Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

One of my Little One's favorite things to do is to help the Husband and I cook.  She's my little helper in the kitchen - whether it's making muffins or prepping a salad for lunch, she wants to help every step of the way.

I had leftover pumpkin from a pumpkin poundcake I made over the weekend and figured pumpkin pancakes would be a wonderful way to use up the pumpkin and pack the Little One with some Vitamin A & C.  I decided to go with a recipe I adapted from Martha Stewart.

I was floored by how amazing these pancakes were. They were without a doubt the best pancakes I've ever eaten, much less made.  They were light and fluffy, and the outside edges slightly crispy.  These pancakes were only midly sweet, allowing the flavor of the pumpkin to really shine.  The nutmeg, ginger, cloves and cinnamon are prominent flavors.  Think Thanksgiving and Christmas all rolled up into delicious little cakes.

In my opinion, these didn't even need butter or syrup.  The Little One enjoyed these as well - even having them as a room temperature snack later that day and evening.

A few notes:
- This recipe can be easily halved or doubled or tripled. If halving, still use an entire egg.
- I had read in the recipe reviews that the pumpkin wasn't as pronounced as people would have liked, so I went ahead and double the pumpkin the recipe called for (so, even though I halved the recipe I stuck with the 6 tbsp of pumpkin).
- Like with any pancake recipe, use the milk to adjust the consistency according to preference. I found the amount of milk to be pretty spot on as the recipe reads.

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

a pinch of ground cloves

1 cup milk

3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree

2 tablespoons melted butter or olive oil

1 egg

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg and cloves.

In a separate bowl, stir together milk, pumpkin puree, butter, and egg.

Fold mixture into dry ingredients.

Melt some butter (or heat the olive oil) in a skillet over medium heat.  Pour in 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Cook pancakes about 3 minutes per side.

Serve with butter and syrup.

Makes about 10 - 12 pancakes.