Pumpkin Spice Pancakes Recipe
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These pumpkin spice pancakes are the perfect autumn breakfast!
Love pumpkin spice flavors this time of year? You aren’t alone! These delicious pumpkin-flavored pancakes can be made vegan, gluten-free or just as is. But no matter how you make them, they are delicious every time!
Where Does Pumpkin Spice Come From?
Supposedly, the “…McCormick spice company created the Pumpkin Pie Spice—a blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice—in 1934 as a shortcut for flavoring the traditional harvest dessert.” (source)
CookingLight.com
What Is Pumpkin Spice Made Of?
“Sugar and spice and everything nice! That’s what pumpkin spice is made of!“
Just kidding. But seriously, it’s just a blend of spices that include ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger, and ground cloves. Although, you’ll find variations on those spices just about anywhere you look. You can find my recipe for pumpkin spice mix here.
Is There Pumpkin In Pumpkin Spice?
Nope! Not a single drop! The spices are simply intended for seasoning this popular, orange squash, typically, in pie form (see my pumpkin pie recipe here). But it also has many other uses such as the ever-popular pumpkin spice latte (find my delicious pumpkin spice latte recipe here!), kettle corn (find my kettle corn recipe here), or even as a spice in this delicious almond butter spread (found here). But where you won’t find any pureed pumpkin is in this recipe! That’s right, I only used the spices here.
The Pancakes Maker
I used this pancake maker to make these pumpkin pancakes. But you can also use a skillet, griddle or even make one big pancake to cut up by baking this in the oven. (Click the image to get to this product on Amazon. – Affiliate link.)
You can ladle the batter onto the griddle, just enought to fill up the pumpkin-shaped well, or you can fill to the outter circles on the waffle maker to make the pancakes round like I did for this recipe. Either way, you get adorable, pumpkin-shaped pancakes!
Topping Ideas For Your Pumpkin Spice Pancakes
- Walnuts
- Pecans
- Almonds
- Maple syrup
- Honey
- Chopped persimmons
- Apple sauce
- Chopped or grated apples
- Melt butter to pour over the top
Ingredient Checklist
Whole wheat pastry flour – Or try white whole wheat flour. Either will work.
Unsweetened almond milk – Or any milk other than full-fat coconut milk which is too thick
Pumpkin pie spice – No sugar added (see link above)
Baking Powder – Make sure it’s fresh so it works properly. This is not the same as baking soda. Do not substitute one for the other.
Large egg whites – Or a large egg. For vegan pancakes, you can simply omit them.
Pure vanilla extract – Use the real stuff. Not vanilla flavoring.
Maple syrup – For the topping
Salt – This is optional, but helps bring out the sweetness of any syrup you put over the top of these pancakes.
How To Make Pumpkin Spice Pancakes
Whisk together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture.
Whisk together into a smooth batter.
Using an oil sprayer, spray a pancake maker or nonstick skillet with a very light coat of olive oil.
Ladle on your pancake batter and cook until done. If you are cooking these on a stovetop, cook over medium heat and flip as needed until cooked. If using a baking sheet, bake at 425 F. for 15 to 20 minutes.
Serve a stack of hot pancakes topped with maple syrup and a side of scrambled egg whites.
How To Store Pancakes
Pancakes will last in the fridge for 2 to 3 days if kept in an airtight container.
Can You Freeze Pancakes?
You can! But I highly recommend putting a small piece of parchment between each pancake so you don’t end up with a clump that is stuck together. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
How To Reheat Pancakes
You have a few options.
- Microwave – Undoubtedly the fastest option.
- Toaster oven – Works well, but don’t overcook or your pancakes will get really dry.
- Stovetop – Warm them in a dry skillet (cast iron works best), flipping frequently to avoid burning.
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Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice (no sugar added)
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. salt (optional)
Wet Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened almond milk, (or any milk other than coconut milk which is too thick)
- 2 large eggs (optional)
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Topping
- maple syrup
- chopped nuts
- unsweetened apple sauce
Instructions
- Whisk together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture.
- Whisk together into a smooth batter.
- Using an oil sprayer, spray a pancake maker or nonstick skillet with a very light coat of olive oil.
- Ladle on your pancake batter and cook until done. If you are cooking these on a stovetop, cook over medium heat and flip as needed until cooked. If using a baking sheet, bake at 425 F. for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Serve a stack of hot pancakes topped with maple syrup and a side of scrambled egg whites.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe from the Gracious Pantry® archives, originally posted on 10/16/2011.
