Pumpkin Spice Pancakes (With Canned Pumpkin)

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Warm spices and pumpkin purée turn regular pancakes into delicious, fluffy pumpkin spice pancakes. Perfect for the Fall season, kid-friendly and a great way to use up that leftover canned pumpkin.

Top the pumpkin pancakes with butter and maple syrup or check out other toppings and plenty of ideas for ingredient substitutes to suit your needs and what you have on hand.

These pancakes are a big hit with my grandson. I don’t tell his mother (the other kook) that I dot them with syrup just in case he needs more incentive to eat. And I don’t tell my grandson that I add a bit of ground flaxseed to boost the nutrition.

Sometimes I create pumpkin shapes for him with a squeeze bottle filled with batter, then add a face with melted chocolate chips. He doesn’t seem to care they are not works of art as he proceeds to lick off the chocolate.

Ingredients- tailored to your taste

flour, eggs, melted butter, milk, pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, baking powder, seasonings, brown sugar.

This pumpkin spice pancake recipe starts out with basic pancake batter using flour, eggs, brown sugar, melted butter, milk and vanilla. Pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice is added to give them pumpkin flavor.

Substitutes and Variations

Here are several substitutions if you need them and a few variations to try.

Flour

You can replace 1/2 cup (62 grams) of the flour with whole wheat flour if you like. Don’t use more than that or the pancakes will be too dense. Whole wheat flour has more fiber, protein and fat than all purpose flour.
Substitute the flour with Bisquick mix and only use 2 tablespoons butter, no baking powder and just 1/2 teaspoon of salt (or less if you’re using salted butter).

Milk: Use almond milk or soy milk instead of regular milk.

Spices:

You can often find pumpkin pie spice in your local bulk food store or in mainstream grocery stores in the Fall season.
If you can’t find it, use 11/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground powdered ginger and 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg for this recipe.
If you don’t have or like ginger or nutmeg, try allspice or ground cloves.

Optional add-ins:

1/3 cup (45 grams) chopped pecans or walnuts to the pancake batter
1-2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed for extra nutrition. If the batter is too thick, thin it with a bit of milk.
1/4 cup grated carrots.

Topping options

chopped toasted or candied pecans
whipped cream
cream cheese mixed with maple syrup
drizzle of honey
caramelized bananas (for decadence!)

Step by step instructions

dry ingredients in bowl — Mix together dry ingredients (except sugar) in a medium bowl.

wet ingredients and sugar in bowl — Combine eggs, pumpkin puree, vanilla, brown sugar, melted butter and vanilla in a separate bowl.

pumpkin pancakes batter — Add dry flour mixture ingredients to the pumpkin mixture in the large mixing bowl. Mix just until combined. Lumps are ok.

pumpkin pancakes batter in pan — Heat a large nonstick skillet to medium heat. Spray with cooking spray or add a little butter or vegetable oil. Pour pancake batter (about 1/4 cup batter per pancake) onto the skillet. Cook for several minutes until bubbly.

pumpkin pancakes in pan — Flip pancakes over and cook another few minutes until golden brown.

stack of pumpkin pancakes on plate 5 — Serve your fluffy pancakes with butter and maple syrup or a topping of your choice.

Recipe FAQs

Are canned pumpkin and pumpkin purée the same thing?

Yes. The terms are used interchangeably. Just make sure you don’t buy pumpkin filling (very different).

Don’t pumpkin pancakes need buttermilk to make them fluffy?

No. Despite the pumpkin purée, the pancakes are fluffy even though they are not made with buttermilk. This is because we’re using baking powder which doesn’t need to pair with acid to make the pancakes rise.

Is pumpkin healthy?

Yes. According to Healthline, pumpkin purée is low calorie and rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. One cup has 49 calories, 0.2 grams of fat, 2 grams of protein, 3 grams of fiber, 245% of daily values recommended for vitamin A and 19% of daily values recommended for vitamin C.

What can I do with leftover pumpkin purée?

Most recipes do not use an entire can of pumpkin purée. Luckily, it stores beautifully in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to a year. Here are a few ideas for how to use leftover purée. Make a pumpkin spice latté, a smoothie or our rustic-style pumpkin scone recipe. Or stir it into mac and cheese or oatmeal.

Make Ahead, Storing, Freezing

To cook ahead and keep warm: place pancakes on a pan and keep them in a warm oven at 200F for 30 minutes or so.
To prepare batter a day ahead: Some say you shouldn’t make the batter ahead and keep it in the fridge. I do it all the time and have never had a problem. Keep it in an airtight container and use it the next day. If the batter is too thick, thin it with a little milk before cooking the pancakes.
To freeze leftover pancakes: Cool the pancakes first, then toss them in an airtight container or ziploc bag and freeze them for up to 2 months. Warm them in the microwave for 20-30 seconds or in the toaster.
Storing cooked pancakes: Store in the fridge in a sealed container for several days.

What to serve with pumpkin pancakes

To keep it simple and classic, I like butter and a drizzle of maple syrup on my pancakes. There are other options for toppings of course.

This pancake recipe is great with coffee, chai tea, apple cider or hot chocolate.

If you’re preparing a hearty breakfast, you can serve these pancakes with this potato and ham breakfast skillet, or a side of bacon with some of these Gordon Ramsay scrambled eggs.