Sasha Elenko, Co-Content Editor
You wake up much too early to the heartbreakingly dismal sound of rain outside your window. You know that eventually you will have to leave the heavenly confines of your bed, but any thought of what comes next feels as empty and hopeless as the looming pit in your stomach.
It’s times like these that make the rich array of aromatic pleasantries called Thanksgiving so appealing. You begin to submerge yourself in nostalgic fantasies of pumpkin pie and apple cider, only to come to the crude realization that it’s only Sunday.
What you really need is the consolatory embrace of dense, warm waffles. To be specific, whole wheat pumpkin spice waffles. Here’s a recipe I conjured while laying in bed with a blissful cup of hot chocolate in each hand.
Dry Ingredients
2 ⅓ cup whole wheat pastry flour
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ginger powder
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
Optional: ¼ cup pecans or hazelnuts, finely chopped
Wet Ingredients
4 eggs, separated
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 ⅓ cup hazelnut milk
¼ cup maple syrup
Toppings
3 soft pears, thinly sliced
Maple syrup
OR
Frosting or glaze
Preparation
- Whip the egg whites using an electric or hand mixer until voluminous and frothy.
- Add pumpkin puree, butter, hazelnut milk, and maple syrup.
- Combine dry ingredients, plus any additional spices of choice, adjusting cinnamon and ground nutmeg quantities based on preference.
- Combine wet and dry ingredients. Mix until smooth, but do not overmix.
- Cook on medium-high heat in a waffle iron, preferably one with large squares.
Serve hot with sliced pears and maple syrup.
OR
Make mini-waffles using approximately 3 tablespoons in each quadrant of the waffle iron, then coat with glaze or melted frosting and refrigerate for later.