Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

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Weekend breakfasts are a great time to sip on a big cup of coffee and make something special for your family, especially when it turns cold outside.  These pumpkin pancakes are one of my favorites for several reasons - the pumpkin makes them rich and moist while the spices perfume your entire house.  Everything about them says that it's fall and the leaves are blowing off the trees and it's time to get the sweaters out of the closet.  If you take the time to mix the dry ingredients the night before, all you do in the morning is mix in the wet ingredients just like you were using a packaged mix (except it tastes much better!).
 
Tip of the day - freeze any leftover pancakes in a single layer on a cooling rack in the freezer until frozen solid, then pile them into a large ziplock bag.  They won't stick together so you can take out as many as you want at a time.

Mike the Wonder Dog was particularly fond of pancakes.  The major mistake that we made early on was to feed him leftovers of people food so he was attracted to our table by the smells.  With those little dinky dogs (I call them "snack dogs" because they're usually the size of a sub sandwich) that's not a problem, but when your dog is taller than the table it can be problematic.  Mike was an Irish Wolfhound.  For those of you not familiar with the breed, it's the largest dog breed in the world.  Mikey weighed 160 pounds and measured 8 feet from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail.  I'll dig up a picture and post it soon.  Mike (or as we occasionally called him, "Young Frankenstein") has been gone now for over eight years but we'll certainly never forget him and some of his exploits.  More some other time!

* * click here for a printable recipe version * *

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes
Makes approximately 14-15 pancakes

Note: the dry ingredients (flour through salt) may be mixed the night before, then proceed with the rest of the recipe in the morning.

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1-1/2 cups milk
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar

Maple syrup and toasted chopped pecans (optional garnish)


Combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, and salt) in a medium bowl, whisking to mix well. Add the brown sugar and mix again. In a large bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. Add the dry ingredients to the large bowl and stir just enough to combine.

Cook on a preheated (350d) griddle or lightly oiled frying pan on medium-high heat. Note that the pancakes may take slightly longer to cook than normal due to the moistness of the pumpkin puree – watch for the bubbles to burst on the top of the pancakes, then they’re ready to flip (approximately 4 minutes per side).

Serve with pure maple syrup and toasted pecans (optional).