Pumpkin Waffle Sunday Brunch

Sometimes you just want to make something nice for your sweet husband. Keeping in mind that his favourite thing on earth is pumpkin pie, I thought I would take a stab at making some Pumpkin Waffles.

Well, let me tell you, it was a hit! Served alongside some turkey sausage and fresh fruit... part of a complete breakfast!

I love my waffle maker, it's like magic... just take about a 1/2 cup of batter....

...and just like magic- about 5 minutes later- you have a crispy waffle on the outside and a tasty, soft waffle on the inside.

Served with some delicious fruits... all orange- just a coincidence- and you have a real delicious brunch filled with whole, grain, fibre and packed with vitamins and a punch of colour.

Here's the recipe:

Pumpkin Waffles

 (adapted from http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2007/11/pumpkin-waffles/)

 ·         2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour ( I used whole wheat flour)
·         1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
·         2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
·         1 teaspoon baking soda
·         1/2 teaspoon salt
·         2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
·         1 teaspoon ground ginger
·         1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
·         4 large eggs, separated
·         2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
·         1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
·         3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
·         Vegetable oil for brushing waffle iron or cooking spray
 

Preheat oven to 250°F and preheat waffle iron. Sift together flour, brown sugar, baking powder and soda, salt, and spices. Whisk egg yolks in a large bowl with buttermilk, pumpkin, and butter until smooth. Whisk in dry ingredients just until combined.

In a mixing bowl with a whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites until they hold soft peaks (as in, far softer than the over-beaten whites you’ll see in my picture above). Folk them gently into the waffle batter, until just combined.

Brush waffle iron lightly with oil and spoon batter (about 2 cups for four 4-inch Belgian waffles) into waffle iron, spreading quickly. Cook according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Transfer waffles to rack in oven to keep warm and crisp. Make more waffles in same manner.

Smile and warm melting butter approved!

Banana Maple Pecan Waffles

Here's a little something I whipped up one morning. I felt like celebrating... so I used my whole wheat pancake recipe as the batter- and REALLY jazzed it up.

Here's the link to my batter recipes, a very healthy beginning... http://simmerandglimmer.blogspot.ca/2011/11/whole-wheat-pancakes-and-turkey-bacon.html

... chopped up bananas- a healthy contribution too.

...brown sugar, walnuts... ok bordering on some little indulgence.

...ok definite indulgence, add some butter, some maple syrup and then.... you get the picture?

Finished product, just put a little bit of this little indulgent mixture on your waflles, pancakes, frozen yogurt or a shoe and you have been just transported to an amazing banana, walnut, maple trip!

And you know... I couldn't resist showing some residual Mickey Mouse wear! Happy Baking to you all!

Breakfast of Champions... with my Champions

Not too long ago I took my family to a nice little breakfast place not too far from our home called the Daylight Grill in Clarkson. This place could have been a disaster.... food choice wise- I could have had a traditional old-fashioned greasy breakfast, but no...

...with my Champions- Brent and Melanie

...my cup of coffee in hand...

I made a wise, healthier choice. A belgian waffle with fresh fruit. It was delicious, and with the fruit you don't need to put too much maple syrup on. A restaurant waffle has about 300 calories and, 10g of fat and 5g of protein... so it's not a bad meal at all. You just might be hungrier sooner after your breakfast because there is not that much protein... but I had a few bites of Melanie's scrambled eggs. Thanks for sharing cutie! 

Low Fat Whole Wheat Banana Waffles

After watching an episode of The Amazing Race recently where the contestants were in Belgium and their challenge was to make waffles, I was inspired to make our own healthy version for dinner one night.

Low Fat Whole Wheat Banana Waffles (adapted from food.com)

Ingredients

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar or 2 tablespoons Splenda sugar substitute

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup skim milk

2 ripe bananas

2 eggs

1/8 cup dark chocolate chunks (I used 85% Lindt squares, smashed up)

Directions:

Heat your waffle maker up.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, cocoa, and salt and mix.

Mash the bananas. Add the water, skim milk, vanilla, and egg to the mashed bananas and mix.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir. Add the dark chocolate chunks.

Spray waffle maker with Pam, place about a half cup of batter on the waffle maker and cook until golden brown.

Makes 4 giant waffles.

Add a chopped banana on top and about 2 Tbsp of pure maple syrup.

Nutritional Information: (waffle, syrup, banana)

414 calories

81g carbs

10g fat

15g protein

9g fibre