Early in September, Matyas discovered some images of us carving pumpkins last fall that we’d printed and bound into a book (from Recently—if you guys don’t know about it—check it out: it’s like a magazine of your real life). The very next day at the grocery, he insisted on getting pie pumpkins—for carving. In my world, carving can wait a few weeks, and please don’t ask me about Halloween costumes before October one. But, alas, I indulged him and bought a couple of tiny pie pumpkins on our next trip to the store. We (mostly András) carved his little pumpkin on the spot, and we (mostly me) roasted the second one for Aran’ Goyoga’s Brown Butter Squash (delicious!). The rest of it hung out in the fridge for a few days, tempting fall.
Just after dinner one night, as I was putting away the leftovers, I spotted it blurted out, “let’s make pumpkin pancakes tomorrow for breakfast.” I didn’t meant tomorrow tomorrow, of course. Tomorrow was a school day!
But my kids don’t forget anything (do yours?), especially not the promise of pancakes. So that Tuesday morning the first words out of their mouths was PUMPKIN PANCAKES. I mean, that’s all you really have to say and pumpkin lovers (me) come running. I pulled an old recipe out of my hat, then tweaked to our new healthier standard with almond flour, gluten-free-flour, and coconut sugar—instead of white flour and bleached sugar. The result was light, fluffy—more tender than any pancake I’ve had in ages— and, bonus: no buttermilk required (the cider vinegar is a genius heavy lifter here).
I’ve made these pancakes no less than five times in the last two weeks—and on their most recent run, I could almost hear the burning question of my ever clever reader: great, but do they waffle? So, I threw a scant half-cupful into our little Scandinavia waffle iron and gave them a go (thank you, clever reader, or voices in my head).
Yes, these babies waffle, and so very well. WE LOVE THEM. They aren’t your crispy on the outside moist inside waffle like my Family Waffle from my book—they are more of a soft on soft but shapely little waffle that absolutely delighted my kids, and me.
After our fifth and final (until tomorrow tomorrow ) run on these, we discovered that the waffle version is exceptionally easy to cool, bag and stick into lunch boxes for mid-day treats or after school snacks. And since I know you will ask—I’m linking below to our favorite waffle makers, below; I vote for the heart-shaped Scandi style maker for this waffle).
Chances are you have everything hanging around to make these—and YES, you can use canned pumpkin. Please do—that’s the only way these are happening on the regular over here, friends.
xx
RECIPE BELOW
TENDER GLUTEN-FREE PUMPKIN PANCAKES (OR WAFFLES)
1 1/2 CUPS WHOLE MILK, ALMOND MILK OR OAT MILK
1 CUP PUMPKIN PUREE
2 EGGS, LIGHTLY BEATEN
2 TABLESPOONS COCONUT OIL (MELTED) OR VEGETABLE OIL
2 TABLESPOONS CIDER VINEGAR
1 CUP GLUTEN-FREE-FLOUR-BLEND (SUCH AS CUP-FOR-CUP or 1-TO-1 BAKING FLOUR)
1 CUP ALMOND FLOUR
3 TABLESPOONS COCONUT SUGAR
2 TEASPOONS BAKING POWDER
1 TEASPOON BAKING SODA
2 TEASPOONS CINNAMON
1/2 TEASPOON FINE SEA SALT
WHISK TOGETHER THE MILK, PUMPKIN, EGGS, OIL, AND VINEGAR IN A MEDIUM BOWL. IN A SEPARATE LARGE BOWL, WHISK TOGETHER THE FLOURS, SUGAR, BAKING POWDER, BAKING SODA, CINNAMON AND SALT.
WHISK THE DRY INGREDIENTS INTO THE WET INGREDIENTS UNTIL JUST COMBINED.
PREHEAT A CAST-IRON GRIDDLE OR PAN OVER MEDIUM HIGH HEAT (OR PREHEAT YOUR WAFFLE IRON ON MEDIUM HIGH). COAT LIGHTLY WITH BUTTER OR COCONUT OIL SPRAY. SPRINKLE SOME WATER ON THE PAN—IF IT SIZZLES, IT’S READY TO COOK. SPOON PANCAKES IN SCANT 1/3-CUP PORTIONS ONTO THE GRIDDLE (OR WAFFLE IRON) AND COOK UNTIL BUBBLES APPEAR AROUND THE EDGES OF THE UNCOOKED SIDE AND THE PANCAKES RELEASE EASILY. FLIP AND CONTINUE COOKING UNTIL JUST COOKED THROUGH AND LIGHTLY BROWN ON BOTH SIDES, ABOUT 2 MINUTES MORE.
SERVE WARM, WITH BUTTER AND PURE MAPLE SYRUP, OR POWDERED SUGAR.
GET AHEAD
You can make this batter the night before baking. Cover completely and store in the refrigerator up to overnight. OR, COOL THE ENTIRE BATCH, COOL AND STORE IN TIGHTLY SEALED ZIP-TOP BAGS. BOTH THE PANCAKES AND WAFFLES REHEAT WELL IN A TOASTER OVEN, AND TASTE GREAT AT ROOM TEMP AS SNACKS.
PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES
TOTAL TIME: 30 MINUTES
SERVES 4 to 6
**This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.** images belong to Sarah Copeland // and should not be pinned or posted without attribution. **
photos // HARRISON LUBIN
styling // SARAH COPELAND
ceramics // LOST QUARRY