Pumpkin Pancakes

It's a rainy Sunday and we've got more pumpkin than I know what to do with, so I decided to heavily modify one of our favorite pancake recipes to try pumpkin ones. I started with the Lemon-Ricotta Pancakes recipe in our Williams-Sonoma Breakfast & Brunch book, and swapped the ricotta for pumpkin puree and the lemon zest for my favorite fall spices. We didn't have buttermilk, so I just used milk. It turned out a lot better than I was expecting!

Please note that this year we made pumpkin puree out of proper baking pumpkins, so it's nice and thick and rich and not so watery. For pumpkin roasting, we split a cantaloupe-sized Sugar down the middle, removed the stem and seeds/pulp, baked it at 350 for about 1.75 - 2 hours, let it cool, and then peeled it and riced 2" chunks through the medium grate of our food mill. This is the royal we, as M occasionally stuck his head in and made faces at the mess this made of our kitchen. Fast forward a week, and we're on to pancakes!

Pumpkin Pancakes
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves

The original recipe has all sorts of interesting ideas like separating the eggs and beating the whites, then folding them in at the end to add volume. Having made the lemon ricotta ones this way, I can testify that the texture is fluffier and lighter that way, but do you know what wins at our house on a rainy Sunday morning? Oh yes, that's right, lazy and fewest dirty dishes possible. Here's how I put it together, feel free to complicate as necessary, but then don't complain to me about the number of dirty dishes. ;)

In a large bowl combine flour, salt, baking soda, sugar and spices. Whisk together to approximate sifting, or make a big mess and actually sift them together. Your call. Add pumpkin puree, milk, vanilla. Whisk together until no mildly lumpy. Belatedly remember eggs, whisk in at very end, worry about how runny the batter is. Force husband/housemate/friend/self to taste batter and adjust spices to your personal preferences. I dislike nutmeg, so I leave it out. You may not like cloves, which, while sacrilege at our house, is fine in your kitchen.

Warm a skillet or griddle and brush with melted butter, or put small pats out and chase them around until bubbling but not browned. Add 1/4 cup portions to the pan and cook like normal pancakes.

Most importantly, be very proud of yourself at the end, eat with coffee (and possibly whipped cream) and make someone else wash up whenever possible.