Every boy and every girl – spice up your life! Anyone else a Spice Girls fan? I couldn’t resist. This time of year we’re all spicing up our lives – with pumpkin spice that is. Pumpkin is IN along with other seasonal flavors like cinnamon, maple, and chai. Now’s the time to spice things up in the kitchen and bring some fall favorites to your table.
These pumpkin spice waffles are one of my go-to breakfast recipes from now through the holiday season. Whether are looking for an excuse to use up the big batch of slow cooker pumpkin puree you made this week or want to put a seasonal treat on the table for Thanksgiving, it’s always a good time for these waffles.
Make a big batch for a holiday breakfast or make them when you’re meal-prepping for the week. Freeze them in bags and quickly reheat in the morning in the oven or toaster.
Serve theses waffles with maple syrup, butter and cinnamon sugar, or pumpkin butter for a super seasonal snack. Go ahead and leave your waffle maker on the counter – these will be on your table throughout pumpkin season.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together milk, pumpkin, oil, sugar and eggs.
Gradually add milk mixture to flour mixture. Stir until just blended.
Pour batter into waffle baker. For amounts of batter to use and cooking times, follow your waffle baker directions. Be sure to bake until steam stops escaping from waffle baker and waffles are golden brown.
To serve, spread waffles with cinnamon butter and drizzle with maple syrup.
Recipe Notes
Test Kitchen Tips: Homemade waffle batter may take longer to cook than packaged pancake and waffle mix. The packaged mix waffles are done in about 5 minutes. Made from scratch recipes take a few minutes more. The Belgian waffle grid holds more batter than a traditional grid. Recipes give a range of batter to use, for example, 1/2 to 3/4 cup. The larger amount should be used for a Belgian waffle grid. For this recipe, we used 2/3 to 1 cup batter. While finishing the rest of the batch of waffles, keep the baked waffles warm and crisp by placing directly on the rack in a 200°F oven. Waffles can be frozen and then reheated. Make a large batch ahead of time and let cool on a cooling rack. Freeze in airtight storage bags then heat in an oven or microwave.
When the leaves start to change colors, pumpkin everything starts to line the shelves at the grocery store. Pumpkin beer, pumpkin coffee creamer, pumpkin granola – you name it. While it’s easy to pick up your favourite pumpkin spice treats at the store, it’s prime time to get in the kitchen and make some homemade goodies. It’s fall y’all!
One of our favourite fall recipes is pumpkin bread. Eat it warm and toasted for breakfast, as an afterschool snack with fresh apple slices or handful of dried cranberries, or even for dessert with a dollop of whipped cream or caramel ice cream. The Test Kitchen’s recipe is even topped with pumpkin seeds. Don’t buy those at the grocery store either, and plan to make this pumpkin loaf after a night or carving pumpkins with the family.
In a small bowl, stir together whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, ginger, baking soda, allspice and baking powder.
In a large bowl, use a Hamilton Beach® hand mixer to beat together eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, milk and vanilla extract. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the dry ingredients until well blended.
Add the batter into a prepared bread pan and sprinkle with a generous amount of pumpkin seeds. Get creative with a fall-inspired design or simply sprinkle them on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 55 minutes until the bread is fully cooked.
You’ll make this pumpkin bread all season long. Make it for the neighbours to welcome fall or have a loaf in the kitchen as a go-to for breakfast or dessert on chilly days.
Warm, comforting meals are officially in season. There’s just something about colder weather that invokes cravings for squash and pumpkin.
This slow cooker soup is a wonderful, yet simple, fall dinner when served with crusty bread or dinner rolls. Have you ever tried pumpkin soup? It’s a great way to use the pumpkin puree we made in the slow cooker last week. Instead of focusing on the sweetness, sage, garlic and onion make the pumpkin shine. It takes only a few minutes to put together, and the slow cooker does the rest. Top the finished soup with sour cream, crisp bacon and toasted pumpkin seeds to add a nice crunch to the creamy soup.
