately or hold for a short while in a 200º F oven. Serve with maple syrup.

For the Bloody Mary recipe, you'd have to look up my husband.

Kids Cooking Tips
Kids love measuring and mixing the ingredients as well as watching the transformation of the egg whites from viscous goo to fluffy clouds

Provenance
Whole wheat flour from Ackerman's (IL)
Pumpkin from Genesis (IL)
Milk and butter from Organic Valley (WI)
Eggs from Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm (IL)
Honey from Heritage Prairie Market (IL)
Maple syrup from Burton's Maplewood Farm (IN)