Pumpkin pancakes with sauteed apples
Now that my daughters are teenagers (sigh), I encourage them to invite their girlfriends to have sleepovers at our house on the weekends. I don’t always get my wish, but I do like having them home so I can keep an eye on everyone and then I don’t worry so much. Not only that, but the girls’ friends give me more gossip than they do, and enquiring moms want to know! Last weekend, my husband and Mr. Picky were away on a guy’s trip and I had 6 girls keeping me company. I used to dread sleepovers because there would always be one early bird that would wake everyone up at 5:00 am and then you had a Miss Cranky Pants to deal with the rest of the day. Let me tell you, some sleep mechanism kicks in when the kids hit middle school and then you can’t wake them before noon if your life depended on it.
Last Sunday, I was able to get in a workout and shower before I heard the first signs of life at 10:30 am. Still foggy and misty out, I wanted to make a cozy breakfast for everyone. I had cooked some fresh pumpkin puree the day before with pumpkin pancakes in mind — my absolute favorite! Before I even got started, the 13-year-olds were mumbling something about not being hungry. I would not be discouraged. I noticed two sad-looking Golden Delicious apples on the counter that I knew no one would ever eat. I decided to peel and slice those and gently saute them in a little butter while I preheated the griddle and assembled the pancake batter.
This is just a twist on the classic buttermilk pancake recipe that is a weekly staple in our house. The pumpkin puree adds a beautiful copper color to the batter as well as a little Beta-carotene. And then all those fantastic warming spices add the flavor that says Fall! If you have pumpkin pie spice, I’m sure that would work fine here, too. Just like my standard pancake recipe, you can make this batter the night before. I have taught my girls how to cook their own pancakes, so very often I will leave the batter on the counter for them to cook with their friends at whatever time they saunter downstairs and I’m free to get my day going.
I normally just serve these pancakes with a little maple syrup or with this incredible apple cider syrup we picked up at a roadside farm in the Hamptons this summer. The girls like to add chopped pecans to the pancakes when they’re cooking on the griddle, but the sauteed apples were a special treat and ridiculously simple to make. When they were tender I drizzled on them the tiniest amount of syrup and a dash of cinnamon. Crazy good! I made a plate to photograph and then said to the girls, “Look how pretty this is.” Their eyes bugged out and someone said, “Yum! Like that actually looks good.” Actually?? Like, whatever.
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour*
- 1 ½ teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
- 1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking soda
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- pinch of ground cloves
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk**
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup fresh or canned pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- Coconut oil for brushing the griddle
- Sauteed apples as accompaniment, optional:
- 2-3 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter or coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- a dash of cinnamon
- Preheat a griddle to 400 degrees or medium heat. (On some stovetops, 350 or 375 degrees is fine.)
- If you are making the sautéed apples, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Melt the butter and add the apples. Lower the heat slightly and gently sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon maple syrup and a dash of cinnamon and toss to combine. Remove from heat.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices in a large mixing bowl.
- In a blender or medium mixing bowl, combine the buttermilk, eggs, pumpkin puree, maple syrup and melted butter until well blended.
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Brush the griddle with coconut oil and spoon about ¼ cup of batter onto the griddle. Add chopped pecans or walnuts to the surface, if desired. When bubbles start to form on the surface of the pancake and the edges turn slightly dry, flip it over and cook until done. Serve warm with sautéed apples or maple syrup.
**You can also substitute half yogurt and half regular milk for the buttermilk. Or, use 1 ½ cups milk, omit the baking soda, and use 2 teaspoons baking powder instead.
17 Comments
I was wondering how you would convert these to waffles? I just bought the ceramic waffle iron you recommended and the family LOVED your buttermilk waffles! Was hoping to make pumpkin waffles next.
Your recipes are amazing, and you are a wonderful person to share them on your website. We have the same philosophy for delicious and healthy food and it is a blessing for me to have found your recipes because you have done so much research already. I have your cookbook in my Amazon cart already! Can’t wait for it to arrive!!!
Thanks, Julie! My recipes for waffles and pancakes is slightly different, but I often put leftover pancake batter in the waffle iron and they turn out great! You can try adding an extra egg and adding a little extra baking powder and reducing the soda a bit. Check my waffle recipe to see what I’m talking about.
I love your recipes and always try to modify them to meet the needs of my preschool students when we bake in class. I would like to make pumpkin pancakes on Friday, but I have to adjust for vegan families, nut and dairy allergies. Any suggestions? Thank you so much!
It’s doable! To take out the egg, substitute 2 Tablespoons ground flax meal mixed with 6 Tablespoons warm water. Allow the flax and water to sit for 15 minutes before adding to batter. Another idea is to sub 1/2 cup of mashed banana for the eggs. I haven’t tried it in this recipe, but I have a feeling it would work.
To sub for buttermilk, try unsweetened hemp milk mixed with 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar. Allow that to sit for 10 minutes before adding to batter. If you can’t find hemp, try unsweetened soy milk. For the butter, use coconut oil. Let me know if you have any questions!
Thank you Pamela! I will try bananas and hemp milk….can’t use coconut oil due to the nut allergies, but I have been using pumpkin seed oil in our other recipes, so I guess I could try it here….challenging, but worthwhile!xoPortia
I made these with almond milk and coconut oil instead of butter. Also I replaced the pumpkin with butternut squash. They came out great, nice and tender. The kids loved them. They aren’t fond of orange vegetables , so this is a great way to sneak some into their diet. Thanks for another great recipe, I am loving your site!
Thank you so much, Janet. These are great suggestions to know about, especially the dairy-free ones! Nice work!
Pamela, I’ve had the benefit of taking some of your lovely cooking classes in friends’ homes and recently checked out your site. My boys had their friends sleeping over so I enlisted them in making your pumpkin pancakes and they absolutely loooved them. I had one teenage BOY sautéing apples and the other running the blender. They left nothing on their plates and said they were the best pancakes ever. Time to dispose of the bisquick! Thanks for helping me out in the kitchen. You truly have inspired me to create delicious, healthy and creative meals for my family.
Hello Rachel! What a joy being in the kitchen with your kids and their friends, getting them involved in making something wonderful! Big smiles!
We had the pumpkin pancakes for breakfast today. The girls and the husband helped in making them. The best pancakes we’ve ever had. Thank you for the recipe!
That’s great, Joann! Of all the pancakes I make, these are my favorite!
Two weeks ago, my friend and trainer, Vicki Crawford, shared your website with our class. I have tried four recipes (so far) and wanted to tell you how impressed I am! They have all been so yummy, and even my husband, “Mr. No Substitutions” loved them. Was very happy to see you using Bob’s Red Mill products, we shop at their mill store!
Welcome, Cathy and thank you for your message! I had a nice laugh at “Mr. No Substitutions” — that’s a good one!! How lucky you are to buy directly from BRM! Stay in touch~
Made these today for breakfast – what a treat! Even my husband who only likes HIS pancakes (read: white flour, white sugar) loved them. My “Mr. Picky” threw in some chocolate chips just like he does with the pumpkin muffins but that’s okay – he still got the benefit from the pumpkin and the whole wheat. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m with you, Karen. You gotta do what you gotta do! Thanks for the feedback.
I made them for breakfast yesterday. The kids loved them! I had extra batter so I put it in a muffin pan with a few dark chocolate chips and made dessert!
How resourceful! More importantly, so glad the kids enjoyed them!