Fall is here – it’s time to serve your family some homemade fluffy pumpkin pancakes for breakfast. These pancakes are quick to whip up and you can serve them with any topping you like – even ice cream, I won’t tell!
Pumpkin pancakes are the BEST way to celebrate those crisp fall mornings. At least my family thinks it is ?
Now let me let you in on a secret… Yes, I serve my family fluffy homemade pancakes for breakfast on early mid-week mornings. But I don’t get up at silly o’clock to whip them up. Instead I make a tripe batch on Saturday and freeze the leftovers for later – busy morning win right there!
Ingredients you’ll need
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!
Ingredient notes
- Brown sugar: You can replace the brown sugar with white sugar if that’s all you have. The taste will be a little different but still delicious.
- Oil: Use melted butter in place of the oil if you prefer! It will give a richer taste, but I usually go for the ease of the oil.
- Milk: Feel free to use buttermilk in place of the milk if you prefer.
- Pumpkin: Make sure to use high quality canned pumpkin product. Lower quality ones tend to be watery and will alter the consistency of the batter.
Step by step photos
Recipe tips
- Do NOT overmix the batter! Lumpy I perfectly fine. Baked goods with pumpkin tend to come out heavier, so it’s very important to make sure the batter only gets stirred as much as necessary.
- If the batter feels too runny (can happen if your eggs are very large), add a few tablespoons of flour. Conversely, if your batter feels very thick, add a few more tablespoons of milk. It helps to cook one pancake before making any adjustments – that way you can see if the batter is actually fine or if you do need to alter it a little.
- Do not stack the pancakes before serving, or they’ll become soggy. Keep them on a wire rack. It’s fine to stack them on the plate for serving, as long as they get eaten right away.
- For the best taste and texture, I recommend letting the pancakes cool for 5 minutes before serving. Then, they should be eaten pretty quickly.
Freezer instructions
Yes, you can! They are the perfect make-ahead breakfast.
Make the pancakes as instructed. Once you remove them from the skillet, immediately place them on a cooling rack.
Pack them up for the freezer
Once the pancakes have completely cooled down, place them into small freezer bags individually.
Alternatively, place them in a single layer on a lined baking sheet and freeze, covered, until solid before transferring stacks of pancakes to large freezer bags.
OR place a sheet of parchment paper between each pancake and stack them.
Wrap the stack very well in aluminum foil or place the pancakes inside a large freezer container.
How to reheat them
To reheat the pancakes in a microwave, place the frozen pancakes on a microwave-safe plate. Cook uncovered on high for 1-2 minutes or until steaming hot and heated all the way through to the middle.
To reheat in an oven, place frozen pancakes in a single layer on a cookie sheet and cover with foil.
Alternatively, bake them covered with foil on a lined cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes at 375°F in your preheated oven for 8-10 minutes.
Serving suggestions
We really like these with a little cream cheese “frosting” (just cream cheese and maple syrup stirred together), chopped nuts and more syrup.
They’re also delicious with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or so I’ve been told ?
If I want to go all out on the fall celebration, I’ll also make a batch of cinnamon apples on the side. For a more savory twist, try some turkey bacon or turkey breakfast sausage!
More pumpkin breakfast recipes
PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.
Printable recipe
Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes
Recipe details
Equipment
- Measuring Jug
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar this yields lightly sweet pancakes; double for a sweeter taste
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice or more for a strong pumpkin spice taste
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups milk
- 1 cup pumpkin puree NOT 1 CAN!
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons oil plus extra for cooking
Instructions
- Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk all wet ingredients together in a medium bowl or measuring jug.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. DO NOT OVERMIX! Do NOT mix with a whisk, ONLY with a wooden spoon or spatula!! DO NOT stir more than approximately 10 times!! Or you will end up with dense and gummy pancakes!!
- Heat a griddle or skillet over medium-high heat. Brush on a little oil or spray with cooking spray.
- Ladle on about ¼ cup of batter per pancake and cook until bubbles form on top of the batter, around 3 minutes. Flip and cook until browned on the bottom as well, another 2 minutes or so.
- Serve immediately with maple syrup, chopped pecans or whatever you like. Alternatively, follow the freezer instructions in the post.
Notes
Nutrition
More recipe information
P.S: Want more pumpkin recipes? Check out our collection of canned pumpkin recipes!
