Pumpkin Pancakes on a Winter Morning

This morning, before getting up, I read the latest blog post by Nourished Fitness. In the post she shares a couple of recipes featuring pumpkin and protein powder; a smoothie and pancakes. I don’t have any protein powder in the house but I do have a nice supply of canned pumpkin. The idea of pumpkin pancakes motivated me from my cozy warm bed into the kitchen.

What a good day to try a pancake experiment! Last night was our first snow fall of the season. This morning the sun was shinning brightly on the snow. From my front windows I could see all the way to the tops of distant, sun drenched and snow capped, mountains. Thanks to my husband there was already coffee in the pot and with a steaming mug at hand I pulled together the few ingredients to make the pancakes.

I don’t make pancakes from scratch and, I hope this doesn’t get my food blogger card revoked, lately I have been using Fiber One pancake mix. This mix is great. It yields cakes that are light and fluffy but substantial enough to fill me up with one serving (or maybe a serving plus one more). At 180 calories per 1/2 cup of mix I have no guilt serving these for breakfast any day. I like to use the mix as a platform and stir in berries, applesauce, and/or spices. Mixing in pumpkin was new territory but I had a good feeling about the experiment.

The resulting pancakes were far above and beyond my imagination! They tasted like a much more calorie laden pastry and were even fluffier than usual. We ate them with homemade cranberry sauce and sugar-free maple syrup (sorry purists). They were the perfect cozy breakfast for a wintry morning. I hope you try them soon and let me know what you think!

Pumpkin Pancakes

1 cup pancake mix (I recommend Fiber One Complete)
1/2 canned pure pumpkin
1/2 – 3/4 cup water
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or more to taste)
1/2 tsp lemon zest

Heat a non-stick pancake griddle to just above medium.
In a medium batter bowl or mixing cup combine the pancake mix and pumpkin pie spice.
Mix in the pumpkin enough to be very lumpy and still powdery
Add 1/2 cup of water and more as needed to reach a smooth thick liquid consistency.
Fold in zest

Pour enough batter on heated griddle to make 3-4 inch diameter cakes.
Cook until bottom is golden before flipping (a little longer than regular pancakes). Allow to cook on the other side until it is golden and spongey in the center.

Serve with a homemade cranberry sauce like the one in my previous post!

p.s. I’m sure you are all smarted than me and figured out that these pancakes would be really great served with a lean breakfast sausage such as Aidells Chicken & Apple Breakfast links or MorningStar Farms Veggie Breakfast Sausage Links. They would also be out of this world amazing with a small sprinkling of crispy bacon crumbles (but you didn’t hear that from me! *wink*)