fun pancake shapes - The Idea Room

Pumpkin Pancakes

Who loves Pancakes? Me! Me! If you have been following me for a while you know I like to experiment with different pancake recipes and fun pancake shapes. I especially like it because my family loves to have breakfast for dinner sometimes. So recently with the onset of some Fall like weather, we whipped up these Pumpkin Pancakes. We even made them with pumpkin to make them more authentic and fun.

We used a recipe from Allrecipes and it was really good! Or you can just whip up some good old Pancake mix and make them pumpkin shaped rather than pumpkin flavored!

Pumpkin Pancakes

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 egg

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons vinegar

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

In a bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt in a separate bowl. Stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Separate batter into two bowls. Add 3/4 of the batter to one and 1/4 to the other. Color the larger bowl orange and the smaller bowl green.
Pour or scoop the orange batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Pour into a pumpkin shape. Then add a small bit of green batter to the top to make the stem. Brown on both sides and then remove from pan. Quickly add chocolate chips to make the pumpkin face.

I served them up with some yummy Buttermilk Syrup! So easy to make and yet so good!

Buttermilk Syrup

4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1. In a medium sauce pan, combine butter, sugar, and buttermilk. Set over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Take off heat and stir in vanilla and baking soda. Stir, and the mixture will become thick and bubbly.

And…if you are looking for some more pancake fun you might want to give these other pancake recipes a try:

Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes

Fourth of July Pancakes

Strawberry Pancakes

Watermelon Pancakes

Summer time is a great time to make this fun watermelon pancake recipe. I have a super simple pancake recipe for you to follow so that you can whip some up for your family to enjoy on these lazy summer mornings…or for a lazy summer dinner!

I used our favorite buttermilk pancake recipe…

Buttermilk Pancakes:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Instructions: Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

Lightly beat the eggs with the buttermilk, milk and melted butter.

Just before you are ready to make the pancakes, add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients all at once, stirring just long enough to blend. The batter should be slightly lumpy.

If you want to add fruit or nuts, stir them in now, or you may sprinkle them on the pancakes while they are on the griddle.

Heat a lightly greased griddle or heavy skillet over medium-high heat (375 degrees on an electric griddle).

Separate the pancake batter into three different bowls. Pour half of the batter into one bowl and then split the other half between the two other bowls. Add red food coloring to the bowl with half of the batter. Then in the other bowls add green food coloring to one and leave the other bowl white. Pour a thin line of green in a half circle. I used a spoon and just dribble the batter into a line. I followed suit and added a thin line of white right next to the green. Fill in the rest with the red batter. It doesn’t have to be perfect. I trimmed them with my kitchen shears later. Then I sprinkled some mini chocolate chips into the red batter. Then when the pancake is ready, flip it over and cook the other side.

You don’t need to worry about adding more chocolate chips to this side unless you want to. This side will not be as pretty, but just place that side down on the plate and no one will be the wiser!

Serve them up with your favorite syrup and enjoy!