pumpkin waffles with honey & cinnamon butter

I’ve been inside a lot recently. In my lounge room, surrounded by stacks of paper-clipped, stapled, scribbled-on photocopies. In my kitchen, highlighting passages with one hand, putting bread into the toaster with the other. In my bed, waking up to find my face stuck to a book. Comfy.

Quincy watches me, head cocked to one side, thinking: ‘She’s lost it. My owner has lost it. She’d better not forget my crackers.’

I haven’t been cooking, or even eating, really. I mean I eat, but I don’t know what. Half a pineapple my Mum bought me at the market, all in one go? A spoonful of peanut butter, standing at the fridge? 375g of corn kernels, straight out of the can? Yes, yes and yes.

I’m not depressed. But I am writing a thesis. This evening, for 45 minutes I pretended that I wasn’t. This is what happened:

Heaven is a place where your thesis is finished and it smells like pumpkin waffles with honey and cinnamon butter all the time.

I’ll be there soon.


Pumpkin waffles with honey and cinnamon butter
Adapted from THE recipe at Pumpkin Waffles Blog
Makes 6 waffles (not the Belgian kind)

For honey & cinnamon butter:

75 gm unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp honey

For waffles:

350 gm pumpkin, cut into chunks
50 gm brown sugar
25 gm corn flour
150 gm plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1½ tsp cinnamon
1½ tsp ginger
½ tsp cloves
¾ tsp nutmeg
2 large eggs
I cup buttermilk
55 gm butter, melted

1. To make honey & cinnamon butter, beat cinnamon and honey into softened butter. Cover and place in refrigerator.
2. For waffles, roast pumpkin pieces (with skin) until soft. Remove from oven, cool and mash.
3. Turn your waffle iron on to heat!
4. Combine dry ingredients. Start with brown sugar and corn flour, whisk to combine and break up lumps. Add remaining dry ingredients and whisk again.
5. Separate your eggs, putting yolks into a medium sized bowl. Set whites aside in a smaller bowl.
5. Add mashed pumpkin and buttermilk to egg yolks. Whisk to combine and set aside.
7. Beat egg whites (with your hand mixer or your mixmaster) until stiff peaks form and set aside.
8. Pour melted butter into the pumpkin mixture, whisking to combine.
9. Add pumpkin mixture to dry ingredients, and mix until just combined. Try to avoid mixing! A few visible streaks of flour is fine.
10. Fold egg whites gently into mixture until combined.
11. Cook the babies! My waffle iron takes about two big soupspoons of batter for each waffle and I cook them for around 4 minutes. You may need to experiment a little though.