Pumpkin Pancakes

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Light, fluffy, and loaded with rich pumpkin flavor, these Pumpkin Pancakes are a great seasonal breakfast to welcome the arrival of fall!

A stack of pumpkin pancakes topped with butter.

Pumpkin season is upon us and here are lots of great ways to incorporate this classic autumn flavor into your cooking repertoire. But one of our favorite is pumpkin pancakes.

Pancakes have always been somewhat of a “blank canvas” for other more dominant flavors to express themselves (see: maple syrup!) By adding some pumpkin into the mix, you can transform your ordinary pancakes into an extraordinary pumpkin-themed celebration!

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In this recipe we use a combination of pumpkin butter and pumpkin spice. These two ingredients are easiest to deal with and won’t leave you with a half can of leftover pumpkin puree. We have an amazing recipe to make your own pumpkin butter, but you can also use store bought as well.

So without further ado, let’s dive in and start making some pancakes!

Ingredients to make pumpkin pancakes displayed on a cutting board

Ingredients

Flour: Regular old AP flour

Sugar: A little white sugar gives these pancake a subtle sweetness, without going overboard.

Milk: We used extra creamy oat milk for this recipe, but have also tried it with whole milk. Either work fine!

Egg: The binder that holds it all together. You can also use Bob Red Mill’s egg replacement for a vegan substitute.

Baking Powder: Not soda. Baking powder will give these pancake a light and fluffy rise.

Pumpkin Spice: You can make your own, but it’s just easy to pick up a pre-mixed blend for all your pumpkin-y occasions.

Pumpkin Butter: We highly recommend making your own following our recipe, but you can also pick up a jar of store-bought. Pumpkin butter captures the raw essence of a pumpkin pie in a spreadable butter form.

How to Make Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

Steps to make pancake batter

Make the Batter

In a large bowl, add the egg and the pumpkin butter, and mix thoroughly! Really go to town here, you want to make sure these ingredients and completely combined. After, you can lightly mix in the milk.

Next, add in your dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin spice. Gently fold the batter until all the ingredients are combined.

Four pancakes cooking on a square frying pan.

Cooking the Pancakes

Start by preheating a large skillet over medium heat. We are a big fan of this square non stick skillet by GSI, which allows us to make 4 pancakes at a time. But a well-seasoned cast iron skillet work as well.

While we usually fry our pancakes with coconut oil, for pumpkin pancakes we like flavor of either clarified butter or vegan butter. Both will have a higher smoke point than actual butter.

The trick to getting crispy edges on your pancakes is go heavy on the oil or clarified butter. Use about 1 tablespoon per set of pancakes.

As for pancake size, we find it’s better to be on the smaller size. We scoop out about ¼ cup of batter. Medium heat seems to be the sweet spot for temperature. Too low and they’ll take forever to cook. Too high and they’ll burn before they cook through.

Close up of bubbling on pancakes

When to Flip

So, when is it time to flip? This eternal question has been debated throughout the ages. When bubbles rise in the middle? When the edges brown? When the cow jumps over the moon?

If you’re new to making pancakes, do yourself a favor and just lift up a corner with your spatula and peek once you see bubbles forming in the batter. If it looks golden brown, it’s time to flip.

There is a correlation between the bubbles and doneness, but the timing will depend on your skillet and heat source, so just take a sneak peek on your first couple and you’ll get a feel for it. Better to check and verify than to leave your pancake fate up to chance.

Pumpkin pancakes in a serving dish.

How to Serve

Your pumpkin pancakes will have a robust pumpkin flavor all on their own, but since you probably opened a jar of pumpkin butter, and it’s just sitting around, nobody will hold it against you if you spread a little extra on top of each of your pancakes before giving them a light drizzle of maple syrup.

Pumpkin pancakes stacked on a plate. A coffee cup and a bottle of maple syrup are in the background.
Pumpkin pancakes stacked on a plate. A coffee cup and a bottle of maple syrup are in the background.

Pumpkin Pancakes

What better way to celebrate the season than to make these Pumpkin Pancakes! Simple ingredients make this a great recipe for camping or for an easy weekend breakfast.
Author: Fresh Off The Grid
4.72 from 35 ratings
Pin Rate
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
10 pancakes

Ingredients

  • 1 egg
  • ¾ cup milk
  • ¼ cup pumpkin butter
  • 1 cup flour
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon pumpkin spice
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • Ghee or oil, for frying

Instructions

  • In a large bowl, add the egg and pumpkin butter, and beat together thoroughly. Then stir in the milk.
  • Add the flour, sugar, pumpkin spice, baking powder, and salt. Using a fork, whisk to combine, making sure not to over mix.
  • Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add a tablespoon of the oil or ghee to the skillet and swirl to coat the pan. Pour ¼ cup of the pancake batter at a time into the skillet and cook for a few minutes until the tops begins to bubble and the sides are set (2-3 minutes). Using a spatula, flip the pancake and cook the other side until golden.
  • Repeat with the rest of the batter, adding more fat to the skillet as needed.
  • Serve with syrup, pumpkin butter, or your favorite toppings.

Notes

MAKE AHEAD

The dry ingredients can be measured out at home and stored in a sealable container or bag.

Nutrition (Per Serving)

Calories: 132kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 5g

*Nutrition is an estimate based on information provided by a third-party nutrition calculator

Breakfast
American
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22 Comments

  1. Oh, this kills me! I’m currently living in Europe (oh, poor me) and don’t have access to all-things pumpkin like I do in the States. I have to admit that even pumpkin-spice Greek yoghurt sounds pretty good (in fact, I think I ate that last year!)

    1. We are actually split on the idea of pumpkin spice yogurt. Michael (who wrote the post) is in the “no thanks” camp, but I (Megan) agree with you that it sounds pretty good!!

      There are a few recipes online for DIY pumpkin spice blends (usually cinnamon, cloves, allspice, maybe nutmeg?) that you could try using instead!

      Cheers,
      Megan

  2. Hilary Manion says:

    I like the sound of this but would need to convert it into a more Paleo, gluten free version. Thanks for sharing.4 stars

  3. Zsombor Lacza says:

    My daughter is watching these videos and cooked her very first pancake tower from it – thanks for the inspiration.5 stars

  4. Thanks for sharing a great article and I do know what to have for breakfast tomorrow:)

  5. Mouth watering Pancakes !! Loved the Post. I will surely gonna try it out.

  6. Savannah Steele says:

    Best pancakes I have ever made they were a little thin but perfect in every way greatest recipe thanks guys.5 stars

  7. Pancakes are a camping trip staple. Quick and easy start to fill up the hungry kiddos first thing in the morning. Trouble is finding new ways to make them seem new. Will definitely give this one a try.

  8. I will admit, I haven’t always jumped on the pumpkin spice bandwagon when it comes by every fall. However, I am a big fan of pancakes of many flavors so I plan on giving this a try on our next fall trip. BTW, my wife if gluten intolerant. Do you have favorite kind of gluten free flour that you use that is also tasty? Thanks!

  9. Thanks For Sharing the recipe of pumpkin spice pancakes, i was looking for and also tried it, nice and good taste.5 stars

  10. These were pretty good! I substituted gluten free flour and almond milk to accommodate my diet. They didn’t seem too cook that evenly and I have to admit they didn’t have much of that pumpkin spice flavor and were pretty flat. But the pumpkin spice syrup helped!4 stars

  11. Can you use bisquick instead of flour?

    1. You can use Bisquick instead, and just skip the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. I believe Bisquick just requires milk and eggs.