Recipe: Pumpkin Pancakes

Every fall we make pumpkin pancakes! They're yummy, spiced, taste wonderful with maple syrup and/or some diced apples softened in a pan with cinnamon and brown sugar, or made into little "sandwiches" with maple-tinged cream slathered between. Mmmm...

Pumpkin Pancakes for 4

One.

4 large eggs
1 1/3 cups whole milk
3/4 cup canned pure pumpkin
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Two.
1 1/2 cups whole grain pancake mix of your choice (I like Pamela's) -OR-
1 cup whole wheat or buckwheat flour
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour or almond flour

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

Three.
1 1/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Grapeseed, canola, or olive oil spray
Maple syrup

Whisk eggs vigorously in large bowl until fluffy. Whisk in the milk, pumpkin, butter, and vanilla to blend well. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, whisking just until smooth (will be thick).

Spray a large (preferably nonstick) skillet or crepe pan with oil spray; heat over medium heat. Ladle batter into skillet (about 1/3 cup per pancake). Cook until bubbles form on surface of pancakes and bottoms are brown, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Repeat with remaining batter, spraying oil between batches as needed.

Serve with syrup (and/or diced apple cooked until soft in a pan with a little cinnamon and brown sugar).