Pumpkin Pancakes

This seems a bit out of season, but I could no longer ignore the can of pureed pumpkin staring at me that I bought on sale this winter. We had to have pumpkin pancakes. I usually use a pureed squash for any pumpkin-flavored food - bread, pancakes, muffins - since Driftless Organics does a wonderful job of stocking us up on squash in the fall. If you've got that random can of pumpkin or frozen pureed squash here's the recipe for you! Or hold off until the fall for this awesome breakfast...or lunch or dinner.

This recipe is largely inspired by Robin Robertson's Pumpkin Pie Pancakes in Vegan Planet. I enjoy many of her pancake recipes; however, they are a bit too thick and heavy and don't yield enough for my family. Here's my version inspired by Robin.

DRY INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of ground cloves

WET INGREDIENTS:
2 cups unsweetened soy milk
1/2 cup water
1 scant cup pumpkin puree (half of a 15 oz can - use the other half for pumpkin bread or next week's pancakes!)
1/8 cup canola oil
1/4 cup water (gradually added at the end of mixing)

Gently combine dry ingredients in large mixing bowl. In a blender, combine soy milk, 1/2 cup water, pumpkin puree, and canola oil. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add wet mixture. Stir until just combined. Add additional water until you get your preferred pancake consistency. We like it to slowly yet easily fall off the spoon.

Start the heat under your griddle at medium heat. Brush a light amount of canola oil or Earth Balance over the griddle. Begin to ladle your cakes onto the griddle. Flip when batter begins to bubble. I let mine bubble a minute or so. I like slightly brown cakes. I make baby cakes that are roughly 2 1/2 inches in diameter and regular cakes that are roughly 4 inches in diameter. This yields about 10 regular cakes and five baby cakes. Just enough for this ravenous family of four.

To serve...spoon a layer of whole-milk yogurt or soy yogurt then a layer of applesauce. Top with another pancake and repeat until you've reached a tower of pancakes that can fit in your mouth. Drizzle the top with just a bit of pure maple syrup. Pure awesomeness.

For the kids...spoon yogurt and applesauce on their pancakes, too, or just spoon a dollop of each on their plate for dipping.