Given the fall season, it seemed appropriate for this first post to include pumpkin. Pumpkin is extremely rich in vitamin A and anti-oxidants. Pumpkin seeds are loaded with fiber, heart healthy fatty acids, protein, iron, zinc, and more. If you follow my blog for long, you will learn that I’m pretty crazy about seeds. They’re awesome!
What better way to consume this wonderful plant than in a pancake!
Fresh maple syrup is the perfect compliment to these fall flavored pancakes, and can be a delicious, nourishing start to your day.
1 pancake has 80 calories, 3g protein, 11 carbs, 2g fiber, 3g fat, and .5mg iron. Served with 1 tablespoon of maple syrup, each pancake has 132 calories and 24 carbs.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup oatmeal, quick oats
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 4 oz pumpkin seeds (if you do not have a food scale, use a 1/2 cup of seeds)
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
- 2 eggs
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 cup fresh pumpkin
Directions:
First of all, by “fresh pumpkin,” I do not mean canned pumpkin.
To make these pancakes, buy a pumpkin. Cut open the top and scoop out the seeds. Rinse the seeds until they are clean and soak them in water with a pinch of salt for 8 hours or overnight. Use a ratio of 1 cup of seeds to 4 cups of water. When they are done soaking, drain the water and rinse the seeds. Do NOT use the soaking water in the recipe. Dump it. Set aside the seeds you need for this recipe and freeze the remaining seeds. They blend amazingly well into BD blends. You can also make them into pumpkin seed milk. There will be more about that in a future post. I like to freeze them in 1 oz servings to use in Bradley’s blends.
Now, for the pumpkin. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Once the guts
and seeds are removed, place it on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for at least 20 minutes. Baking time will vary with the size of the pumpkin. Check it and continue baking until the flesh is soft.
Remove the skin, set aside 1 cup of pumpkin flesh for the pancakes and use the remaining pumpkin for other recipes or freeze it for future use. Now, if you want to make pumpkin pie pancakes again, these steps can be skipped because you have these ingredients on hand already!
Now that that is done, let the pancake making begin! In a medium mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
Place the pumpkin seeds, pumpkin flesh, and water into the blender and blend on high for 2 minutes. Add the mixture to the dry ingredients and stir. Add the remaining ingredients (including the maple syrup) except the olive oil and stir.
The batter should be quite thin. This is important as it will thicken upon cooking.
Heat the olive oil in a medium to large skillet over medium-low heat. Scoop the pancake batter with a 1/4 cup and spread it into a pancake shape in the skillet. For these pancakes, you don’t want to just drop them in one spot because the batter does not spread well on its own. It works much better to spread it around as you pour it. You want this batter to be thin across the pancake and to cook the pancakes slowly over medium-low heat to allow the oatmeal to cook. Cooking them too quickly can result in mushy pancakes…although, I’ve made this mistake and still loved them!
Serve with maple syrup and enjoy! Bradley’s breakfast blend today included 1 pumpkin pie pancake, 3 oz goat milk yogurt, 1/2 cup fruit, and just enough goat milk to get the right consistency for a total volume of 8 yummy, nourishing ounces.
Crunchy Tubie Mama 