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.
During the week, my go-to breakfast is a classic egg and cheese breakfast sandwich. It’s quick (under 5 minutes), thanks to the Breakfast Sandwich Maker. While the Breakfast Sandwich Maker never disappoints, sometimes I crave a little something sweet in the morning. That’s when the breakfast decisions get really difficult. “Do I want pancakes? What about big Belgian waffles? There’s always fluffy French toast. Hmmmm.”
The Test Kitchen blew my mind when they told me I didn’t necessarily have to choose. I could merge two sweet breakfast sensations into one best-of-both-worlds recipe – French Toast Waffles.
The recipe reads like you’re making classic French Toast but instead of cooking it on the stovetop, break out your waffle maker. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Dip slices of bread into the mixture and coat on both sides. Place the dipped bread on the waffle plate and bake for 6 to 8 minutes – depending upon how crispy you like your waffles.
We topped these French toast waffles with a big pat of butter and a generous drizzle of maple syrup, but you could definitely add fresh berries or whipped cream (or both – yum). Whether you are serving them for a mid-week treat or at Mother’s Day brunch, French toast waffles are a breakfast food merger you’ve been waiting for.
Waffles are one of my favourite breakfast & brunch foods. They are easy to stack, top, and customize. Introducing the tater tot waffle. That’s right, a waffle completely made of tater tots. Did I just hear your jaw hit the floor?
Tater tot waffles are incredibly easy to make and so tasty. All you need is a bag of your favorite frozen tater tots and a waffle maker.
Let the tater tots thaw in the fridge or microwave them for a few minutes for a quick fix. We loaded a paper plate with a single layer of tots which was just the right amount to fill the waffle maker. If you don’t want to use a plate for reference, just fill the waffle maker grid with a single layer of tater tots (you can put them all the way to the edge, they won’t overflow like batter would when you close the waffle maker).
Lower the top of the waffle maker and cook for 10 minutes until the tot waffle is browned and crispy.
The Test Kitchen topped the #totwaffle – yes, it’s a hashtag now – with a fried egg (egg yolk and crispy tater tots are a match made in brunch heaven), but the taste panel decided there’s not much that wouldn’t be delicious atop this waffle. Shredded buffalo chicken? Absolutely. You favourite chili and a heaping helping of cheese? No doubt. Whether you are taking your at-home brunch menu to the next level or incorporating it into your weeknight dinner routine, you’ll find the family and friends requesting it time and time again.
Arrange tater tots on waffle grid, completely filling grid.
Close waffle maker and cook 10 minutes or until browned and crisp.
Top with favorite toppings.
Note: Tater tots need to be completely thawed in order to press into the waffle grid. They can be defrosted in the microwave oven. For 40 tater tots, arrange in a single layer on a microwave-safe plate and microwave on HIGH for 1 to 2 minutes.
I think it’s safe to say that the holiday season is the best time of year to satisfy your sweet tooth. Whether you are drinking hot chocolate, partaking in an all-day cookie baking marathon (I wonder how much cookie dough I’ll eat between now and December 25th?), or snacking on red and green M&Ms, there are plenty of sweets to enjoy. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year.
You can find me in the kitchen baking cookies, brownies, and pies throughout the holiday season. But the Test Kitchen wanted to add another sweet treat into the mix – fluffy, wonderful waffles. These holiday waffles are sure to satisfy your cravings for a little something sweet this holiday season, morning, noon and night.
Like pancakes, waffles are easily customizable. We loved the idea of combining some of our favorite holiday flavors in waffle batter and mixing up the holiday breakfast routine.
Top gingerbread waffles with a zesty lemon spread or a mound of whipped cream. Gingerbread and lemon is a combination that can’t be beat. Serve with your favorite gingerbread-flavored coffee for an extra seasonal breakfast.
Our pumpkin spice waffles are wonderful during the fall and winter months when pumpkin-flavoured-everything invades grocery stores and restaurants. Highlight the cinnamon in the recipe by topping them with a cinnamon butter and your favorite maple syrup. Bonus points if you make your own pumpkin puree in the slow cooker.
Finally, these red velvet waffles are colour-coded for the holidays. Skip the syrup and top these vibrant waffles with cream cheese icing (move over, cupcakes) or whipped cream for a decadent dessert waffle. Let the kids have fun covering theirs with red and green sprinkles. We highly recommend keeping this recipe in your back pocket until February and decorating these red waffles for your sweetie on Valentine’s Day.
With an ultra flip design, this waffle maker expertly bakes golden brown, fluffy waffles and gives you total flipping control so you can create restaurant-quality results right at home.
