Perfect Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes

These Perfect Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes truly are perfect. They are easy enough to handle that you can make them a decent size, they have a great spongy and not too soft texture, and they have a terrific pumpkin flavor.  The secret was to use pumpkin powder, which is simply ground dehydrated pumpkin.  I have used store-bought pumpkin powder and I’ve made my own; both work equally well.

You might have to adjust the temperature a bit with your first batch or two until you know exactly what setting to use with your stove, cooking fat, and frying pan.  Also note that pumpkin pancakes are darker than regular pancakes in general.  As long as they aren’t black (or really dark brown), they’re fine.  These pancakes are delicious with butter and maple syrup, the cream from the top of a can of coconut milk, chopped fruit (banana is particularly nice) or just plain! 

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Perfect Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes

Prep Time: 10 minutes (+ 18 hours if making dehydrated pumpkin powder at home)

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Yield: dozen 3-4″ pancakes

Ingredients:

• ½ cup pumpkin powder
• 2 Tablespoons – ¼ cup honey, to taste (optional)
• 5 eggs
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• ½ tsp allspice
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• Coconut oil or other good cooking fat for frying

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together in a blender for about 30 seconds.
2. Heat a non-stick or very well-seasoned cast iron skillet or griddle on medium-high heat (or slightly cooler than medium-high).
3. Add about 2 Tablespoons of coconut oil into the pan. Pour batter into the pan, about 3 Tablespoons per pancake, spacing far enough apart that the pancakes won’t touch as the spread.
4. Cook for 6-8 minutes on the first side, until starting the batter is starting to look a little dry around the edges and more solid on top. If you use your flipper to get a sneak peak at the underneath side of the pancake, it should be nicely browned but not too dark. Carefully, flip the pancake.
5. Cook for 2-4 minutes on the other side, until done (should be browned, and feel solid when you press gently on the pancake with your flipper or finger).
6. Repeat until all the batter is used. Enjoy with butter and maple syrup, the cream from the top of a can of coconut milk, chopped fruit or plain.

Variations:  I have also used sweet potato powder in these pancakes and they were fantastic.  Note that sweet potato powder is quite different from sweet potato flour, which is a refined starch.  Again, you can make your own (see my Food Dehydrator post).  I think these would work equally well with squash powder or carrot powder, obviously changing the taste with each variation.

To make my own pumpkin powder:  I placed pumpkin puree on a fruit roll sheet in my food dehydrator and dried until it was completely dried to a crisp, about 18 hours.  I then broke the pumpkin into pieces, placed in my magic bullet (you could use a blender or food processor) and pulsed until finely ground, about 30 seconds.  I have tried this with canned pumpkin and with homemade pumpkin puree (I cut pumpkins in quarters, remove the seeds, bake at 350F for 1-2 hours until the pumpkin is soft, let cool, scrape the cooked pumpkin meet off the rind, and puree with a hand blender or potato masher).