Whole Wheat Pumpkin Spice Waffles

Pumpkin isn't something you normally read about in blogland in December.  I'm a little behind with my posts as my computer crashed.  I was hoping that my husband would have been able to get things working as he's done so many times before.  Sadly, everything is gone.  He wants to break it down and sell the parts.  I don't even want to think about that!  Fortunately, we've got a new computer on the way and my photos were still stored on my camera's memory card so...whew...it's not a total loss! 

Speaking of my husband, he hasn't developed the taste for healthy food yet (he considers the lettuce and tomato you get in a cheeseburger to be adequate veggie intake for the day).  I've tried subbing whole wheat flour in other waffle recipes before but my husband would always say, "This tastes healthy."  Which translates to "while this is edible -- I prefer not to eat these again."  

When he came home and smelled the pumpkin waffles cooking, he had to try one even though he had already eaten breakfast at work.  His response?  "These are good."  These waffles have my husband's stamp of approval and I feel better feeding this to my family knowing that they're a little healthier than the usual waffle.  So, without further adieu, here is the recipe for the Pecan Pumpkin Spice Waffles.  

Ingredients:  1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour (use any combination of flour that you would like.  This is what I do but alter it according to your tastes!)   1/3 cup white sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 cup milk 1/2 cup pumpkin puree 2 tablespoons melted butter (use all butter or all olive oil if that's what you want to do!) 2 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce 2 eggs 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract *1/2 cup chopped pecans ~ optional

Directions:

1.	Preheat a waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions. Combine whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. Set aside.
2.	Beat together milk, pumpkin puree, butter, oil, applesauce, eggs and vanilla. Stir flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture along with the pecans.  (Or if you prefer you can toast the pecans and sprinkle on top)
3.	Ladle the batter onto the preheated waffle iron. Cook the waffles until golden and crisp, 5 to 7 minutes.

Recipe adapted from: AllRecipes.com