Healthy Pumpkin Waffles
When autumn comes knocking on your door, there's one thing we all look forward to-pumpkin-flavored everything, including pumpkin waffles! These 100% whole grain waffles are tinted orange, spiced with the perfect flavors of fall, and come with a heavy hand of pumpkin.
🔍 Recipe At-A-Glance: Healthy Pumpkin Waffles
- ⏰ Prep Time: 25 minutes
- 🕰️ Cook Time: 30 minutes
- 🎃 Flavor Profile: Tender waffles packed with pumpkin and warm fall spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
- 🍁 Good For: Fall brunches, slow Sunday mornings, or even weekday mornings.
- 🔄 Make Ahead: Freeze fully cooled waffles in a single layer for toaster waffles that are delicious any day of the week!
- 🧡 Difficulty: Simple as can be.
"I just made these this morning and they were delicious and super easy! I love that it's just one bowl and no beating and folding in egg whites."
- AMY -
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🧡 Why You'll Love This Recipe
What better way to start your day than with the warm, comforting aroma of freshly made pumpkin waffles wafting through your kitchen? We've been making these since our kiddo was a toddler, and they are still as much of a favorite now as they were in 2016. Let's make some waffles!
Here's why you'll love this recipe:
- 100% whole grain: These pumpkin waffles are not only 100% whole grain, but they're still fluffy on the inside and crunchy on the outside (just like a good waffle should be!).
- For any occasion: You can serve these up decadent style with whipped cream and maple syrup at brunch with an apple cider mimosa, or slather them with homemade yogurt and fruit for a healthy, autumnal breakfast. We even love a toppings bar at a waffle party.
- Make ahead: These waffles do great in the freezer, and come out perfectly crisp when toasted!
🧇 The Ingredients You Need
- White whole wheat flour: This waffle recipe actually comes courtesy of my oldest sister, who is known countrywide as maybe the best waffle maker on the planet. You've heard me sing the praises of white whole wheat before, but just in case someone hasn't heard about it, I gotta go over it again. White whole wheat flour (I really like Bob's Red Mill Ivory Wheat Flour or King Arthur Flour's Organic White Whole Wheat) is a 100% whole grain flour-just like whole wheat flour. It's a GREAT flour to use if you are trying to get more whole grains into your family's diet, but they are struggling with the (admittedly cardboard-y) taste and texture of regular whole wheat flour. You can also try it in my whole wheat pumpkin bread!
- Pumpkin puree: You can make pumpkin puree or use the canned stuff. Both will work just fine!
- Cornstarch: The cornstarch is the secret ingredient that gives these waffles their crisp outsides while still staying perfectly soft on the inside.
Make sure to check the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, along with quantities and my expert tips and tricks.
🔁 Variations & Substitutions
- Add chocolate chips: Add chocolate chips (or white chocolate chips!) to the batter, just like in my chocolate chip waffle recipe.
- Pumpkin pecan waffles: Add finely chopped pecans to the batter. It's important that the pecans be in very small pieces, or they will keep the iron from closing all the way and cooking the waffles through.
- Healthy or decadent: Pumpkin waffles are like a blank canvas just waiting for your creativity in toppings. We particularly love these pumpkin waffles with whipped cream, chopped pecans, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. They are also great with a dollop of yogurt and some fresh or cooked fruit (try them with my coconut yogurt recipe)!
- Double the pumpkin, double the fun: Top these waffles with slow cooker pumpkin butter or homemade pumpkin spice syrup for even more pumpkin flavor.
🥣 How to Make Pumpkin Waffles
Step 1: Whisk the dry ingredients together. Easy-peasy.
Step 2: Add the pumpkin, milk, eggs, oil, and vanilla, stirring until there are no dry spots left. Let the batter rest for 15 minutes-this time is key to getting a tender waffle.
Step 3: Pour waffle batter into an ungreased waffle iron, and cook until browned and crisp. You'll need anywhere from ⅓ cup - 1 cup of batter per waffle, depending on the size of your waffle iron.
🙋🏻♀️ Pumpkin Waffles FAQs
Try these waffles with the classic butter and maple syrup, or go with whipped cream and chopped nuts, stewed apples, or cinnamon butter. We also enjoy them with yogurt and fruit on a weekday!