I'm Tiffany, a writer for MSN and the AP Newswire, a cookbook author, digital publisher, food lover, and mom. I create healthy, clean eating recipes for everyday living.
Jodi – As I mentioned in my post, I’m working on 2 recipes. The first is this one, and the second will have the actual pumpkin in it. That will be posted in the coming weeks. Still trying to work out the wet/dry ratio on the ones with pumpkin. They don’t cook quite the same.
Becca – I buy mine at Trader Joe’s. I love their pumpkin spice! But you can make your own as well. There are a ton of recipes on the web. I highly recommend TJ’s though. Great stuff!
Morganfamily – Did you cook it? Or was this a drink of sorts?
Sorry, yes. They were pancakes!
Heather – I’m guessing on the size here…. I had about 12 pancakes that were about 3-4 inches in diameter. Hope that helps.
what about trying protein powder, stevia, organic pumpkin, vanilla, and idk what else “) Ill work on this pancake recipe. that way there is no flour. just an idea. love what you do! Suz
Soochula – Interesting idea! Let me know how it turns out!
I couldn’t find my pumpkin pie spice, (and I was out of the ingredients to make my own! Geez!) so I used apple pie spice this morning…DELICIOUS! How easy! The whole family loved them too!
Kara – Fantastic! I really must find some of that spice. People keep mentioning it and I’ve never seen it before!
Sounds great! I have just found out that I have an egg allergy 🙁 Any thoughts on how to make these without egg? I love anything with pumpkin flavor!
Emily – I believe there is a non-egg, egg replacer, but I don’t know anything about it. The egg is what binds everything, so I’m not sure. I’ll do a little research on it.
You can get ground chia and make an egg replacer with it :).
Wow these sound so yummy and so simple to prepare. I’m curious as to how they would change texture-wise if I added in some pumpkin puree. Do you have any suggestions as to how much to use?
Teeny – That’s what I’ve been playing around with for the second recipe. They don’t seem to cook well so far. I’ll keep you posted.
ohh looks so incredibly delicious!
Naomi – They were!
These look delicious! I want to make these for Saturday Brunch!
Hillary – You won’t be disappointed!
Tiff – would this work as a waffle?
Kelli – It should!
Elena – That’s wonderful! Glad you enjoyed them!
Heather – Ya, the texture takes some getting used to if you are used to the fluffy, cake-like pancakes you get in a restaurant. You can certainly try baking powder. You might also try making waffles with this batter instead. Same flavor, but a more “palatable” texture for those who struggle with it.
We just made them with a few raisins and 1/2 tsp of Chia seed added. Awesome freezing the rest for a quick breakfast for my 2 year old.
Stephanie – Let me know how well they freeze. I’ve never tried!
Uh ya. Something went wrong there. I’m not sure what, but these are about as far from gelatinous as you can get. They do have a different texture than using white flour, if that’s what he’s used to. But they are not gelatinous at all. Sorry they didn’t work out for you!
Hi everyone! Im planning on making these on Saturday with my family. If you add baking soda for extra fluffiness – how much do you recommend?
Maybe 1 teaspoon.
Is there a certain reason you don’t use the egg yolks? Just curious. 🙂 I follow recipes that call for whites only all the time.. but just wondering why it makes a difference. Thanks so much for filling me in!
I did it to cut down on fat. But you can certainly use them. I use 2 egg whites for every whole egg.
Hi! I am looking through all of your Clean Eating Thanksgiving meal recipes and a lot of them list “whole wheat pastry flour” as an ingredient. Can you tell me the specific brand of pastry flour you use and where I could find it? Also, I only have King Arthur’s unbleached organic white whole wheat flour in my pantry. Could I use this flour as a substitute for the whole wheat pastry flour in your recipes? Thank you!
Esther – I get mine in the bulk section at Whole Foods. But I believe Bob’s Redmill has it in packages. You can find it online or at a local health food store. You can use the flour you mentioned, but the resulting texture will be just slightly more coarse and dense. But it’s the next best thing if you can’t find the pastry variety.
Thanks so much!
Esther – My pleasure! 🙂
Made these this morning,so easy and so yummy!! Thanks!
Lori – My pleasure! 😀