Pumpkin Pancakes (might as well be dessert) and Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

I will first comment on my complete inability to get an "OK" picture of this "meal".  I'm not great at taking photos, and I am particularly challenged when I cannot wait to eat what I've cooked!!  Who cares about lighting when you are hungry ...

I've always been more of a waffle fan as I like the crusty/crunchy/crispy style.  But I've been noticing a lot of recipes for these pumpkin pancakes lately.  I actually did not like pumpkin pie until well into my adulthood, but it is now a favourite that I look forward to each fall.

After checking out a few recipes, I realized it was just a matter of adding pumpkin puree to a regular pancake batter along with some spices and a touch more sugar to balance out the extra bits.  So I turned to an old pancake batter recipe that I had on hand and mixed in the extras.  My first thought was ... how did pancakes ever become breakfast, let alone these??  Totally dessert worthy (ooh, whipped cream?!).

The small sugar pumpkins that I grew this year ended up quite small ... in fact, the one I used for this recipe only resulted in a 1/2 cup of flesh.  Good thing that was all I wanted to use.

I have also wanted to try a technique that has been floating around the web lately ... bacon cooked into the pancakes.  Again, I failed miserably on the photos, but OH MY GOD, SO GOOD!  I also screwed it up because I just poured the pumpkin batter on top of some cooked bacon when I should have had batter under and over ... so I ended up with pancakes that had chunks of bacon stuck on them.   I say, WHO CARES, OH MY GOD, SO GOOD!

When baking the pumpkin, I had set aside the seeds for roasting, so I've noted the details of that process further down.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Sift: 1 1/2 cups flour, 3 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 2 Tbsp white sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg and 1/4 tsp freshly grated ginger.

Stir in 1/2 cup pureed pumpkin (bake fresh pumpkin pieces at 350 F until tender, remove skin and puree with immersion blender).

Create a well and add in: 1 1/4 cup milk, 1 beaten egg, 3 Tbsp melted butter.


Stir all ingredients together.  Heat butter in frying pan, cook a few minutes per side (come on, everyone knows how to cook pancakes, huh?!).

Serve with butter and warmed maple syrup (the real stuff, please!).



Roasted Pumpkin Seeds (Pepita)

After removing the pumpkin seeds from the pumpkin, clean them to remove any flesh (rinse in a colander).  Allow to air dry, then toss with a small amount of olive oil to coat.  Spread on a baking sheet, and bake at 350 degrees F until lightly browned.  Be careful they do not burn.  It can take as few as 15 minutes but more like a half hour ... keep an eye on them!




It is unlikely they will last long; it's hard not to eat them all right away.  If any are left, try this pepita pesto on pasta or as a pizza sauce:  Oven-Dried Tomato and Pepita Pesto.