Cornstarch! The cornstarch makes the outside of the waffles crispy while keeping the insides tender.
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👩🏻🍳 My Expert Tips & Tricks
- DIY freezer waffles: We love to make a double batch of these waffles so that we can stock the freezer. Cook the waffles all the way through, and allow them to cool completely on a wire rack. Arrange the cooled waffles in a single layer on baking sheets and freeze, and then transfer to a freezer bag. Now you have your own homemade waffles ready to pop in the toaster on a busy morning!
- Keep them crisp: Set finished waffles in a single layer on wire racks. If you lay them out on a baking sheet or plate, the steam from the hot waffles will soften the edges by the time all the waffles are cooked and ready to eat. On a wire rack, air can circulate all around the waffles and the steam can escape, which equals crispy waffles!
🎃 More Tasty Pumpkin Recipes
If you tried these healthy pumpkin waffles or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments!
📖 Recipe
Healthy Pumpkin Waffles
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups white whole wheat flour
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil or melted coconut oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and spices in a large bowl.
- Add the pumpkin puree, milk, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Stir just until there are no dry spots left. Rest for 15 minutes.
- Cook by pouring ½-1 cup of batter (depending on the size of your waffle iron) onto a ungreased waffle iron and cooking until brown and crisp.
Notes
- Lay finished waffles in a single layer on wire racks. This will let air circulate all around the waffles, keeping them crisp. If you stack them on a baking sheet or plate, they will steam each other and you'll end up with too-soft waffles.
- Make sure you let the batter rest for that 15 minutes to get the best, most tender, waffles.
- Spread cooled waffles in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze, then move to a labeled freezer bag. Toast on any busy morning when you want some waffles!
These waffles are one of the favorite fall breakfasts in my household! Even the kids love them, and they don't typically like pumpkin—the cornstarch gives the waffles such a perfect texture!
These were really good. My husband and granddaughter lived them and they rose well and had good flavor. Like it that they actually have real pumpkin in them!!
Thanks so much, Joan! We're so happy to hear that you and your family enjoyed the waffles. Having real pumpkin in your pumpkin goodies is one of the best parts of making your own!
Made these over the weekend and they were insanely good! Can't say I only ate "1 serving" though 🙂
Ha, fair enough!
Thank you for the great recipe. Love the golden hue of these precious cakes.
I just found your blog today while looking for a nursing pillow cover pattern/tutorial, and I'm loving it here! We've always tried eating healthy, but are constantly learning more and changing more, so I'm always on the lookout for new recipes and ideas. Breakfast usually has me the most stumped!
Quick question - we don't have a waffle iron. Would this recipe work ok for pancakes? It's pumpkin spice season 365 days a year around here too, so I'm dying to try this recipe!
You could try it! I think pancake batter typically has a little less fat than waffle batter, so you might want to cut back on the oil a bit, but I'm not sure by how much.
I just made these this morning and they were delicious and super easy! I love that it's just one bowl and no beating and folding in egg whites. I made a double batch and used a standard can of pumpkin purée and although that's about a half cup less than what the recipe called for, they were perfect! I also used whole wheat pastry flour as that's what I had on hand. Thank you!!!
WOW! that looks and sounds good and wait to try these. Thanks!
Yum! Your 'cooking with toddler' tales reminds me of my kiddo. Delighted to find corn inside all those husks, he insists on having several bites of the newly-revealed cob. ....with every cob. Everyone likes their corn with a bite or two missing, right? Sigh.
Yay for baking with Boogie! Nora is just getting into cooking too; most of her pretend play these days revolves around cooking and she likes to join me for baking and making smoothies ("zimmie!") - oh, and I found a magic trick that might work for other toddlers! Whenever I'm cutting vegetables for lunch or dinner, she wants to sample everything and keeps coming back for more. So she ends up nomming on raw onion, raw garlic, raw cabbage, and other stuff she wouldn't normally be into if I put it on her plate.
Juni is that way with veggies, too! She was eating whole handfuls of raw green peppers the other day. She never would if it was on her dinner plate!
Looks good and healthy too. Can the batter be made the night before? I'd like to make it tonight, first day of school is tomorrow.
You know, I've never tried it, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. Just make sure to stash it the fridge. And let me know how they turn out!
Yum! This looks soooo goood!
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