Pumpkin Pancakes in February

This past year, I stocked up early on Thanksgiving supplies in the hopes that we would actually be able to go through with our plans.  As gathering after gathering was cancelled my fresh cranberries moved to the freezer and the cans of pumpkin to the back of the pantry, sad and neglected.  

As I was racking my brain for brunch ideas this weekend, I happened to notice the pumpkin and immediately started craving pancakes.

Not only did I completely miss pumpkin season..  but to me pancakes are beach food...  

I grew up vacationing in Stone Harbor, New Jersey with my family and my parents quickly fell in love with Uncle Bill's Pancake House and that place became part of who I am.  We would take a week long trip to the shore each year and go to Uncle Bill's every single morning.  We would wake up and ride our bikes in the salty morning air until we saw the crowd gathered in front of the restaurant.  We would plan out our activities for the day as we waited for our name to be called.  Figuring out what I was going to order for every day we were there was probably my first venture into prioritization..  the menu was large, I couldn't try everything, but there were also a few things I might want to get twice...  I would even negotiate for a few bites of mom's potato pancakes so I didn't have to waste a full day on them, and a piece of dad's ham steak because that was the most expensive order on the menu and I wouldn't be able to finish it all by myself anyway.  Some of my best childhood memories take me back to those tiny booths where even the water tasted like the beach.

Because of growing up with the best pancakes, I don't usually attempt to make them, but this pumpkin pancake recipe is really.. really delicious.   And sometimes it's fun to switch things up and eat beach food with pumpkin in February :D Maybe you should even try making them for dinner to add one more curve ball to the mix!

I found the recipe from Nichole on The Salty Marshmallow blog.  The pancakes are light and fluffy with the right amount of pumpkin and spice.  She calls them perfect and I agree. 

1. Heat a griddle or large pan over medium heat (I used my stainless steal this time, but cast iron would probably be better)
2. Wisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl: flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, & nutmeg
3. Whisk together the wet ingredients in a medium bowl: sugars (brown & white), vanilla, pumpkin, eggs, butter, & milk
4. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined
5. Melt some butter on your griddle or pan and drop in the batter (I used a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop and added two heaping scoops per pancake, which worked well)
6. Let the pancakes cook until the edges start to solidify and them flip them until they are cooked through, it should take just a few minutes per side.  (they wont get bubbles that pop up through the batter like other pancakes i've made, so just keep an eye on the edges to know when to flip)
7. Serve them with cinnamon bourbon whipped cream, powdered sugar, and pancake syrup

Whether you make them immediately to be a rebel like me, or save them for fall.. i hope you love them :) 

Tip: For the cinnamon whipped cream, i just whipped up some heavy cream with a splash of bourbon, a dash of cinnamon and a few teaspoons of the powdered sugar.  Very worth it! 

Have a great week! Thanks for being here - I love you all.