Pumpkin Pancakes

I have three things I love about fall.

1. School starts. Even though it is only one of my two beautiful boys and only two and a half hours, three days a week; I love having a stitch of extra free time.

2. With that free time, I get into the mountains more to enjoy the colors and hiking (and running) when it isn't so hot.

3. I love pumpkin. I do. I do. I do. Like I said in my Pumpkin Spice Bowl post, I stock up when it goes on clearance at the end of the season, and I am always sad I didn't buy more. I wish they sold flats of it during the case lot sale at Smith's (local Kroger store) because I love it so much.

So anyway. Sometimes I will make a recipe like muffins or pumpkin bread that doesn't use the entire can of pumpkin and those extra delicious dollops of orange goodness are not something to be wasted. In fact, no food should be wasted, but I won't get on my soapbox about that right now. So I usually throw it in smoothies, oatmeal, power balls, or pancakes, just to give a few ideas. Today I did pancakes and I tried to make them look like pumpkins...In retrospect I should have used a cookie cutter. I have one, I think...I will have to check and if I do, I will remake them and post better looking pictures. These were achieved with a ladle and my finger to get the "right shape". But hey, it is something on social media that is real and achievable, not super doctored and professionally done but posted to seem "normal." So everyone and anyone can achieve success with this recipe because it is so easy and you don't even have to shape them like pumpkins, I just thought it was something fun for the boys, and me...okay mostly for me.

Recipe

2 c protein flour (3/4 c chickpea or lentil flour, 3/4 c wheat/white/gf flour, and 1/2 c oat flour) 1.5 T baking powder 1/4 t salt 1/4 t cinnamon

dash of nutmeg

dash of ginger 1.5 c coconut or almond milk (I do half milk half water) 1 t vanilla 1 T agave or maple syrup

1 T molasses 1/2 c pumpkin puree

Directions 1. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. 2. Add wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone. 3. Let sit 5 minutes while griddle warms up. (This step CANNOT be skipped. This rest time allows the baking powder to react and makes the pancakes fluffy.) 4. On medium heat, cook pancakes until bubbly on top. Flip and cook until brown on both sides. 5. Serve with nut butters, syrup, apple sauce, jam, fruit, nuts, whatever you want. 6. ENJOY

**I remade the pancakes and used a round cookie cutter and just added a little stem. I topped them with nut butter, applesauce, granola, and a drizzle of maple syrup.**