Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes

I rarely make pancakes.  I remember the first time that I made them.  It was on cooking day in my junior high home economics class.  I was excited as this was something that I would know how to cook for my parents for Saturday breakfast....it was a total disaster.  We were having the district Superintendent visit our classroom and he was going to eat pancakes with my cooking station....I repeat, total disaster. Sadly, the pancakes were burned on the outside and raw on the inside.  How embarrassing is that?

From that day forward I knew that I could not make pancakes and the few times that I did make an effort, I had a similar disaster...so being paranoid about it, I crossed them off of my list.  That is until this year...I kept seeing and reading about pumpkin pancakes.  That said I decided that I was now should be grown up enough to make a pancake that wasn't burned and raw!

And, I did!

Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes

Yield:  8-10 pancakes

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 Tbsp light brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 cup milk
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat griddle or 10-inch skillet to medium heat.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients:  flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves, set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients:  milk, egg, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and whisk gently until combined.  Set aside for five minutes.

Once the griddle or skillet comes to temperature, brush vegetable oil on the surface.  Wipe off any excess with a paper towel.

Ladle 1/3 cup of the batter onto the griddle for each pancake.  Do not crowd the pancakes.  Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the edges are set and the bubbles around the edges are open and set.  Flip and cook on the second side for an additional two minutes or until golden brown.  Serve immediately.

(While cooking the pancakes it may be necessary to adjust the heat.)

Leftover pancakes can be frozen for up to one month.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

The pancakes were served with a choice of maple syrup or Pumpkin Pecan Butter.  Either way was delicious!

What prompted me to brush the paranoia aside and try to make pancakes, was The Secret Recipe Club.
I was assigned Danielle's blog, Mostly Food and Crafts.  As I perused the breakfast recipes on her blog I spied the Spiced Pumpkin Pans.  Surely I could make them if her daughter could!  I was ready for breakfast...I was ready for pumpkin...I was ready for...pancakes...I was inspired...and I am very happy that I was.

I did make some adjustments to the recipe as I didn't have any pumpkin spice in the pantry and I only wanted to make a small batch.  My daughters who always told me that their grandmother's pancakes were the best...certainly would not say that about these...move over grandma.  You have competition.