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter. Cook onion and garlic for 2 minutes. Stir in pumpkin, vegetable broth, sage, salt and pepper. Add mixture to slow cooker crock.
Cover slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 2 hours or LOW for 4 hours.
Stir in milk and set on WARM for 30 minutes before serving.
Serve with sour cream, crumbled bacon and pumpkin seeds.
Fall is here and the local pumpkin patches are full of families searching for just the right jack-o-lantern to decorate the front porch. A chill in the air makes you crave hot beverages and those favorite fall flavors like cinnamon, apples and – of course – pumpkin.
Combining the tastes of fall, pumpkin donuts make a delicious breakfast or dessert topped with ice cream and perhaps a drizzle of caramel. Making your own donuts does take some effort, but when you bite into this warm treat covered in cinnamon-sugar, you’ll be rewarded. We make them in a deep fryer to ensure a crisp, even coating and a soft interior.
These donuts are cake-style, meaning you won’t have to wait for the dough to rise and you can satisfy your donut craving even sooner. The dough comes together very quickly, and after a quick rest in the refrigerator, they’re ready to roll. Kids love to help roll out dough and cut out donut shapes. Save the donut holes and fry them last. They are delicious little leftovers – or a secret reward for the hungry cook!
Using the deep fryer, donuts take just two minutes to cook. Cool them on a wire rack lined with paper towels. A quick shake in a resealable plastic bag of cinnamon sugar completes the process. Grab a mug of hot cider and enjoy!
With a mixer on medium speed, beat pumpkin, brown sugar, buttermilk, oil and egg until blended.
Gradually stir in flour, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, salt, ginger, nutmeg and allspice until well blended. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
Heat oil in deep fryer with basket to 375ºF.
Roll dough to 3/8-inch thickness on floured surface. Using a floured donut cutter, cut donuts. Gather pieces, roll and cut again. Repeat cutting and rolling with remaining dough.
Carefully, lower donuts into deep fryer. Cook 1 minute and turn over. (Donut will raise to the surface before 1 minute.)
Cook an additional minute. Remove to a wire rack lined with paper towels. Cool 5 minutes.
Shake sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a resealable plastic bag to combine. Add donuts, two at a time to bag. Seal bag and shake until donuts are coated with cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Recipe Notes
Use extra dough to make donut holes. Shake them in the cinnamon-sugar mixture after frying for a delicious snack.
We know canned pumpkin is easy to use and tastes fine, but in our eyes, nothing beats homemade. Pumpkin puree is actually quite easy to make at home, especially in a slow cooker. Use your finished puree in soups, breads and pies all season long. Freeze any leftovers in plastic bags or store it in jars in the fridge. All it takes is a couple pie pumpkins, a slow cooker and a food processor or blender.
Start by prepping the pumpkins with a good rinse. Then, use a knife to cut out the stem of each pumpkin.
Remove the stems and discard. You won’t need them anymore.
Slice each pumpkin in half.
Use a large spoon to scoop out the seeds and fibrous insides. Reserve the seeds if you want to make toasted pumpkin seeds later. (Highly recommended by us, of course!)
Place the pumpkin pieces and water in the slow cooker crock. The water isn’t absolutely necessary, but it helps the pumpkin steam faster.
Set the timer on your slow cooker and check on the pumpkins when it goes off, about 2 hours. The outer skin should be easily pricked by a fork, and the flesh should be soft.
Use a large spoon to scoop out the pumpkin flesh, then toss the pumpkin skins. Add the pumpkin flesh to a food processor or blender (or large container if using a hand blender).
Process the pumpkin until it becomes a smooth puree. This won’t take long, since the pumpkin is so soft.
Store the puree in jars in the refrigerator or use plastic bags to freeze it. Now you can make tasty soups, delicious pies, smoothies, bread pudding or even pumpkin butter. Check back soon for our favorite recipes using homemade pumpkin puree.
