Saturday, January 21, 2012

Pumpkin Spice and Chocolate Pancakes

My buddy Andy may just be the nicest guy in the world. I've heard stories about him serving the neighbors five o'clock cocktails on the porch while all the kids play in the front yard, witnessed him flipping quesadillas for his girls on Saturdays, and got firsthand accounts about how he was the best neighbor to Mo and Lindsey in Texas. Every year, Andy kindly hosts me in Austin and allows me to stay in his guest room when I am working at SXSW. Last week, I got to hang out with everyone during Andy's Sunday pancake breakfast. This pumpkin-and-chocolate version is one of his specialties, and the girls (adorably) clamored for more. My take on his recipe is a great, kid-friendly breakfast, too; it's no more trouble than regular pancakes but it's twice as delicious!
Pumpkin Spice and Chocolate Pancakes
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 tablespoons cane sugar
1/4 teaspoon each of clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice
1 can of organic pumpkin (plain)
1 cup of milk
1 egg (beaten)
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
maple syrup (for serving)
Whisk the whole wheat pastry flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, cane sugar, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice together in a large mixing bowl. Mix the pumpkin, milk, and egg together in a medium bowl and add them to the dry ingredients; combine until there are no big lumps, but don't over mix. 


Spoon 1/4 cup of the mixture onto a lightly buttered griddle on medium-low heat; the trick to good pancakes is not going too hot since the sugar can easily scorch. Drop 7-8 chocolate chips into each pancake. Flip to cook the other side and then top pancakes with maple syrup and a pat of butter.

5 comments:

  1. Yes sir! Amelia will love these--hope I am not hogging the testing but I would like to make these too.

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  2. No, not at all, we need you! Claim as many as you like. We are posting new ones every Saturday night and Wednesday.

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  3. Okay, my first attempt at these pancakes went south because I forgot to add the baking powder and I cooked them at a higher temp resulting in a gooey middle. They looked gorgeous though and are best served with the chocolate chip side facing up. My second attempt went much better and they tasted more like Andy's wonderful fluffy pancakes cooked middle and all. They are sweet than most pancakes b.c of the can sugar, pumpkin and chocolate chips so I recommend little or no maple syrup on top. The butter definitely added a richness on top but for me the maple syrup was too sweet. Bottom line: heed to Chubby;s advice on keeping the temp lower, even lower than you might think, to achieve the cooked middle and not burnt outside. Amelia gave the second batch kid approval :)

    The recipe was easy to follow and all measurements seemed accurate. I had to add a bit more (1/8 cup) milk to get the batter thinner.

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  4. Is that sugar from a can? Just kidding. You are awesome! thank you so much. I may adjust the sugar in the recipe.

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