Pumpkin Pancakes

Name: Pumpkin Pancakes
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour; 2 tsp baking powder; 3/4 tsp baking soda; 1/2 tsp salt; 1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice; 1/4 cup dark brown sugar (packed); 1 cup pumpkin puree (such as One Pie or Libby's); 1 1/2 cups buttermilk; 3 Tbsp melted butter (salted); 2 large eggs; 1 tsp pumpkin pie extract; 1 stick slightly softened butter (salted); 2 Tbsp real maple syrup; 1/2 tsp cinnamon

by Rebecca / Saturday, 03 November 2018 / Published in Pancakes & Waffles

These pumpkin pancakes are topped with maple cinnamon butter and real maple syrup.

Pumpkin pancakes are perfect for weekend breakfasts in November. These ones are topped with maple cinnamon butter and real maple syrup, giving them all of those late-fall flavors you crave as Thanksgiving approaches. If you’ve ever wondered how to make homemade pumpkin pancakes from scratch, it’s a lot easier than you may think. It won’t take very long for you to whip these up on a Sunday morning.

A baker is about to spread the pumpkin pancakes with the maple cinnamon butter.

These pumpkin pancakes are made using buttermilk, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and a few other basic ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen. The shorter, printable version of this recipe can be found below, but if you want more detailed step-by-step instructions, then read on.

A stack of pumpkin pancakes with maple cinnamon butter and real maple syrup sits on a plate.

Before you begin making the pancakes, heat your griddle to 375 degrees or put a frying pan over medium-high heat on your stovetop.

Pumpkin Pancake Batter

This pumpkin pancake batter is ridiculously easy to make—you won’t even need your mixer! (However, you will need it to make the maple cinnamon butter later.) To start making the pancakes, grab a couple of mixing bowls and the following ingredients:

Dry Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice

Wet Ingredients

¼ cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 ½ cups buttermilk
3 Tbsp melted butter 40 sec
2 large eggs
1 tsp pumpkin pie extract

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Once incorporated, make a small clearing in the middle of the bowl. This is where you will pour the wet ingredients in just a couple of minutes.

A baker makes an opening in the bottle of the mixing bowl containing the dry ingredients for this pumpkin pancake recipe.

In a separate medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, pumpkin puree, buttermilk, melted butter (about 40 seconds in the microwave should do the trick), eggs, and pumpkin pie extract. Once completely incorporated, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, pouring the wet mixture into the well you made earlier.

A baker pours buttermilk into the wet ingredients for this pumpkin pancake recipe.

The wet ingredients for this pumpkin pancake recipe sit in a mixing bowl after being whisked.

Use a large spoon to stir the mixture until the ingredients are entirely combined. Then, set the batter aside for a few minutes while you make the maple cinnamon butter.

A baker mixes the dry and wet ingredients to form the pumpkin pancake batter.

The completed pumpkin pancake batter sits in a Rae Dunn mixing bowl.

Maple Cinnamon Butter

This maple cinnamon butter is delicious and tastes a bit like the one they serve at Texas Roadhouse. It’s super easy to whip this butter up in a KitchenAid mixer. You will just need:

1 stick of slightly softened salted butter
2 Tbsp of real maple syrup
½ tsp of cinnamon

To soften the stick of butter, put it in the microwave for 10 seconds. Then, place it in your KitchenAid mixer and whisk it using the whip attachment until the butter gets fluffy. You will likely need to stop the mixer a few times to scrape chunks of butter off of the attachment.

Next, add the maple syrup and cinnamon and whip on high speed. I must note that, as a New Englander, I only use real maple syrup. Pancake syrup would not yield the same results. If you cannot get real maple syrup, you can make this butter with just the cinnamon or add ¼ tsp of maple extract to it in place of the maple syrup.

A container of pure New Hampshire maple syrup rests on the counter as the pumpkin pancakes cook in the background.

As the butter whips, be sure to stop the mixer as needed to use a rubber spatula to scrape the cinnamon off of the bottom of the bowl to get it fully combined. Once all the ingredients are incorporated, that’s it! Set the butter aside until the pancakes are cooked.

The maple cinnamon butter rests in a KitchenAid mixer.

The maple cinnamon butter rests in a small ramekin.

The maple cinnamon butter and maple syrup rest next to each other before being applied to the pumpkin pancakes.

You will have more butter than you likely need for this recipe, but it’s great to have leftovers. You can use it on toast or dinner rolls throughout the week.

Cooking the Pumpkin Pancakes

Grease your griddle or frying pan with about 1 Tbsp of cold butter (you will need about 3 Tbsp total to keep greasing in between batches.) Then, pour the pumpkin pancake batter onto the griddle until it has about a 4-inch diameter. You will find that the pancake batter is nice and thick. I prefer to place it in a large glass measuring cup to pour.

Let the pancakes cook on one side for about 2 minutes. Use a spatula to peak underneath each pancake to see if they are ready to flip. When you turn them over, gently push down on the cooked side with your spatula to evenly distribute the batter to ensure it all cooks. By this point, your pancakes will have about doubled in size from when you first poured them.

Two pumpkin pancakes cook on the griddle right after the batter is poured.

The reverse side of the pumpkin pancakes cook on the griddle after being flipped over.

Flip the pancakes over a couple of times until they are slightly golden brown on both sides and all of the batter is fully cooked. Set aside, grease your griddle again, and make another batch. You should be able to make about 8 medium-sized pancakes.

Once the pancakes are done cooking, spread the maple cinnamon butter on them, top with real maple syrup, and enjoy!

A baker spreads the maple cinnamon butter on a stack of pumpkin pancakes.

A stack of pumpkin pancakes are cut into for the first time.

A baker pours real maple syrup over these delicious pumpkin pancakes that are topped with maple cinnamon butter.