Our Favorite Pancake Recipe

My husband and I are not gourmet chefs. I do most of the cooking out of necessity, but it is not something that either of us enjoy. We do both enjoy breakfast, however, and so do our kids. I’m pretty sure they would happily eat breakfast foods for every meal of the day.

One of our favorites is pancakes, but I always hated how full of carbs they were. I would feel full, then an hour or two later feel hungry again. So, we decided to start mixing other things in with our pancakes to make them a little more hearty. Now, they’ve become one of our favorites and one of the few things that everyone in the family will happily eat. Even my mother-in-law loves them and eats the leftovers when she comes over to babysit.

I will preface this recipe by saying that I’m sure there are other recipes out there where things are made from scratch, but this is not one of them. We are a bit lazy in the kitchen, and these are delicious and quick to make.

I will also warn you that these make a very large batch. We tend to make lots of extra, then reheat them in the toaster during the week as a quick breakfast for the kids before school.

Ingredients:
1 can of pumpkin (we have also done it with fresh pumpkin after it has been cooked)
½ cup of ground flax seed
1 Tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice (more or less, depending on your preference)
3 cups pancake mix (we like Krusteaz, but we have also tried it with the high protein mix and it works well with either)
2-2 ½ cups of water or milk (we prefer milk)
1/2 cup of pine nuts (we have also tried crushed pecans and crushed walnuts which have worked as well)
2/3 cup of chocolate chips

We put all of the ingredients together in a big bowl and mix well. I normally start with the pumpkin, then the rest of the dry ingredients.

Sometime we have to add more or less water/milk depending on the consistency. These have a tendency to get really thick as they cook, so make sure they are on the somewhat more liquidly side.

I also often times take the back of the scooper and spread out the pancake batter on the griddle to make them a little thinner.

Cook them on medium to low heat on a pan with oil (or non-stick spray) on one side until small bubbles start to form in the pancake. Then flip and cook the other side.

Our kids happily eat them without syrup due to the chocolate chips. I also like them without chocolate chips, so if you want something less sweet, they work out well.

Let me know if you try them or make other changes! Happy cooking!