Pumpkin Pancakes with Pumpkin Spiced Syrup

Hello and Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday and I thank you for allowing me to be a part of your life.  I am so glad I am sharing recipes, tips tricks and gift ideas with you again.  I have missed being connected in this way!

Can I tell you a secret?

You should really make your own pumpkin for pies, cakes and breads.  It's super easy (I'll be posting a step-by-step tutorial soon, but I wanted to catch your attention first!) and it gives you bragging rights.  But more than that, there is one critical reason why you should make your own pumpkin puree:

Pumpkin Spiced Syrup.

If you love pumpkin, you simply haven't lived until you've tried this syrup and the only way to get it is to make your own pumpkin puree...unless you can find pumpkin "juice" elsewhere, but it seems unlikely.  I can't say as I've ever looked.  Of course, sometimes I really need to pay better attention.

Take, for example, the aforementioned pumpkin "juice."  It is a by-product of making pumpkin puree.  And I have probably tossed gallons of it down my sink drain.  How sad....

I've always felt a little twinge when I poured it down.  Every. Single. Time.  I felt wasteful and knew there had to be some use for it that I was missing.  But I couldn't figure out what to do with it.  I tried making "pumpkin juice" a la Harry Potter a couple of years ago.  I was not impressed.  I do hope that should I ever try Butterbeer, it lives up to all the hype.  Pumpkin juice was a thorough disappointment.  Bummer.

As I was watching my first batch of pumpkin puree drain yesterday, the inspiration I've been longing for the juice pool came.  "Make syrup out of it.  It would be great on pancakes."  Genius!  I set out to find a recipe that would make use of this flavor-packed juice that I was collecting.

And, I found NOTHING!  Really?!  How can this be?

Oh, I found a couple of pumpkin syrup recipes but nothing like I was envisioning....nothing that used my precious juice.  So I did what any pumpkin loving girl would do - I made up my own recipe with a little help from another recipe for apple cider syrup.

At the end of my pumpkin packing project, I had 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree to find a use for.  I didn't want to freeze a small portion like that and so I remembered that the syrup recipe had an applesauce pancake recipe with it.  Perfect.  And so I converted that to pumpkin, too....and I made it gluten free because that's just how I roll.

And here they are.....

Who's your new best friend?  That's right.  Me.  That stack o' pancakes tasted just as good (if not better!) than it looks.  Heaven on a plate, friends...that's the best way to describe it.  What a wonderful breakfast for supper experience....but leave it to the little red head to one up me.

He requested cream cheese on his pancakes.  This kid is brilliant (obviously he got some of my smart genes)!!!  Talk about kicking things up a notch.    Best. Idea. Ever.  It was like eating pumpkin cheesecake pancakes.  I have the best sous chef EVER.

So, do yourself a favor and grab a pumpkin and prepare yourself for the joy of this wonderful treat!  Sharing is optional....unless you truly love your family like I love my little red head.  Then you probably should share...it's just the right thing to do.

 If you try this or any other recipe you find here, please post pictures on Facebook so we can cheer for you! If you're not yet of fan of that page, hop on over and click "like."

Pumpkin Pancakes
(with gluten and dairy free options)
adapted from Applesauce Pancakes

• 2 cups all-purpose flour  (GF:  Substitute 2 cups Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour + 1 1/2 tsp. xantham gum)
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, beaten (GF: 3 eggs)
• 1 cup milk (Dairy Free:  substitute coconut milk.  Omit xantham gum for GF version
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (tutorial coming soon  or substitute canned pumpkin, if you must!)
• 1/4 cup canola oil

Preheat griddle or frying pan and lightly grease with oil or butter.

Combine the dry ingredients (flour through salt) in large bowl.  Make a well in the dry ingredients and add wet ingredients.  Mix until well combined. 

Pour batter onto pre-heated pan or griddle.  Turn when bubbles that form on top begin to pop and edges begin to look done.  Cook until second side is golden brown.  Keep warm in a pan in your oven set at 150F while making the remaining pancakes. 

Serves 6 to 8.

