Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes

83 CommentsThursday • October 30, 2008 • by Ari

My friends, thank you for your kind comments on my last post, where I shared how my debit card number had been stolen and my bank account emptied with fraudulent purchases. Though our bank never opened an investigation despite our reporting the theft on Friday and faxing a letter of dispute to them, I’m happy to say there is a happy ending. On Tuesday, after yet another bank representative told me they couldn’t look into things until they processed our letter (72 hours) and opened an inquiry (another 10 days), I called Macy*s – where all the fraudulent purchases were made. Not only did Macy*s take an interest in our situation but they called the bank and forced them to give us our money back. Turns out, the purchases for luxury items I could never afford had been automatically refused by Macy*s, so the order had never gone through. If our bank had bothered to look into the situation they would have discovered this, but alas they didn’t – and thankfully Macy*s stepped it. Thank you Macy*s.

To celebrate, on Wednesday morning I decided to treat myself to a batch of spiced pumpkin pancakes for breakfast. I’d never had pumpkin pancakes before and wasn’t sure what to expect, but as you can see in the photos above, they turned out beautifully. In terms of taste, I’d say that the pancakes rated an 8 out of 10 on the official Ari deliciousness scale. I played around with the recipe just a bit, adding more cinnamon, less ginger and more nutmeg, then adding a tablespoon of wheat-germ, which I love in pancakes. The end result: fluffy, perfectly formed pancakes that were satisfying enough for me to finish the entire stack – no sense holding back when celebrating right? I may return to this recipe in the near future for more adjustments and taste tests, but in the meantime, I’m sharing the recipe below. I put a pumpkin face on my pancakes by cutting out the classic Jack-O-Lantern profile on a sheet of paper, placing it over the pancakes, then dusting them with confectionery sugar. I couldn’t resist with Halloween just around the corner! With a little more sugar and some melted butter, these pancakes were a great way to start my day. You could, of course, go the maple syrup route instead.

Before I go, some interesting bits of pumpkin fact and lore:

• Pumpkin’s are fruits and their blossoms are edible. They can be baked into breads, used as edible garnishes, or even batter-dipped and fried.
• Pumpkin was one of the foods introduced by the Native Americans to the colonists. Native Americans pounded strips of pumpkin flat, dried them, and wove them into mats for trading. They also dried pumpkin for food.
• 90% of the pumpkin is made of water. Illinois grows more pumpkins than any other state in the country. It harvests nearly 12,300 acres of fruit every year.
• The earliest pumpkin pie made in America was quite different than the pumpkin pie we enjoy today. Pilgrims and early settlers made pumpkin pie by hollowing out a pumpkin, filling the shell with milk, honey and spices and baking it. (source)
• The largest pumpkin pie ever baked was in 2005 and weighed 2,020 pounds.
• Pumpkins were formerly considered a remedy for freckles and snakebites.
• Each year, growers compete for the honor of growing the world’s largest pumpkin. The largest recorded pumpkin grown was on October 1, 2005 at the Pennsylvania Giant Pumpkin Growers Weighoff. It weighed 1,469 pounds, breaking all previous world records, and was grown by Larry Checkon of North Cambria, Penn. (source)
• Jack-O-Lanterns originated in Ireland and Scotland, where people would carve scary faces into turnips or potatoes and place them on in their windows to frighten away “Stingy Jack” or other evil spirits. When they immigrated to America, they discovered that pumpkins were perfect for carving.

Happy Halloween! I hope you have tons of fun on this spooky holiday.

Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes
Slightly adapted from Marthastewart.com

Ingredients: Makes 10 pancakes

• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon wheat germ
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• Pinch of ground cloves
• 1 cup milk
• 6 tablespoons canned pumpkin puree
• 2 tablespoon melted butter
• 1 egg
• Extra butter for cooking and serving the pancakes, maple syrup. You could also serve with confectioners sugar. Up to you!

For a spiced breakfast treat, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ground ginger, and salt. Add wheat germ, nutmeg; and a pinch of ground cloves. In a separate bowl, stir together the milk, canned pumpkin puree, 2 tablespoons melted butter, and the egg. Fold mixture into dry ingredients. Melt some butter 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, or with confectioners sugar.