Living in the Dominican Republic has many summertime perks. We don't do summertime sadness here because, well, it's always summer. You can go to the beach in the middle of January and not freeze your patoots off. It's a nice change for this January baby to be able to plan a birthday that will not be cancelled due to the looming and fast approaching winter snowstorm of the century. Buuuuut, with an eternal summer comes an extinct autumn. I've got that autumn-time sadness. So because the Dominican Republic won't give me fall, I've got to go get her. This past weekend, for our family breakfasts, I decided to make pumpkin apple pecan waffles. We purchased a waffle maker from another abroad teacher moving to Bangladesh, so I was super thrilled to use our new to us waffle maker for my fall recipe.

PUMPKIN APPLE PECAN WAFFLES

What you’ll need:

waffle maker
2 apples, peeled and cored (Pears would be a great substitute!)
cinnamon
sugar
Bisquick or an alternative waffle mix
milk
eggs
pumpkin pie filling
pecans (I prefer finely chopped or halves over whole pecans. You can also use walnuts.)

Part Uno:
First, I peeled and cored two apples.  Then I chopped them into bite size pieces.  I filled a pot with enough water to coat the bottom and put the apples inside. I added cinnamon and a tablespoon of sugar to cover the apples.  I mixed them a little, covered, and cooked over low heat as I stirred them occasionally.  This will give you time to make the waffle batter without burning the apples.  With the apples on the stove, and the delicious autumny aroma filling the kitchen, I got started on the waffle mix. Next, I plugged in the waffle maker and let it heat up.  I set it on medium high to high heat to prevent the mixture from becoming doughy which can happen with the extra ingredients in it.  Of course, your preference might be different.  Experiment! 

Part Deux:
For the waffles, I used Bisquick. Sorry, but with two kids under two, I don't have time to make batter from scratch-ola so, yes, Bisquick. The Bisquick batter calls for:

2 cups of Bisquick, 1 cup of milk, and 2 eggs

I mixed these ingredients together and then added 1/2 a can of pumpkin pie filling.  You can add more or less depending on your taste. Stir the pumpkin pie filling into the batter making sure most of the clumps are out, and then add pecans.  Once my apples were ready, usually when the water has evaporated, and they are soft and deee-licious, I added them to the mixture and stirred.

Part Three:
By now, my waffle maker was ready for its first batch!  After preparing it with cooking spray, I scooped up some batter with a ladle and poured it into the waffle maker. You might need to help the batter along since the apple chunks and pecans will make it difficult for the batter to spread out.

Finally, I closed the waffle maker and waited for it to give me the green light. Literally.  It gave me a green light; smart waffle maker.  Using tongs to avoid burning my fingers, I grabbed my deeeelish waffles and then repeated until no batter was left behind [NBLB].  I believe this policy was put in place by George W. in 2001.

Part Yum:
Once I was done waffle making, I served them to my hungry family with a touch of apple sauce and syrup for extra amazingness. Boooom!

Welcome autumn if only for my morning breakfast!

P.S. A little Starbucks VIA Ready Brew Pumpkin Spice accompaniment didn’t hurt either.

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