Pumpkin Spice Syrup

adapted from Apple Cider Syrup

• 2 cups pumpkin juice
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger

Combine all ingredients in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.  Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring frequently, until reduced by half (approximately 15 minutes). The syrup will thicken as it cools.  Serve with pancakes.  Refrigerate any unused portion and use within two months.

Dessert. It's What's for Dinner.

Tonight, I decided to be.  The.  Cool.  Mom.

You know the one.  When you were younger, you were her kid's friend because you knew that a play date at her house meant good things coming your way.  OR you just hoped upon hope that you'd be in the class room where her kid was for school because that class was always the one that had the best parties.   If you were really lucky, you didn't have to feign friendship to get access to a cool mom...you had one yourself like me.  As luck would have it, I still have a cool mom.....a VERY Cool. Mom.  

Case in point, for Halloween, after much pondering I had the "Ah ha!" moments we all hope for when contemplating what the little red head should dress up as (he hasn't yet started really picking out his own costume ideas yet....maybe next year?) - he would be The Pigeon!

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Pigeon, here's a quick introduction via video....because that's way more fun than just a picture, right?

If you love this book, good news, there are more book videos on my Youtube Channel.  Because, honestly, I'm kind of the "Cool Mom" more often than I'm not.  I had an excellent teacher...

...which brings me back to our story.  This fall has been, in a word, difficult.  If you know me well, you know I try to keep things "happy happy" with respect to my online presence.  I've always preferred to have a little more "personal" connection when I poor my heart out.  Nevertheless, the blanket statement matters because when things are "difficult," it's hard for me to be the "Cool Mom" and go out of my way to make life super duper cool for the red head.

Yep, despite this being the perfect costume for my boy, I scrapped the idea because #1 - The Pigeon isn't popular enough (What?!) to have pre-made costumes.  Argh.  #2 - I reached out to another blogger who had made a super cool costume to see if she's share her secret - no response.  Bummer.  #3 - I just didn't have it in me to make the costume myself from scratch without so much as a pattern to start with.  Frankly, I'm not sure I had it in me to do it with a pattern!  So, he was going to be Tigger instead...pre-made costume and still made him smile.  Enter my Cool Mom.  

She made the costume...secretly from 3 hours away....and when she missed sending it via the post office in time to arrive for the big night, she rushed to UPS and sent it that way.  See?  Coolest.  Mom.  Ever.  Here's a glimpse of what he looked like.

An innovative design appreciated by all those who actually know of The Pigeon.  Everyone else thought he was an Angry Bird.  Hmpf.  Ah well, it was an opportunity to educate many about this wonderful series by Mo Willems.

And now for my Cool Mom moment.  Yep.  I let my kid eat dessert for dinner.

But not just any dessert.....in fact, we could probably argue that it's practically health food.

Peanut butter Sunbutter, Dark Chocolate (Dove, of course), Rice Chex....protein, antioxidants and whole grains.  It's a winner, right?  Well, except for all that powdered sugar, I suppose I might be able to convince you.  Any guesses as to what wonderful treat he just chowed down on?

Really.  I make it too easy for you, don't I?

....especially when I post a picture.  Please tell me you have had "Puppy Chow" (aka Muddy Buddies) before?  And please promise me you will feed it to your children.  I didn't learn about this stuff until high school....which is just sad because I just went on and on about how cool my mom is.  I suppose even Cool Moms miss something every now and then...thank goodness for Mrs. Fink.  A life without Puppy Chow...well, it really is a sad thing.

Trust me, I know.  I haven't had any for 8 years due to some food allergies/intolerances which have been, for the most part, corrected (alternative medicine stuff - visit www.allergysolutionscs.com to learn more and if you go in, tell Wendy I sent you and that I say hello!).  And so, of course, when I had a friend ask me if I wanted some Sunbutter single serve cups he'd procured, the first thing I thought of was "I wonder how Puppy Chow made with Sunbutter would be?"  Turns out it works quite nicely - just make the switch!

