Welcome to the 4th annual Virtual Pumpkin Party! If you're not familiar, this party is a day in October where a bunch of food bloggers (about 60 this year) band together to shower the internet with a ton of new and exciting pumpkin recipes. If you thought pumpkins were just for pie and PSLs - think again, my friend. Every year I'm always so amazed by the creativity of the bloggers who contribute recipes. This year our selection includes everything from soup to quesadillas to croissants. You can find all of them (plus the full catalog of recipes from past years) over on the Virtual Pumpkin Party home page.

Over the winter I had an idea for a recipe I wanted to include this year, and I had even started testing it months ago. Unfortunately, due to some digestive issues I've been sorting out, I've been following a low FODMAP diet more or less since April. Two main food groups to avoid with that diet are gluten and dairy, and let's just say my initial plan for this pumpkin party involved a LOT of gluten and dairy. Please pray for me that I don't have a gluten intolerance so I can hopefully finalize that recipe for next year's party.

Instead of my original plan, this year I turned to a riff on a recipe I've been making a lot lately: a pumpkin version of my favorite protein waffles, which happen to be gluten-free and dairy-free. As much as I love sharing recipes for more special occasions (like my double chocolate cake with raspberry jam), I also love to share my favorite everyday recipes. I make these waffles a lot on the weekends for a breakfast that feels special and indulgent while also filling me up. They often follow a morning workout, so I like having that protein in there for sticking power. This pumpkin version is a nice way to switch things up for the cozy season ahead of us. Plus it's a great way to use up leftover pumpkin if you only used part of a can for something else. (If you're looking for the regular, non-pumpkin version of this recipe, you can find it over on my Instagram.)

Like I said earlier, they're naturally gluten-free and dairy-free. I usually make them with almond flour, but it's not great to have a ton of almond flour on a low FODMAP diet, so I tried it with oat flour. The recipe works wonderfully both ways, so feel free to try either one (or maybe even try it half and half).

This recipe is single-serving, so it's a real treat-yo-self moment. Sip some coffee or kombucha, listen to a podcast or your favorite Saturday music, and whip these up for yourself. That's how I like to do it. It starts my weekend off right and then I can boss the rest of my day since my workout and breakfast are out of the way.

Be sure to head over to the Virtual Pumpkin Party home page to check out all of the other participating recipes from this year and past years. In fact, you might want to just go ahead and bookmark that page so you can get ideas for your pumpkin cravings all season long. If you're a blogger and you'd like to participate next year, you can sign up to be on the list to be notified right here. You can also follow along with the fun on social media by following #virtualpumpkinparty.

As always, I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who participated. It always warms my heart to see so many bloggers coming together to stretch their creative recipe muscles. Happy Pumpkin Party-ing!

Illustration at top created with Illustrator and Photoshop.
Prints of my illustration (as well as other products with my work on them) are available in my Society6 shop.

Pumpkin Protein Waffles

Makes one serving (3 waffles). Gluten-free and dairy-free.

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp (40g) almond meal OR 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp (50g) oat flour
1 scoop (25g) vanilla protein powder (see note)
1 tsp chia seeds
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of sea salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
dash of each: ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves
1/2 cup almond milk (or other milk of choice)
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 1/2 tbsp neutral oil (like olive oil or sunflower oil, etc.)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
For your waffle iron: non-stick cooking spray like coconut oil or olive oil spray

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat up your waffle iron while you prep your batter. I use this waffle iron and put it to heat setting 4.
In a medium bowl, whisk together your almond meal or oat flour, protein powder, chia seeds, baking powder, sea salt, cinnamon and other spices.
In a small bowl, mix together the almond milk, pumpkin puree, oil, vanilla and egg until smooth.
Add your wet mixture to your dry mixture and stir with a spatula until thoroughly combined.
Open your waffle iron and spray the top and bottom generously with cooking spray. Place 1/3 cup of waffle batter into the center of your iron and then spray the top of the batter with more cooking spray. This helps to prevent sticking. Close your waffle iron and cook until it beeps/changes color/whatever your waffle iron likes to do.
Repeat two more times with the rest of the batter.
Enjoy with butter, maple syrup, etc!

NOTES

I use the Tone It Up plant-based vanilla protein powder for this, which works extremely well for baking. (I prefer their organic version in my smoothies, but I use the regular kind for waffles and their other baking recipes.) It's readily available at Target. If you're using a different protein powder, you may have to tweak the recipe slightly to adjust for sweetness, etc. This recipe is pretty forgiving, so play around with it to suit your favorite protein powder.
adapted from Tone It Up via Teen Vogue