Crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, you’re going to love these homemade Pumpkin Waffles. Take your breakfast up a notch with this autumnal twist on a classic.
Preheat the oven to 180F and place a baking tray with a wire rack inside.
Preheat waffle iron to medium-high.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
In another bowl, whisk together pumpkin, milk, eggs, melted butter, and brown sugar until smooth. Pour into the flour mixture. Stir together just until combined.
Lightly spray your waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray or brush with melted butter. Scoop about 1/2 cup of batter into the waffle iron, or 1/2 cup per well if your waffle maker makes multiple at a time. Cook according to the manufacturer's instructions. (Mine took about 3 minutes.)
Open the waffle iron and remove the waffle using a fork or waffle tongs. Place in the oven on the wire rack to keep warm while cooking the rest of the waffles. Serve hot with butter and maple syrup.
Notes
The dry and wet ingredients have to be combined separately first. Doing so ensures the baking powder and baking soda will evenly distribute throughout the batter without overmixing.
Stir just until the dry ingredients are mixed. If you overmix the batter, the waffles will form gluten and become dense instead of light and airy.
A couple of lumps in the waffle batter is fine as they’ll disappear as they cook.
For the best results, the waffle iron needs to be fully heated before the batter goes in for a crispy exterior and soft interior.
Not all canned pumpkin is the same. Libby’s is my preferred brand as it is thick with a rich color. Different brands may be lighter in color and more watery in their consistency. You might have to blot the pumpkin if you use another brand of pumpkin purée as you don’t want the waffle batter to be runny.
Measure your flour correctly! Adding too much flour to the recipe is the most common mistake that will yield dry and dense pumpkin waffles. The best and easiest way to measure flour is by using a scale. If you don’t have one, then fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and use a knife to level it off.
Make sure your brown sugar is soft and moist for the best pumpkin waffles. If your brown sugar has hardened, don’t worry, it’s an easy fix! I wrote a detailed post on how to soften brown sugar.