Back in the day I wanted to make pumpkin pancakes. I tried several homemade recipes and a few pumpkin pancake mixes. The results were never good. Either the pancakes came out slimy and gooey, or they were super flat. Then my daughter’s preschool made pumpkin pancakes that were fantastic. Good flavor and texture plus the recipe was EASY.

So, I posted the recipe. It was ages ago, and I’ve since decided that I need to do an update on that recipe. You see, the original version I posted uses Krusteaz buttermilk pancake mix. And while Bisquick mix worked pretty well for that recipe, those two pancakes mixes are actually pretty different, so it wasn’t ideal for Bisquick. I recently came up with a modified version using Bisquick and that is what I am sharing today!

Yep, both pumpkin pancake recipes use pancake mix. I am a “from scratch” pancake maker, but when it comes to pumpkin pancakes, pancake mix is where it’s at. The results are just so much better than every other way I’ve tried.

Now Bisquick lovers everywhere can make the famed preschool pumpkin pancakes, too. Equal opportunity pumpkin pancakes FTW!

Click here to get the recipe for the Pumpkin Maple Syrup pictured above.

Pumpkin Pancakes

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

 

These pumpkin pancakes are fluffy, delicious and easy to throw together! Be sure to use Bisquick pancake mix. Click here for the Krusteaz version.

Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• 2 cups Bisquick pancake mix
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg
• ½ cup pumpkin puree
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger

Instructions

1. In a medium/large bowl, whisk all the ingredients until just blended (batter should have lumps).
2. Spray heavy griddle or skillet with nonstick spray and heat griddle over medium heat. Spoon 2 tablespoon (I did ¼ cup) batter unto griddle to form each pancake. Cook until edges are drying and bubbles start to pop, turn and cook a few minutes longer.
3. Serve with lots of butter and maple syrup!

Notes

This recipe makes enough for about 4 people.

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When I posted a recipe for pumpkin pancakes many years ago, one of my lovely readers Brittany commented and shared a recipe for pumpkin maple syrup. Several other people mentioned in the comments that they made the syrup and loved it. That syrup has been on my mind ever since and I finally gave it a try last week!

Brittany’s version (click here and check out comment #3) is more pumpkiny and a little thicker, mine is more mapley and a little thinner (although still thicker than straight-up maple syrup). I served pumpkin maple syrup atop pumpkin pancakes, which was delicious! But I think this syrup would be equally as good (if not better!) served with regular pancakes. It is SCRUMPTIOUS STUFF, this syrup. Mmmmmmmm…

Pumpkin Maple Syrup

 

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Prep time

2 mins

Total time

2 mins

 

Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• ¾ cup pure maple syrup
• ½ cup pumpkin puree
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

1. Simply whisk all the ingredients together!
2. Serve with pancakes, waffles or whatever your pumpkin-loving heart wants!

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Okay, so, a couple of weeks ago I had this brilliant idea to create a recipe for chocolate pumpkin butter. That just sounds like it should be good, right? I did a little searching and there are practically no recipes for it out there, at least not for what I was envisioning in my head. (Side note: I should have taken that fact as a warning but, alas, I plowed on.)

Anna and I created the recipe together other day and were feeling pretty good about our butter. It had the texture I was looking for and it was nice and chocolatey. We tasted it quickly and saved it for Halloween morning. I got up early today, made waffles and broke out the special chocolate pumpkin butter. AND…here is how breakfast went down.

Anna: “It’s good!” (She proceeded to eat all of the pumpkin butter on her plate.)

Cate: “I can’t decide what I think of it.” (Cate would never say anything bad about anyone or anything, so I think we can all guess what she really meant.)

Owen: He didn’t say anything but he didn’t have to. He left the pumpkin butter untouched on his plate and ate the waffles plain.

Nate walked into the room about halfway through breakfast and asked how the pumpkin butter was. I actually  enjoyed it on my waffle and, as I started to tell Nate that I though it was pretty good but that next time I would use water instead of apple juice for the liquid, Owen piped in with a very loud, very clear, very spirited “YUCKY!”

Nate took one bite and said, “I have to admit, I do not like this at all.”

And THAT is how my special Halloween concoction turned from treat to trick.

Okay, seriously, I liked the chocolate pumpkin butter on my waffle. Anna liked it, too. But we were the only ones in the family who did. So, I’ll share the recipe with you but please know that you will probably think it is “yucky.”

Trick or treat!!!

Chocolate Pumpkin Butter

 

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Created by yours truly”¦which may or may not be something to brag about. Hey, we can’t win ”˜em all.

Author: Jane Maynard

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

• ¼ cup water (I used apple juice and that was a bad choice, stick with water!)
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 pinches salt
• 1 15-ounce can pumpkin
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave for 1 minute. Stir well until all chips are melted. Set aside.
2. Add all the rest of the ingredients to a small sauce pan and heat over medium-high heat. As it starts to simmer, it will actually start sputtering a lot, so make sure you are constantly stirring. Let it cook for about 5 minutes. It should be steaming throughout this process.
3. Remove from heat then stir in the chocolate.
4. Store in refrigerator.

