Pumpkin Pie Pancakes

In case you haven't noticed, fall is my favorite time of the year. It inspires all kinds of baking sprees and soup recipes to freeze for the upcoming cold of winter. Though San Francisco can hardly boast much in the way of cold winters...

We've had some pumpkin puree sitting in our cabinet for a little while, just itching to be used. This morning, Katy called out to me from her bedroom, "PUMPKIN PANCAKES!"

You don't have to ask me twice to make ANYTHING with pumpkin!

We found a recipe from AllRecipes.com for a tasty sounding pumpkin pancake but used some tips from one reviewer for a more pumpkin pie-like taste. We went with this reviewers tips. Of course, our recipe utilized whole wheat flour and lactaid milk (we're sadly out of almond milk).

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 ½ c. milk
• 1 1/3 c. pumpkin puree
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1tbsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ½ tsp ground cloves
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 c. whole wheat flour

Directions

1. In medium sized bowl, beat the egg. Add remaining wet ingredients and mix well.
2. Add all but the flour and mix well. Add flour half a cup at a time just until mixed. Ours came out quite thick because I misread how much milk to use. Whoops! So I ended up adding more milk anyway. ;)
3. Heat a large skillet at medium-high heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
4. Pour the batter into the skillet to your desired sized.
5. Plate and scarf. :D

It would have been lovely to top with powdered sugar, but we didn't have any. Instead, we buttered them up and drizzled a bit of honey on top. Just as delicious! The batter came out very thick, so the insides were still deliciously gooey pumpkin pie filling taste. Absolutely amazing. We also served with some freshly made juice. Mmmm...

Glazed Pumpkin Donuts

Have any leftover pumpkin puree in your pantry from Thanksgiving like we did? Still craving sweets? We were, and we wanted something SUPER TASTY! We decided to try a bizarro combo of King Arthur Flour's pumpkin donut recipe and this glazed pumpkin donut recipe while not having exactly enough ingredients.

The results were still perfection! We managed to get 16 donuts out of it!

Ingredients

Donut batter

• 1/2 c. vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 c. granulated sugar
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1 can pumpkin puree
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• just shy of 2 c. whole wheat flour

Glaze

• brown sugar
• butter
• water

Directions

1. Set oven to 350 degrees and grease your donut baking pan.
2. Whisk all but the flour in a large bowl, until well mixed.
3. Add flour and mix just until clumps disappear.
4. Add batter to donut pan.
5. Bake 15-20 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.
6. While baking, sprinkle enough brown sugar to cover the bottom of a small sauce pan. Add a couple pats of butter (I recently learned what "pat of butter" means!) and half a tablespoon of water. We only wanted to make enough for a few of our donuts, just to test.
7. Melt together on low heat, whisking until thick and smooth.
8. Remove the donuts from the over. Cool slightly and then transfer from the baking pan to a cooling rack.
9. Dip the tops of the donuts into the prepared glaze.
10. Scarf.

These donuts are surprisingly delicate while warm, but oh so moist and tasty! The brown sugar glaze is also a beautiful touch!