Sunbutter Puppy Chow

Adapted from General Mills' Muddy Buddies Recipe

8 oz. DCD Dark Chef Series Chocolate, chopped

1/2 c. Sunbutter

1/4 c. butter

1 tsp. vanilla 

9 cups Rice Chex cereal

1 1/2 - 2 c. powdered sugar

Combine chocolate, sunbutter and butter in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave on high for 30 second intervals stirring well after each interval until mixture is smooth (about 1 1/2 minutes total).  Stir in vanilla.  Add cereal and stir until well-coated.  

Add 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar to 1-2 gallon Ziplock bag.  Add cereal mixture and shake to coat.  If needed, add additional sugar (I always seem to need more than the recipe calls for).  Transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator.

Serving size:  1/2 cup.

Approximately 18 servings

Gift Alert!  With the holidays approaching, here's another fun gift idea might make you smile.  Find a cute doggie dish or mug, wash it up good and then fill it up with Puppy Chow wrap in cellophane and tie up with a  bow.  You might want to use a little chew toy or dog biscut as an ornament if the person you're giving the gift to has a dog; however, I suggest you also let them know that the puppy chow is a human treat made with chocolate - we certainly don't want to make any furry friends ill!

Research. It's a Tough Job, But...

I love you so much that I am willing to take 5 minutes out of my day to "suffer" through it.  Who's your favorite chocolate lady?  That's right, me.  Taking one for the team....uh huh.

I have a funny feeling you're not buying all this crazy talk.  Are you?  If so, I'm about to out myself...

Here's my research project (BUSTED!!):

A sweet "adopted mom" of mine shared this with me.  And after my success with a cake in a mug recipe (which ended up being in a fondue pot after it boiled over the first time I tried it....shhhhh....don't tell anyone!), I decided I would be doing you all a disservice if I didn't give this one a whirl.  You will thank me for my sacrifice someday....maybe today.  It's so easy you really could pull it off right this very minute!

And yes, I took the challenge and made it gluten free because, honestly, if I can't eat it, I'm not baking it....unless it's for a chocolate tasting or church.  And I don't make things that I'm not very certain are going to taste good if they have wheat.  But I digress....

Let's get back to the brownies that everyone can make, everyone can eat (it's egg and dairy free also!), and that you shall forever be grateful to me for sharing with you.  Are you ready?

Here's the batter filled mug...it's not pretty.  In my world, that's pretty much a guarantee I'll have to eat some evidence.  I'm good with that.  Brownies for lunch anyone?  The microwave did it's little magic and voila....

Brownies!  Of course, I did a little magic of my own here and threw some Dark Chocolate Mint Baking Bits  because I love you more than just a plain brownie.  The peanut butter bits would be amazing, too.  If they're at room temperature, they will melt quite nicely.  Or give them a 10 second little zap in the nuker and you're good to go.

Ah, but if you know me well, you know I'm not done.  Nope.  I wouldn't leave off the contrasting color that makes everyone smile....

Like Magic.  Like this brownie....

You guessed it.  Vanilla ice cream.  Yum-o-licious.  If I wasn't before, I'm your new best friend.  Right?  

And because best friends don't like to make you squint or guess, here's the recipe typed by my own hands for your "baking" pleasure.

Brownie in a Mug

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. flour (for gluten free, use 1/4 c. Bella Gluten Free All Purpose Flour)

2 Tbsp. DCD Cocoa Powder

pinch of salt

2 Tbsp. Oil

3 Tbsp. Water 

DCD's Dark Chocolate Mint Baking Bits 

Vanilla Ice Cream

Mix all the dry ingredients in your mug until well-combined.  Add oil and water and mix until well-blended and smooth.  Microwave for between 1 1/2 minutes to 2 1/2 minutes depending on your MW.  Top with baking bits and ice cream and then eat up!

BONUS

Gift Idea Alert!!  

This would make a fun little gift for anyone  you want to show a little appreciation to (honestly, who in their right mind wouldn't LOVE to receive their own personal brownie?  Only crazy people you probably don't want to hang out with....just sayin'.) 

If you wanted to give this as a gift, put the the dry ingredients in a sandwich bag, tuck it into a cute mug and then wrap the whole thing up in cellophane.  Tie it with a fun bow and attach directions to add the oil and water and microwave.  Easy peasy, inexpensive....and guaranteed to never be regifted!