Jennifer Baldwin says
These were so delicious! They tasted gourmet like from a high end restaurant. I made them exactly as written. I used Aldi brand pumpkin and it worked great. The cream cheese/syrup combo was so good spread on top with a sprinkling of pecans. I will definitely make them again! Thanks for this yummy recipe!
jennifer says
Made with Bobs Red Mill GF 1-1 flour, coconut milk/oil, added vanilla. My 20+ year old sons are pancake connoisseurs and they LOVED these. Will print for future use. Thank you! 😘
Paulette Cuddy says
Sooo good! I altered the recipe slightly. I used 1 cup of milk, 1/2 cup of low fat sour cream ( because I needed to use it up), then I reduced the baking powder to 1 1/2 teaspoons, then 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. The pancakes were so fluffy and yummy! Thank you for sharing!
Cheryl says
The best pancakes, added pecans my own pumpkin spice mix and served with homemade pumpkin butter and a little syrup.
Lindsey says
Absolutley amazing, I added vanilla and c vanilla bean , I cut milk to 1 cup and added with the wet then added more as needed – it was the best pancake ever – thanks for the info but it is really thick with just 1 cup so be patient. I think th e1 1/2 could be perfec tif you let it combine for a minute
Liz says
Absolutely my favorite pancakes yet! Very good. I froze some as well and they turned out delicious. My 2 year old LOVED them
Ursula Voth says
Awesome! Very fluffy & light!
Whitney Lewandowski says
This recipe is fantastic! I will admit I always use my beaters since I have hand numbness. I let the batter rest for 15 min and the pancakes were still fluffy and light. Delicious, it’s a keeper!
shannon says
Absolutely delicious fall recipe!!!!
Kathy Ryan says
These were SO delicious!
Sherri says
followed directions exact and these were awful. So rubbery and without being able to stir more than 10x there’s white flour specs in all my pancakes
Nora says
If your mixture still has visibly dry flour after stirring ten times, you do need to stir some more. The recipe says “approximately”, not “must stop at 10 stirs, or else”. I can only give advice, you still need to use common sense when actually making the recipe. A lot of people go wild and whisk their pancake batter until it’s completely smooth, which yields flat and dense pancakes – this is why I emphasize to not stir too much. If you fold around ten times, your stirs can be thorough and strong. If you go for light and gentle stirring, feel free to stir APPROXIMATELY twenty times. The reason your pancakes were rubbery is because you didn’t mix the batter enough. So please, do stir your batter JUST until no more dry flour is visible. Don’t whisk your batter fully smooth.
Ruth B. Garcia says
I made the recipe as. The batter was way too thin. The taste was good. Next time, I will use only 1 cup of milk and go from there.
Nora says
Interesting. If people have a complaint about this recipe, it’s usually that the batter was too thick. What kind of pumpkin puree did you use, if you don’t mind me asking?
Beth says
Made these today with some leftover pumpkin I had and they were delicious! I did add some chocolate chips to half of the batter and they were so good! Will definitely make these again.
Ana says
Absolutely delicious!
Melody says
Delicious and fluffy! ? anything is gonna be tasty! Loved how easy it was to mix up. I did mix the wet separate to cut back on how much mixing had to be done with the dry ingredients.
Paula C says
Delicious pancakes! I followed your “no more than ten times” directions, even though the batter was dryer than I expected, but wow, sky high pancakes were the reward! Thank you for sharing this recipe. PS. I added bacon bits because….bacon! Thank you again!
Nora says
Ooooh, I love the idea of bacon bits in these pancakes, Paula. Glad they turned out well for you!
Ann says
Great pancakes! I added some pecans to the batter. I have some extras to throw in the freezer.
Nora says
I’m so glad, Ann! And the pecans sound great in there, too.
Cherie says
Absolutely loved this recipe! I halved it as it’s just 2 of us and will make full batch when needed! Very tasty!
Julianne says
These are amazing & surprisingly fluffy. DEELISH.
Gayla says
Very quick and easy to mix up. I made them for my husband and we both loved them! They were better than my former pumpkin pancake recipe that I had been making for years. Thank you so much!
Liz says
Great recipe! I used butter and 1/4 c brown sugar only (I cut and substitute sugar in all recipes) and added 2 tsp vanilla for an extra pop of flavor. Yummy!
Nora says
I’m so glad to hear, Liz!