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My sister Anne has moved to our town! We haven’t been closer than 800 miles to family since we moved to California, so having a family member just one mile away is soooo exciting for us. My girls are especially ecstatic and are planning their first sleepover at Auntie Anne’s apartment on Friday!

Anne’s Twitter and Blogger profiles state the following: “I’m night blind but I make the best pumpkin squares you’ve ever had.” Well, after years of reading this every time I visited her blog, I decided it was time to have Anne prove herself. First, we made her drive around at night without her glasses on. Then, we made her throw together some pumpkin squares. Okay, scratch that first part, but I did beg her to make pumpkin squares last night and she happily obliged.

And I think they might have been the best pumpkin squares I’ve ever had. Especially hot out of the oven…be still my chocolate-loving heart. And yeah, yeah, they’re pumpkin. I stand by the fact that pumpkin can be enjoyed at all times of the year, even if the leaves on the trees aren’t turning orange and falling to the ground.

Anne, we’re so happy you’re a Californian now. (And, don’t worry, it’s not just because of the pumpkin squares…although those certainly don’t hurt!)

Anne's Pumpkin Squares

 

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From Anne Wallin, adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe

Author: Jane Maynard

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt (if using un-salted butter, ¾ tsp)
• 1 cup butter
• 1¼ cups sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1½ cup pumpkin puree (sometimes Anne adds more, but no more than 2 cups)
• Bittersweet chocolate chips (about 1 or 2 cups, depending on how much you like chocolate)

Instructions

1. Whisk flour, cinnamon, soda and salt together and set aside. Cream butter and sugar in mixer until well-mixed. Beat in egg. Add vanilla, mix. Beat in pumpkin puree so it looks lumpy and sort of curdled. Mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
2. Spread in 9×13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes – the edges will pull away from the side and the toothpick should come out clean (with maybe a crumb or too on the toothpick).

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I know, I know. It’s December. Everyone’s moved past pumpkin. Pumpkin is so November. But whatever. I’m not that stylish anyway.

I haven’t made Pumpkin Rocks in about ten years. I needed to make a treat for Anna’s preschool’s Thanksgiving Feast and thought these would be quick, easy and yummy. I was right. I forgot just how stinkin’ good these cookies are. And both of my girls could not stop eating them. I had to inform my sweet little piggies in no uncertain terms that man (or little girl) cannot live on Pumpkin Rocks alone. They didn’t agree.

A quick note: despite the name “rock,” these cookies are actually light and cakey. And addictive. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Pumpkin Rocks

 

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I got the original recipe from Tassie Earnest, someone I knew in Boston a bazillion years ago”¦I’ve modified it some.

Author: Jane Maynard

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

• 2½ cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ginger
• ¾ teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 stick butter, softened (4 ounces)
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 15-ounce can pumpkin
• Mini chocolate chips – as many as you like, the more the merrier. Regular chocolate chips are fine, but I like minis for the texture and distribution. I use a 10-ounce bag of mini chocolate chips.

Instructions

1. Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.
2. Cream butter and both sugars together. Add eggs. Add pumpkin. Add dry ingredients. Add mini chocolate chips.
3. Bake at 375 degrees F for ~18 mins. Makes around 40 cookies if using a 2-tablespoon scoop.
4. The dough is quite wet”¦it’s best to use a scoop to make the cookie balls. If you use your fingers, they “rocks” will probably be funny shaped (think porcupine), but they will still taste just as delicious!
5. Also, when I make these, I mix the wet ingredients in my KitchenAid as described above, then I mix in the spices and salt, then I mix in the baking powder and baking soda, then the flour. I’m lazy. I don’t like washing an extra bowl for the dry ingredients. And, honestly, everything comes out just fine!

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Doesn’t this food look good?  It is. And I’ll get to it in a moment…but first, a little about what I’m up to this week!

On Friday, I’m heading up to the BlogHer Food conference, and that night I’m also co-hosting La Petite Soirée, a party for food bloggers. I will be co-hosting this little shindig with some amazing fellow bloggers: Helene Dujardin from Tartelette, Kristen Doyle from Dine & Dish, and Stefania Pomponi Butler from City Mama and Clever Girls Collective. It’s been a dream team, no question.

Did I mention, our party is going to be awesome? For food, we’re going to have a bunch of San Francisco food carts serving their delicious eats, and Chef Elizabeth Faulkner of pastry and Top Chef fame will be making cupquettes for the party (thanks to Scharffen Berger!), served alongside wine and drinks. The party is going to be held at a photography studio, which is the perfect venue for a bunch of camera-toting food bloggers! Speaking of those bloggers…we have an amazing guest list, with really talented and wonderful food bloggers and cookbook writers included. I’m giddy with excitement!

I always end up killing myself stuffing bags for all the parties I throw…La Petite Soirée is no exception! In fact, swag for the bags has completely taken over my patio and garage. And my back hurts a little. But it’s worth it! Here’s a little sneak peak.

