i have found there to be few things better than the way a kitchen smells while pancakes are cooking in a pan over a hot flame. bacon sizzling in a skillet comes dangerously close, but man oh man, the scent of fluffy pillowy, syrup-drippy pancakes really can’t be beat. unfortunately, after i went gluten-free a few years ago to aid in my digestion and overall feeling-goodness, gone went the sunday mornings of consuming mass quantities of bisquick-battered confections. and i had been hard-pressed to find a comprable recipe that still delivered the same light and fluffy taste without the gluten.

enter paleo. again. when i first bought the practical paleo book/cookbook, i scoured its pages for recipes that i could easily incorporate into my everyday life, recipes whose ingredients offered flavors that i already knew and loved. and then i landed upon a simple recipe for pumpkin pancakes. and all was right with the world. and while i usually equate pumpkin with all things football, scarves, boots, changing leaves, and basically the best season ever, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying the flavors of this gourd all year long. especially when its flavors make indulging in pancakes a thing while observing the paleo diet.

so take that, ihop.

pumpkin pancakes
from practical paleo
makes approximately 8 small pancakes or 2 servings

ingredients:
4 eggs

1/2 cup pumpkin

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup (optional)

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons butter or coconut oil (plus extra for frying -i use the coconut oil spray from trader joe’s)

directions:
whisk the eggs, canned pumpkin, pure vanilla extract, and pure maple syrup together. sift the pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and baking soda into the wet ingredients.

melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. then, mix the butter into the batter.

grease the skillet and spoon the batter into the skillet to make pancakes of your desired size. when a few bubbles appear, flip the pancakes once to finish cooking. serve with grass-fed butter and cinnamon or sliced bananas.

paleo pumpkin pancakes with bananas, syrup & cinnamon.