We received this recipe for pumpkin pancakes in the mail from Anthem Blue Cross. I suppose that suggests these are healthy pancakes — depending on what you top them with. We tried them for breakfast this morning. They were delicious!

Dry ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (see variations, below)
• 1 teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 3/4 cup low-fat milk
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions

• Mix dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.¹I used a 3-quart mixing bowl. It was perfect.
• Mix wet ingredients in another medium mixing bowl.²I used a 1-quart mixing bowl. The ingredients fit — just barely. A 2-quart bowl would be better.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir just enough to mix, but no more. It should still be lumpy.
• Heat griddle to medium heat. Lightly oil with spray.
• Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to put the mixed batter on the heated griddle. Turn after bubbles begin to burst. Cook the other side until desired darkness.³For some reason, we used to pat down pancakes while they cooked. All it does is make them dense. Who wants that? Don’t do it.
• Serve and eat. We top them with whipped cream.⁴For some, I should add one more step: Hose down the kitchen. I find that if I clean all the way through cooking, there’s less of a mess at the end. I know others who wait until the very end to clean. Your choice. 

Makes about 12 pancakes.⁵I counted because I like “trust, but verify.” I got 14.

Variations

You might not have pumpkin pie spice; we don’t. AllRecipes.com has a recipe for making your own pumpkin pie spice. To get the 1 1/4 teaspoons needed for this recipe, I used:

• 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoons ground allspice

• 1
  I used a 3-quart mixing bowl. It was perfect.
• 2
  I used a 1-quart mixing bowl. The ingredients fit — just barely. A 2-quart bowl would be better.
• 3
  For some reason, we used to pat down pancakes while they cooked. All it does is make them dense. Who wants that? Don’t do it.
• 4
  For some, I should add one more step: Hose down the kitchen. I find that if I clean all the way through cooking, there’s less of a mess at the end. I know others who wait until the very end to clean. Your choice. 
• 5
  I counted because I like “trust, but verify.” I got 14.