Pumpkin pancakes

I love pancakes. When I was a child, pancakes were not the done thing. They were very American and VERY exotic! So as an adult, I now eat them every chance I get. E would like to have more waffles and french toast, but I don’t think they can compete with pancakes—especially when it comes to pumpkin pancakes. We’ve been eating a lot of these lately—with blueberries thrown in more often than not. The first time we gave them to O, she made all kinds of “yum yum” noises and I thought for sure she was going to be on my side in the pancakes vs french toast arguments. Since then, however, she has taken to throwing her pieces of pancake on the floor and then leaning over the side of her high chair to point at them and say, “uh oh!”

 

We get a weekly delivery of organic vegetables from Radish Boya and we’ve taken to ordering multiple pumpkins, and then skinning, seeding and chopping them and putting them in the freezer. When we wake up on a weekend morning and decide we want pumpkin pancakes, we just throw the frozen cubes on the steamer tray in a saucepan and within a few minutes we have pancake-perfect pumpkin mash.

Pumpkin pancakes

Ingredients

Makes about eighteen small pancakes. The pancakes freeze better than the batter does.

• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 cups water (add more water or soy milk if necessary)
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 1 teaspoon Japanese plum vinegar (or apple cider or white if necessary)
• 2 tablespoons aluminium-free baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1–2 cups cooked mashed pumpkin (We tend to put in more rather than less. We started with kabocha, but lately we’ve been using butternut squash since it’s so easy to peel.)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• blueberries, optional

Method

1. Combine the soy milk and vinegar in a bowl, and leave for a few minutes to curdle (to give a buttermilk-like flavor).
2. Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.
3. Add the pumpkin, water and soy milk and mix until just combined.
4. Let sit for a few minutes and then lightly stir again before cooking the pancakes.
5. We usually add blueberries into each pancake just after it is spooned into the pan. If you swirl them around a little with a spoon, they are less likely to stick to the pan.

Tags: Quick-and-easy, Vegan