Breakfast for Dinner

It's autumn! And therefore socially acceptable to go pumpkin-crazy! Between the rushed school-day mornings, the chilly air and the fact that the sun seems to set a little earlier each day, it's also the perfect time of year to have breakfast for dinner. So... why not combine the two? Make pumpkin waffles... for dinner!

I found this recipe on a website the other day and practically wet my pants. I love pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie, pumpkin everything! So I really don't know why this had never occurred to me before, but now I feel it is my duty to the world to share the discovery:

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 C flour
3 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
2 t cinnamon (or more)
1 t nutmeg (or more)
1 t ground ginger (or more)
1 pinch salt
2 eggs
1/4 C brown sugar
1 T vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (Boo! No canned pumpkin, I will explain the better option)
1 2/3 cups milk
2 t melted butter

So, as expected, I changed the recipe a bit... The first thing you want to do is avoid using canned pumpkin if you can help it. Instead, cut up your pumpkin into medium-size cubes and boil them in water (about half-way up the pot) for a while (about ten minutes) until you can easily pierce through the cubes with a fork. Strain the water out and mush up the pumpkin with a fork. My mom was kind enough to do this for me the night before and then we jut kept it in the fridge.
























Make sure the pumpkin has cooled before you use it. Once this is ready, mix all the dry ingredients together, adding other spices if you want or messing with the quantities to see what suits you.


















Set this mixture aside and beat the rest of the ingredients together in a different bowl.

















Next, mix the two together, making sure that you don't over-beat the mixture.
























Make waffles! Or you can make pancakes if you prefer. You can serve them with bacon or sausages if you want a more substantial dinner or just eat them by themselves! I put some butter and maple syrup on my first waffle but decided with the second that they're quite nice on their own too so it's really up to you to experiment.
























The recipe I found claimed to only make five small waffles so I decided to double the recipe. The result? I have about 21 waffles. This is fine though, you can keep some batter in the fridge or freeze the waffles for another occasion.

Enjoy!