These delicious pumpkin pancakes are made with pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice in just 1 bowl. They taste like small fluffy pieces of pumpkin pie – it’s the perfect fall breakfast! Don’t let the pumpkin season come to an end before trying them.
Ingredients – what you’ll need:
- Pumpkin puree – you can use homemade pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin puree. When making your own pumpkin puree make sure it’s not too watery. If it is, you can cook it until it’s thicker or strain it on a fine mesh strainer. I used homemade pumpkin puree for this recipe! I would really recommend making your own pumpkin puree – it’s so easy to make and the difference in flavor is HUGE. Don’t use pumpkin pie filling – it’s already sweetened and spiced.
- Pumpkin pie spice – you can also make your own pumpkin pie spice or use just cinnamon. Alternatively, you can add gingerbread spice mix which is similar to pumpkin pie spice but it contains more spices.
- Buttermilk – it makes light and fluffy pancakes. Instead of buttermilk, you can also use kefir. I haven’t tested popular buttermilk substitutes (milk mixed with vinegar or lemon juice) with this recipe.
- Butter vs clarified butter for cooking the pancakes: I prefer to use clarified butter, it tastes almost the same as regular butter but doesn’t burn so quickly. When using regular butter add it immediately before adding the batter and wipe it off after cooking each batch of pancakes. The pancakes can be also cooked oil-free on a non-stick pan but I think they taste much much better when cooked with butter.
- Sugar – I prefer to use brown sugar for these pancakes, but you can also use granulated ‘white’ sugar. They taste much better with brown sugar.
- Chocolate chips would be a great addition! Use about 1/4 cup (40g) mini bittersweet chocolate chips.
General tips for cooking pancakes:
- Don’t make large pancakes. Add 1 heaped tablespoon of batter for each pancake. At first, it will look like the pancakes will be very small but they will increase their volume pretty quickly. Large pancakes are a little harder to flip over.
- The pan must be well-heated or the pancakes will soak up the fat and be flat and dense instead of light and fluffy.
- The most important thing is to cook the pancakes over medium-low heat. If you flip them over too soon they may fall apart. If you cook the pancakes over too high heat they will just burn on the outside and won’t be cooked through in the middle. This is important for American-style thick pancakes. I cook thin pancakes (crepes) over high heat.
- Cook the pancakes longer on the first side and just briefly on the other side.
- Cooking time depends also on the type of the pan. These pancakes will cook a little longer on a heavy-bottomed pan and it won’t be so easy to burn them, so you can cook them over medium or medium-high heat. If your pan has a thin bottom you need to reduce the heat as the pancakes will cook much quicker and it will be easier to burn them.
- You can use an electric griddle or two pans to make these pancakes quicker.
- How to keep the pancakes warm: you can keep them on a heat-proof plate in the oven at 175°F (80°C).
Step by step instructions
STEP 1: Add all the wet ingredients into a large bowl (eggs, pumpkin puree, buttermilk, vanilla extract, sugar, and coconut oil/butter). Whisk until combined.
STEP 2: Place a fine-mesh strainer over the bowl, add the dry ingredients to the strainer (flour, baking powder and soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt). Stir the ingredients with a spoon then sift them into the bowl.
Sifting the dry ingredients is not necessary but it makes for fluffier pancakes. If you don’t want to sift them, just stir them together in a medium bowl and add to the wet ingredients.
STEP 3: Whisk until just combined. Don’t overmix the batter – small lumps are ok.
STEP 4: Cook the pancakes: Heat a small amount of clarified butter (or regular butter) in a non-stick pan over medium-low leat. Scoop 1 heaped tablespoon (or roughly 3 flat tablespoons) of batter for each pancake into the skillet. Cook over medium-low heat until light brown at the bottom. When you’ll see bubbles on top of the pancakes flip over and cook only briefly on the other side until golden.
Transfer the cooked pancakes onto a plate lined with kitchen towels. Repeat with the remaining batter.
Enjoy!
Serving suggestions
- I like these fluffy pumpkin pancakes with maple syrup and apple sauce or plum sauce.
- This caramelized plum and cranberry sauce would also be a great addition. I have the recipe for this sauce in this post: Kaiserschmarren recipe – Austrian torn pancake.
- They would also be delicious with these sauteed cinnamon apples.
- Plain yogurt and fresh fruit such as oranges are also delicious.
