Hello there. It’s been a minute, hasn’t it? First of all, I want to thank you all so much for the sweet comments about my D’daddy’s passing. As a wise friend said, “Grandfathers are simply wonderful things that shouldn’t be allowed to die at all.” I so agree, but unfortunately that isn’t how life works. I am incredibly thankful that I had so much time with him and so many happy memories. Thank you for your patience and for giving us time to reflect on them.

But on to happier topics… It’s Pancake Tuesday! I think we will be trying a variation of our favorite Whole Wheat Pumpkin Spice pancakes, but maybe with sweet potato instead of the pumpkin, and sorghum syrup instead of honey and I’ll replace the pumpkin pie spice with cardamom, ginger, and orange zest, and while we’re at it, top it with pear compote, so really not like our favorite pancakes at all.

What are you whipping up today?

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

{makes 6 pancakes}

the wet:
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 Tbsp butter, melted

the dry:
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda

for the pumpkin mix:
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp fresh diced ginger {or 1/2 tsp of the powdered ginger}
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
dash of allspice

Start heating up your griddle or, in my case, a pan on medium heat. {I actually use two pans because it makes it go so much quicker!}

In a large bowl, whisk together your wet ingredients. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand you can always mix 1 1/4 cup of milk with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. It will get the job done.

Put a sieve over the bowl and measure your dry ingredients. Using a fork, mix the dry ingredients in the sieve and then give it a shake until all the dry has fallen through. Gently stir it all together. There might be some lumps but the key here is to not over mix it. The buttermilk and the baking powder are getting to know each other and we want to give that relationship some room to grow if we want perfectly fluffy pancakes.

In a separate bowl mix all of the pumpkin spice ingredients together then add it to the batter. Gently stir it in.

Now lets make some pancakes!

Drop a bit of canola oil in the hot pans, and using a 1/3 cup measuring cup pour in the batter. Let it cook for about 3-4 minutes or until it’s looking pretty solid then flip. I usually only cook it on the other side for 1-2 minutes, then transfer to a plate. For a bit of extra crunch and burst of flavor, sprinkle a bit of whatever homemade granola you have laying around on top of the pancake just after your pour the batter into the pan. It’s delicious!

Repeat until you’ve used up all of your batter.

Sprinkle some spiced pumpkin seeds over the top and serve with warm maple syrup! Enjoy y’all!

This recipe was originally published in a guest post I wrote for Charming Lucy. I’m reposting it here to provide some inspiration for Pancake Day!