Well I made up all that pumpkin spice, so it seems like a waste not to use it. And that’s all I’ve got to say about that.
Pumpkin is one of those things that I have mixed feelings about. When you do use a ton of it in a baked good like a pancake, it’s really dense and doesn’t bake through well… it can have a doughy consistency if you don’t cook it enough. If you don’t use a lot of puree, I find it doesn’t have a strong taste.
If you go the latter route, it is kind of a cheap and easy way to add a shot of vegetables to your breakfast without messing with the taste or texture of them much. You get a beautiful golden orange pancake that tastes of a hint of pumpkin, but mostly cinnamon and spice and everything nice. The spice mixture goes heavenly with the dusky sweetness of medium dark pure maple syrup.
Sunday morning is pancake morning at my house; this week I changed it up from the regular ones with these little gems. It took some scowling to get the kid to try these “weird orange pancakes” but I think he’s come around to them with a little health chat. Now he likes to talk about how pumpkin is an excellent source of vitamin A.
- 1 heaping cup pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)
- 1 1/2 cups milk or alternative + 1/4 cup
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin spice mix
- 1 pinch ground cloves
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3 tbsp coconut palm sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1/2 tsp coarse salt
- Heat griddle over medium high heat.
- Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl.
- In a second bowl, whisk pumpkin, egg and 1 1/2 cups milk together until no clumps of pumpkin puree remain. Add oil and vinegar. Whisk the flour mixture into the wet mixture until just combined, adding more milk from the remaining 1/4 cup if mixture is too thick.
- Pour onto griddle by the 1/4 cup, and cook approx. two minutes per side, or until golden brown and cooked through (mixture is a little bit denser than traditional pancakes).
- Serve with pure maple syrup.