Storing instructions
- Freshly cooked pancakes taste best but reheated ones are also very good. They make a great make-ahead breakfast. Store them in the fridge in a tightly-closed container or wrapped in plastic foil. Rewarm them in a pan or in the oven.
- It’s not possible to store the pancake batter and make it ahead. Baking soda and buttermilk react with each other so you need to cook the pancakes as quickly as possible. If you leave the batter for too long (30 minutes and above) the pancakes won’t be light and fluffy but flate and dense. Baking powder also loses its activity after some time.
More pancake recipes you may like
- Bananas Foster Pancakes
- Polish Apple Pancakes (with yeast)
- Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes
- Lemon Raspberry Ricotta Pancakes
- Lemon Blueberry Sheet Pan Pancakes
- Pumpkin Pie Apple Ring Pancakes
What to do with leftover pumpkin puree
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Buttermilk Pumpkin Pancakes
These delicious pumpkin pancakes are made with pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice in just 1 bowl. They are fluffy, sweet, and taste wonderful! It's the perfect fall breakfast.
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Servings 3 servings
Calories 552kcal
Ingredients
wet ingredients:
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree (180g)
- 1 cup buttermilk (250g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup light brown sugar (100g)
- 2 tablespoons melted butter or coconut oil
dry ingredients:
- 1 ¾ cups flour (220g) spooned and leveled
- 1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice or just cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
additionally:
- clarified butter or regular butter, for cooking the pancakes
to serve:
- maple syrup
- apple sauce or plum sauce
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Instructions
- Add all the wet ingredients into a large bowl (eggs, pumpkin puree, buttermilk, vanilla extract, sugar, and coconut oil/butter). Whisk until combined.
- Place a fine-mesh strainer over the bowl, add the dry ingredients to the strainer (flour, baking powder and soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt). Stir the ingredients with a spoon then sift them into the bowl.
- Whisk until just combined. Don't overmix the batter – small lumps are ok.
- Heat a small amount of clarified butter (or regular butter) in a non-stick pan over medium-low leat. Scoop 1 heaped tablespoon (or roughly 3 flat tablespoons) of batter for each pancake into the skillet. Cook over medium-low heat until light brown at the bottom. When you'll see bubbles on top of the pancakes flip over and cook only briefly on the other side until golden.
- Transfer the cooked pancakes onto a plate lined with kitchen towels. Repeat with the remaining batter.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- You can make this recipe with homemade pumpkin puree or canned puree. I would really recommend making your own pumpkin puree – it’s so easy to make and the difference in flavor is HUGE. Do not use pumpkin pie filling which is already spiced and sweetened.
- How to make pumpkin puree: Wash the pumpkin and cut into large chunks. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 20 minutes at 400°F (200°C) or until fork-tender. Scoop out the seeds (you can discard seeds and skin) and puree the flesh until smooth. A have a separate detailed post with photos about that: how to make pumpkin puree.
- Sifting dry ingredients is not necessary but it makes for fluffier pancakes. If you don’t want to sift them, just stir them together in a medium bowl and add to the wet ingredients.
- Serving suggestions: maple syrup, plain yogurt, and fresh fruit (such as oranges). Apple sauce and plum sauce (or plum preserves) are also great with them.
- Spices: You can use just cinnamon instead of pumpkin pie spice. Gingerbread spice mix would also be wonderful in this recipe.
- You could also add about 1/4 cup of mini bittersweet chocolate chips to this recipe.
- How to measure flour: if you’re using measuring cups to measure out the ingredients, remember that 1 cup of flour can weigh 120-150g, depending on how you’re filling your cup. Don’t scoop the flour directly into the measuring cup, which can compact it!
- To correctly measure the flour, you need to: Fluff the flour by stirring it in the bag/flour container with a spoon. Spoon the flour and sprinkle it into your measuring cup. Sweep off the excess flour with the back of a knife.
- Tips for cooking perfect pancakes: The pan must be well-heated or the pancakes will soak up the fat and be dense. The most important thing is to cook the pancakes over medium-low heat. If you flip them over too soon they may fall apart. If you cook the pancakes over too high heat they will just burn on the outside and won’t be cooked through in the middle.
- Calories = 1 serving. This is only an estimate! I have forgotten to count the number of pancakes, sorry! The recipe yields about 3 servings.
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