Pumpkin Pancakes

As much as I rant against all the hoarding this year, I kind of hoarded canned pumpkin.  Instead of the one can I usually buy in the Fall, I ended up with three.  Maybe it's because it is the first Fall in my memory that we haven't done any pumpkin-flavored items at work.  I'm in a bit of withdrawal.  However, the bathroom scale is grateful that I'm not putting a 600-calorie frosted pumpkin muffin out of its misery 2-3 times a week.

While I've done pumpkin waffles on this blog, I guess I haven't done pancakes.  Maybe I've just been eating them at IHOP.  Haven't treated myself to breakfast out since February, which is a long time to go without someone else making the pancakes.

The recipe I chose to post here is from The Salty Marshmallow, which is a really cute blog name.  I'm posting a half-recipe, to adhere to my 4-serving convention.  My pancakes must have been a lot smaller than hers, because I got 19 out of the half recipe, while her full one made 12.  I'm just calling the batter 4 servings, and you can decide how big to make the pancakes.

I used my cinnamon extract instead of vanilla, just for the heck of it.  It isn't strong enough yet, because these were not overwhelmingly spiced.  Use whatever kind of extract you like with pumpkin.

1 C flour

1/2 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

*3/4 tsp cinnamon

*1/4 tsp ground ginger

*1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

2 Tb butter, melted and cooled

2 Tb granulated sugar

2 Tb brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 C pumpkin purée

1 egg

*3/4 C milk

oil for pan

1.  In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and spices.  In a separate small bowl, whisk together butter, both sugars, extract, pumpkin, egg, and milk.  Stir wet into dry until just combined and set aside for 5 minutes, to hydrate.

2.  Start preheating a nonstick griddle over medium-high heat.  The original recipe used pan spray, but I like to oil my pans because pancakes are really slightly fried.

3.  When hot, pour pancake batter onto griddle.  I like my pancakes silver-dollar size, about 2 tablespoons.  1/4 cup is still easy to flip.  Cook until tops set up, about 5 minutes for the first batch and 3 afterwards.  Flip pancakes and cook the bottoms for about 2 minutes.  This is when you're really going to notice them rise.

4.  Serve hot, with a drizzle of maple syrup and more spices if desired.  To keep the whole batch warm and serve at the same time, set the oven to 200ºF and keep them on a covered oven-safe platter until ready.

Difficulty rating  π