One of the best parts of getting into blogging is the truly amazing people I’ve befriended along the way. Gudrun Enger from Kitchen Gadget Girl definitely falls into that category. I met Gudrun at BlogHer in Chicago last year and, lucky for me, she only lives 2 miles away! She took pity on me today and came over to help organize and stuff swag. Not only did she help me tremendously with party preparations, she brought me lunch! She kept saying, “It’s just leftovers.” But, uh, yeah, her leftovers ROCK and way kick my usual peanut butter and honey’s sandwich patootie.

Which brings us to the food from the beginning of this post. Gudrun brought Cauliflower Curry, a Delicata Squash and Pumpkin dish, brown rice and naan bread. Mmmmmm. Gudrun is one of my cool friends who is part of a CSA and does a great job using up all the fresh grown food she receives each week. I’ll get there…one day!

Click more to see the recipes from my delicious lunch!

Cauliflower Curry

 

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From Chef Jonathan Miller, via Gudrun Enger (complete with Gudrun’s notes below)

Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• 1 cauliflower, cut into florets, stems pieces roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 8 quarter-size slices ginger, peeled (Gudrun used 2 tsps of ground ginger.)
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 Serrano peppers (Gudrun had a green jalapeno, so that’s what she used. It was a spicy pepper, but the dish was not super spicy)
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• ½ cup yogurt
• 1 cup water
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon garam masala
• ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
• small handful of cilantro, chopped

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in large sauce pan until almost smoking, and saute the cauliflower florets until lightly browned. Remove to a bowl.
2. In a food processor, process the cauliflower stems, onion, ginger, garlic, and Serrano until finely chopped, almost a puree. Transfer to a bowl. Do the same with the tomatoes, transfer to separate bowl. Whisk yogurt, water and nutmeg together until smooth.
3. In the same pan you used to brown the cauliflower florets, cook the cauliflower stem/onion mixture until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Stir regularly. Add in tomatoes puree and cook until most of the juice has evaporated, up to 10 minutes more. Add in coriander, cumin, garam masala, turmeric and salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer. Add in yogurt-water-nutmeg liquid with ½ the cilantro and bring back to a simmer, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium low, add the cauliflower florets, cover and simmer until the cauliflower is cooked to your liking (I kept it a little on the al dente side).
4. Finish the dish with remaining cilantro and another sprinkle of garam masala. Great over rice!

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Delicata Squash & Pumpkin with Cider Glaze

 

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From Epicurious

Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• 2 medium delicata squash (about 2 pounds) or other firm winter squash (Gudrun did half delicata squash and half pumpkin)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ¼ cup very coarsely chopped fresh sage
• 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1½ cups fresh unfiltered apple cider or juice
• 1 cup water
• 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. If using delicata squash, peel it with a vegetable peeler, cut it lengthwise in half, and scrape out the seeds with a spoon. Cut each piece lengthwise in half again, then crosswise into ½-inch -thick slices. Other types of squash should be peeled with a chef’s knife, seeded, cut into 1-inch wedges, then sliced ½-inch thick.
2. Melt the butter in a large (12-inch) skillet over low heat. Add the sage and rosemary and cook, stirring, until the butter just begins to turn golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Do not brown the herbs. Cooking the herbs in butter mellows their flavor and improves their texture.
3. Add the squash to the skillet, then the apple cider, water, vinegar, and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat at an even boil until the cider has boiled down to a glaze and the squash is tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Taste and season with pepper, and additional salt if needed.

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On Halloween I thought it would be fun to have something “pumpkiny” for breakfast. While we are loving the pumpkin-pancakes, we’ve eaten them a lot lately so I needed to mix it up. Our local bagel shop was out of pumpkin bagels. Before we could feel too disappointed, a light bulb went off in my head. Pumpkin cream cheese! It was a simple recipe to whip up, and a big hit with everyone in the family. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread

 

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From Jane Maynard, This Week for Dinner

Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened at room temperature
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup pumpkin puree
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

1. Blend all ingredients together with a hand mixer. Spread on a plain bagel or equally complimentary flavored bagel.

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I have finally found a pumpkin pancake recipe that I like! I’ve tried mixes, I’ve tried making them from scratch…and generally the pancakes come out flat and gooey. Cate’s preschool recently made pumpkin pancakes and shared the recipe they used…and they’re perfect! Yea for preschool teachers!

Please note: The recipe below uses Krusteaz Buttermilk Pancake mix. If you have Bisquick, please click her and use the modified version of this recipe. Thanks!

Pumpkin Pancakes

 

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Easy, fluffy pumpkin pancakes, using Krusteaz pancake mix. Adapted by me from a recipe on FoodNetwork.com

Author: Jane Maynard

Recipe type: Main Dish, Breakfast

Ingredients

• 3 cups buttermilk pancake mix (like Krusteaz mix, where the box instructions tell you to just add water)
• 2 cups cold water
• ⅔ cup canned pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger

Instructions

1. In a medium/large bowl, whisk all the ingredients until just blended (batter should have lumps). Spray heavy griddle or skillet with nonstick spray and heat griddle over medium heat. Spoon 2 tablespoon (I did ¼ cup) batter unto griddle to form each pancake. Cook until edges are drying and bubbles start to pop, turn and cook a few minutes longer. Serve with lots of butter and maple syrup!

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