cider pumpkin spice pancakes

Pumpkin and apple cider bow together on stage in these Cider Pumpkin Spice Pancakes. Anytime fall brunch, but especially luxurious for Thanksgiving, when multiple breakfast options are encouraged and autumn flavors yield to wintertime delights for many households. Why not give this culinary season a final applause in flapjack form?

Before marathon training this past summer, one Saturday mainstay of ours was blueberry pancakes. Then miles got longer, hands got lazier, and time more precious, so for a time we underwent a major pancake drought. Flour was replaced with protein powder, a sit down breakfast with lying on the floor panting from the painfully extreme summer heat, followed by some manner of snack board like The Great Pumpkin Hummus or a big Marinated Portobello and Brie Veggie Sandwich.

Now that we’ve blessedly passed through that phase, cozier fare reentered our cuisine, which is probably frustrating for someone trying to lose weight (not me). Whatever the case, with the close of marathon season and the open to fall, pumpkin pancakes only made sense. So here they are, in all of their floofy, cinnamon-strewn glory.

Punky Cakes

Quite frankly, process photos are ass to take, but thankfully pancakes are real ugly during creation and the steps are quite simple and don’t require much visual accompaniment. That’s my excuse for having no process photos, just sexy syrup drizzles. Sorry.

Pancake batter is pretty forgiving, so long as you’re careful to quit your hyper mixing once the final flour streak melds into the rest of the thick concoction. The ingredients are wonderfully uncomplicated as well. If you’re an autumn creature, chances are pumpkin and cider already live in your larders.

Whisk together the wet ingredients in a large bowl: pumpkin puree, buttermilk, apple cider, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Then, fold in flour, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, ginger, clove, cardamom, and a pinch of salt. Notice I don’t use sweetener in the batter: since I drown a cake in syrup anyway, I think sugar inside cooked pancakes themselves is redundant and unnecessary.

Let the batter sit on the counter for about 5 minutes, to activate the leaveners and thicken just a touch more.

The Sizzlin’ Skillet

I use cast iron for near every culinary vocation, but if you have a nonstick skillet that’s actually nonstick, use that. Pancakes are notorious for leaving residue on ungreased cookware and nonstick takes some of said inconvenience, and added fat, out of this recipe.

Heat your pan – greased or ungreased, depending on your choice fryer – over medium. The skillet should be hot but not screaming hot or smoking like your neighborhood porch creep.

Pour in about 1/4 cup of batter in some shape resembling a circle. Cook about 2 minutes on one side, until bubbles just start to form on the surface. Flip and cook another minute or two until puffed and heated through. If you’re fancy and can do the spatula-free chef’s flip, please entertain that idea, otherwise if you have butterfingers like I do just use a kitchen utensil like a wise and learned human being. I managed 12 pancakes, but I made mine pretty large for the aesthetic. 16 smaller pancakes is certainly doable.

If you’re entertaining a crowd and whipping up both pancakes and Baked Hot Chocolate French Toast, cook up the ‘cakes while the French toast heats up in the oven sans its foil cap. If you’re clever, both will finish around the same time and no one will hurt for breakfast choices. And hell, if one finishes before the other, serve a bit of the first and go for round two with its successor. Don’t forget plenty of coffee or tea alongside.

Tried this recipe out? Leave a comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!

cider pumpkin spice pancakes

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Hop about in an apple orchard and visit a pumpkin patch with this delightful autumn fusion of flavors within fluffy buttermilk pancakes.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Breakfast

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

• 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 cup apple cider
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground clove
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
• pinch nutmeg

Instructions

 

• In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, apple cider, buttermilk, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, clove, cardamom, and nutmeg. Whisk until just combined. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes.
• Heat a large skillet over medium heat. If your skillet is not non-stick (i.e., if thinks stick without greasing first) grease with oil or butter. When the skillet is hot, pour in 1/4 cup of pancake batter. Cook on one side about 2 minutes until bubbles form on top, then flip and cook an additional minute. Move to a plate and cover. Regrease the skillet between each pancake if needed. Repeat until all batter is used up. The recipe will yield about 12-16 pancakes depending on size.
• Serve the pancakes with fruit, maple syrup, powdered sugar, and butter, as desired.

Keyword breakfast, brunch, cider, fall, pancakes, pumpkin, thanksgiving