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Made with whole wheat flour, these naturally sweetened healthy pumpkin pancakes are perfect for the fall. Quick and easy to make and seasoned with pumpkin spice, this is one delicious breakfast that will keep everyone feeling full and satisfied.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Whole wheat flour: We make these using whole wheat flour, which is slower for your body to digest compared to white flour. That means you are fuller longer but there’s zero sacrifice on the taste and fluff factor! You can make these with all purpose flour if that’s what you have to hand.
- Baking powder: So that the pancakes get light and fluffy when they cook.
- Seasonings: Pumpkin spice blend, salt and vanilla extract.
- Milk: We prefer to use almond milk in this pancake recipe as it contains less fat than dairy. Dairy will also work well if you prefer, or another plant based milk like oat or soy.
- Pumpkin puree: Pumpkin puree adds moisture to the pancake batter so you don’t need to use as much butter or oil compared to a more traditional pancake recipe.
- Egg: To help bind the ingredients together. Use a flax egg or omit if you are vegan, they will still come out great.
- Maple syrup: Used instead of processed sugar to naturally sweeten the pancakes. Honey will also work.
How to Make Healthy Pumpkin Pancakes
This is a super simple pancake recipe that I adapted from Cookie and Kate. I made a couple modifications but otherwise it’s a perfect recipe that you can easily whip up for breakfast.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients.
- In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients.
- Mix together the wet and dry ingredients, til no dry is visible.
- Fold in chocolate chips if using.
- Heat a griddle or skillet and ladle in the pancake mix and cook on both sides.
Tips to make this recipe
- Don’t over mix the pancake batter. The dry ingredients should be combined, but stop mixing once all of the flour has disappeared, it’s fine if there are still lumps in the batter. Over mixing and lead to flat and dense pancakes.
- Your griddle or skillet should be hot before adding the batter. Don’t have the skillet too hot or they will burn, but too low a heat and the middle won’t cook through. Do a small test pancake to help you get the temperature right.
- Flip the pancakes when bubble start to form on the top of the butter. Be patient and wait for those bubbles to appear for a fluffy and perfectly cooked pancake.
- Use a pure pumpkin puree. Don’t use a canned pumpkin pie filling which will have added sweeteners and spices.
Frequently Asked Questions
To make your mornings either smoother, you can make the pumpkin pancake butter the day before and keep it covered in the fridge. It’s there and ready to use, just give it a small stir and add to the skillet to cook.
If you have any leftovers, store them in an airtight container and they will last up to 5 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer. To warm them, wrap the pancakes loosely with a paper towel and reheat in the microwave.
Canned and organic pumpkin puree is best to use in this recipe. Homemade puree can often have a higher water content, so it’s best to stick to canned.
The recipe will make about 6-8 medium sized pancakes, which is great for 3-4 people. It’s a delicious breakfast inspired by fall flavors that will leave you with all the fall feels. Pair it with some coffee in the morning, and relish that moment!
Pumpkin Puree Recipes
- Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte
- No-Bake Pumpkin Spice Balls
- Mini Pumpkin Pies
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
More pancake recipes:
- Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
- Flourless Strawberry Pancakes
- Pink Pancakes (made with beets)
- Banana Pancake Dippers
- Oat Flour Pancakes
- Chocolate Pancakes
- Blueberry Pancakes
If you’ve tried this healthy-ish feel good Healthy Pumpkin Pancakes recipe or any other recipe on FeelGoodFoodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories!
Healthy Pumpkin Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon pumpkin spice blend
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup almond milk
- ⅓ cup pumpkin purée
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoon butter melted
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup chocolate chips optional
- Butter or cooking oil spray for cooking
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice blend and salt. Stir until blended.
- In a larger mixing bowl, combine the milk, pumpkin purée, egg, maple syrup, melted butter and vanilla extract. Whisk until completely blended.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until the dry ingredients are completely incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips, if using.
- Heat a nonstick griddle over medium-low heat. Melt butter on the surface or spray with cooking oil spray.
- Pour ⅓ cup of the batter into the hot griddle. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until small bubbles start to form on the top and the edges firm up. Flip the pancake and cook for another 1-2 minutes until the pancake is cooked through.
- Serve immediately with maple syrup.
Video
Notes
- You can sub the whole wheat flour for all purpose flour. As for gluten-free flour, unfortunately I don’t bake with gluten free flour so I can’t be sure how they will work in this recipe.
- You can leave out the egg completely if you want to make this vegan and skip the butter when cooking the pancakes.
- You can use any milk of choice.
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Came out great! Hearty and fluffy, very flavorful with the spice. Only mods were using a full 1/2 cup of pumpkin and using sugar free maple syrup to cut down the sugar.
So glad to hear it! Thank you 🙂
When you only use part of the can of pumpkin, what do you do with the rest?
I recommend these recipes because they are very forgiving in the amounts needed. You can add a little more or less and they’ll still turn out great!
https://feelgoodfoodie.net/recipe/no-bake-pumpkin-spice-bliss-balls/
https://feelgoodfoodie.net/recipe/vegan-pumpkin-pasta-crispy-sage/
https://feelgoodfoodie.net/recipe/homemade-pumpkin-spice-latte/
These pancakes were wonderful! We love everything pumpkin spice and these pancakes had that perfect pumpkin spice flavor. My 12-year-old loved them. I used unbleached all purpose flour, regular milk, and omitted the maple syrup and they were delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
Yay, so glad to hear it! Thank you!
I made these this morning for breakfast. Wow!! They are super good! I made them exactly as written except used honey instead of maple syrup and canola oil instead of melted butter because that’s what I had on hand. I did add 2T. ground flax to the dry ingredients (I add flax to most everything bread). They were light, pumpkiny, and delicious. Just the right touch of spice, too. I used my homemade pumpkin pie spice to make these. Will definitely be making these again as long as my supply of frozen puree lasts in my freezer! I sprinkled mine with walnuts and chocolate chips right after pouring them in the skillet.
Yay! I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed them! I love that you added the flaxseed to dry ingredients…extra fiber! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Can this also be used as waffle batter too?
Yup! Just add 2 tablespoons of oil to it and then you can use it as waffle batter.
Just made this! It was super delicious!!! I didn’t have maple syrup so just put some honey on top and was just lovely!
Yay! So glad to hear it! 🙂
Love everything with pumpkin! I know these are going to be a hit with my family 🙂