Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

I made a pumpkin gingerbread cake based on a recipe I'd seen online. When wondering what to do with my leftover 1/2 can of pumpkin puree, I decided to experiment with some pumpkin spice pancakes. I'd never had them before so didn't really have a guide to go on - it was just a case of making it up as I went along. Considering that, I'm pretty pleased with the result: not bad for a first attempt! The recipe could use a bit of tweaking but they're still a pretty big success already I'd say! For someone who's not a fan of pumpkin in sweet things, they were pretty unusual and went down a treat with a big bowl of fruit and some maple syrup on a cold and rainy morning!!

You'll need:

2 eggs

1/4 cup caster sugar

1 pinch salt

1/2 can pumpkin puree

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground all spice

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp cinnamon (half if you want a more subtle taste but we're biiiiiig cinnamon fans!)

1 1/2 cups of self-raising flour

1/2 tsp baking powder 

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 - 3/4 cup milk (depending on how thick your batter is due to the size of your eggs).

What to do:

1. Firstly I mixed the eggs and caster sugar together with a pinch of salt.

2. I then added the pumpkin, flour, baking powder and spices and enough milk to turn it into a thick paste to get the lumps out of it (I was too lazy to sift it).

3. I then added the remaining milk and melted butter and mixed it again. 

This is what my batter looked like. Still quite thick so it held it's shape on the griddle but not too thick so that it was paste-like.

I heated up the crepe maker and cooked the pancakes on that (each one was about a tablespoon of batter). As I'm pretty sure not everyone has one in their kitchen (I certainly don't I was just making the most of the novelty of having it at my parents' house), a regular bakestone or frying pan would do just as well. When the mixture started to bubble on top (after about a minute), I flipped them over to let the other side cook (about 30 seconds). Obviously the cooking time might be different depending on how hot your pan is; I'm not sure the temperature of my crepe maker.

When they're cooked, pile them up on a big plate and enjoy the smell!!

Mine look really rustic and homemade but if you wanted to take a bit more care over spreading the batter out you could get a much more professional finish! I made a few into heart shapes which I much prefer to the classic round ones. I'll definitely be taking a few extra seconds in the future to 'prettify' them into heart shapes.

We made these after lunch one day so my mum opted to eat hers hot off the griddle with maple syrup, ice cream and a few token berries.

I put the cooled pancakes in the freezer and just took some out for breakfast the next morning (had I known the temptation to tuck in would've been so great I wouldn't have bothered freezing them at all). Microwaved for a few seconds they were as good as fresh and went down a treat with a big fruit salad and some maple syrup.

They're super simple to make and can make a handy quick breakfast (if frozen and microwaved or toasted), great lazy brunch or a super simple dessert. They make the house smell amazing too!!