Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin Sour Cream Pancakes

Pancakes are one of my favorite foods.  I grew up enjoying stacks and stacks of pancakes.  They were one of the only foods that could fill me up and satisfy my hunger pangs until lunchtime when I was in school.  I remember my mom serving stacks of 4-6 pancakes and scrambled eggs for breakfast almost every morning. Her pancakes, made from scratch, were filled with wheat germ, bran, oat bran and whole wheat flour.  They were HEAVY DUTY pancakes!

I also have many memories of my Papa whipping up pancakes on Sunday mornings. He and my grandma would eat some type of hot cereal (Cream of Wheat, cornmeal, oatmeal, farina, etc) every weekday morning.  On weekends my Papa would make pancakes from scratch.  We'd sometimes sneak little surprises into the pancakes, unbeknownst to our patrons.  Sometimes we'd stick a chocolate chip or a raisin in them. Other times we'd be really sneaky and we'd cook a piece of thread inserted in the batter in a circular motion.  The recipient of this pancake would find they couldn't easily cut the pancake.  It was a bit like an April Fool's joke.  We chuckled many times over this trickery.

Although these days I rarely eat grains, since limiting intake, I still love to make and experiment with all types of pancakes.  I make them, but don't get to enjoy them. Bummer!

My family still enjoys them.

On Halloween, I woke early to make the kids Pumpkin Pancakes.  We enjoy these every fall!  I found the recipe in a magazine about 15 years ago.  The recipe comes from Cambridge House Inn, a bed and breakfast in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

I've never had a problem with this recipe, but I have heard people struggle with it. Some people have tried it and their pancakes turn out raw in the middle.  Keep this in mind. Our pancakes have turned out great, so I'm not sure what advice to offer.  Give them a try and see what happens.

Pumpkin Sour Cream Pancakes

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 tablespoon oil

1.  Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together in medium-size bowl.

2.  Combine remaining ingredients in small bowl.  Slowly whisk liquids into dry ingredients.

3.  Spray a grill pan with cooking spray (I use a non-stick pancake griddle (at 300-325 degrees), so there is no need to spray).  Our pancakes are pretty thick and fluffy.  I usually pour the batter on the griddle then spread it out a bit.

4.  Serve with butter and syrup.

I miss pancakes!