Pumpkin Pancakes
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These homemade pumpkin pancakes are filled with warm spices and plenty of room for chocolate chips or chopped nuts if you want to add them. They are thick, soft, and quick to make. Top with your favorite toppings including maple syrup, toasted nuts, or pumpkin spice whipped cream.
THESE PANCAKES ARE THICK & FLAVORFUL
While I’m typically a savory breakfast kind of girl, when it comes to pumpkin, everything changes. Give me pumpkin coffee cake, pumpkin cinnamon rolls, pumpkin French toast casserole, and pumpkin overnight oats any day. And don’t forget the pumpkin spice coffee creamer to wash it all down.
There’s nothing worse, though, than thin, flat pancakes that can’t hold up to toppings. These fluffy pumpkin pancakes are nice and thick and packed with spiced flavor. They keep well in the refrigerator (or freezer) and reheat beautifully, promising a mouthwatering, cozy bite every time.
YOU WILL LOVE THIS EASY PUMPKIN PANCAKE RECIPE
I know, a pancake mix is super easy, but homemade is unparalleled. It’s important you follow the recipe exactly, as the ratios of wet to dry ingredients will insure you don’t wind up with dense, flavorless pancakes.
My favorite part? They lend well to chocolate chips, nuts, or even sprinkles. We taste-tested all 3 types in our house, you know, for scientific purposes. Be sure you’re putting these add-ins into the tops of the cooking pancakes as opposed to the batter. Toppings can sometimes sink during cooking and burn since the initial cook is a bit longer than the second side.
Of course, you can always add toppings later, buffet style. I do love a good pancake bar!
INGREDIENTS FOR PUMPKIN PANCAKES
You only need 11 ingredients to make these pancakes, but be sure all of them are at room temperature, even the pumpkin.
ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR: I have not tested this pumpkin pancake recipe with whole wheat flour.
BAKING POWDER & SODA: the combination of both leaveners will insure your pancakes are not only thick but also fluffy.
CINNAMON & PUMPKIN PIE SPICE: this combination of fall spices brings the best flavor! Feel free to add in some of your other favorite spices like nutmeg, ginger, cloves, or even cardamom.
PUMPKIN PURÉE: I have not tested this recipe with fresh pumpkin, but usually find that it’s a bit too “earthy” for sweet recipes. If you are familiar and comfortable with using fresh pumpkin, by all means, go for it.
BROWN SUGAR: the deep sweetness of brown sugar lends well to pumpkin, and also brings some extra moisture.
EGG: this will bind everything together. You can use an egg substitute if you’d like to keep these pumpkin pancakes vegan.
OIL: I tested these pancakes with butter, but preferred the moisture level with oil. I usually use vegetable oil, but melted coconut or canola oil would work just fine.
MILK: whole milk is my preference as it brings tenderness to pancakes. You can use any kind, even dairy-free to keep them vegan, but know that the lower fat may make them a little less rich than intended.
OVERVIEW: HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN PANCAKES
MAKE THE BATTER: you’ll start by whisking together the dry ingredients, then the wet ingredients, and then bring them together.
LET THE BATTER REST: this will help saturate the flour as well as let the baking soda and baking powder form gasses and air bubbles to make the pancakes fluffy.
PREHEAT THE PAN/GRIDDLE: you want to make sure your pan is hot. Not too hot, of course! We don’t want to burn the pancakes. I usually preheat my pan for at least 5 minutes.
COOK THE PANCAKES: drop batter onto your cooking surface, cooking as many pancakes at a time as you can fit without crowding. I usually do 3-4 pancakes in my large skillet.
SUCCESS TIPS
While this batter is pretty smooth, it may be lumpier than you would like, which often happens to me when I use leftover pumpkin rather than fresh from the can. You can use a mixer or blender to make the batter nice and smooth, but be sure you’re doing that before adding the dry ingredients.
Don’t overmix the batter once the dry ingredients are in. Overmixing pancake batter can lead to dense, tough pancakes.
Be sure you’re letting the batter rest. This will help the leaveners create gasses to help lift the pancakes. I do this with my bakery style chocolate chip muffin batter, too, and they are so tall and puffy!
Preheat your cooking surface before dropping batter onto it to cook. Be sure you’re using medium heat for your pancakes, otherwise they may burn.
Look for holes around the edges of the pancakes before flipping them to cook the other side.
If you want to add chocolate chips, nuts, or sprinkles, be sure you’re adding them to the tops of the cooking pancakes before the batter is completely set.
HOW TO SERVE PUMPKIN PANCAKES
Personally, I love my pumpkin spice pancakes with a simple smear of butter and a drizzle of pure maple syrup, but you can also consider salted caramel sauce, bourbon caramel sauce (no judging!) fresh whipped cream, or pumpkin spice whipped cream.
Pumpkin Pancakes Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour be sure to measure properly
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 and ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 and ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 and ½ cups pumpkin purée1
- ⅓ cup (67g) firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature2
- 2 Tablespoons (28mL) vegetable oil
- 1 cup (240mL) milk room temperature2; I prefer whole, but any is fine
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice until combined. Set aside.2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 and ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 and ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- In a medium size bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, brown sugar, egg, oil, and milk until it is relatively smooth. If your mixture seems like it's extra lumpy, you can use a mixer or blender to make it smoother.1 and ½ cups pumpkin purée1, ⅓ cup (67g) firmly packed light brown sugar, 1 large egg, 2 Tablespoons (28mL) vegetable oil, 1 cup (240mL) milk
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk gently to combine, making sure there are no pockets of flour at the bottom of the bowl. Allow the batter to rest for 15 minutes.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. You can also use an electric griddle– heat to 375°F (190°C). Once your surface is hot, coat it generously with butter or nonstick cooking spray.
- Drop a heaping ¼ cup of batter on the skillet/griddle (I like to use an ice cream scoop with a trigger), filling as many spaces as you can without crowding. If you want to add chocolate chips or nuts, drop some into the top of the pancake into the wet batter before it starts to set.
- Cook pancakes until the edges look set and you start to see holes in the surface around the border, about 2–3 minutes. Flip the pancakes and cook the other side until cooked through, about 1–2 more minutes. Coat griddle/skillet again, as needed, for subsequent batches of pancakes.
- Serve pancakes immediately or keep them warm in a preheated 200°F (93°C) oven until all of the pancakes are cooked. Cover and store leftover pancakes in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Pancakes freeze well, up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator and warm as necessary.
Notes
- Pumpkin: I always measure pumpkin purée with measuring cups as the moisture content can wildly change the weight measurements, depending on the brand.
- Room temperature ingredients: ingredients that are at room temperature incorporate into batter much better than cold ingredients do. Be sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature, including the pumpkin.
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
These were bomb!! So easy, everyone loved them, they didn’t last long.
Thanks so much, Emily!