Einkorn Sourdough Pumpkin Pancakes
It’s officially fall as of September 22nd, which means it’s all-things- pumpkin season! I usually buy a load of canned organic pumpkin purée from Thrive Market when I place my order because it’s so delicious in baking. I’ve grown my own pumpkins over the years but I gotta say … I’m really not that successful with them. I can sometimes do well, but it’s pretty hit or miss and they take up too much space in the garden for them not to be a sure thing. I usually try every year but I never grow enough to be able to can. Since I love baking with pumpkin, I just keep a stash of the canned purée on hand.
We had a lot of fun experimenting with these new pumpkin pancakes and we think we’ve finally found a winner! This recipe is based on my original Overnight Sourdough Einkorn Pancakes with added ingredients. Although pumpkin pie spice could be used, I like to add the individual spices to control the flavor a bit more. The resulting pancakes are yummy and moist with the perfect pumpkin flavor! A little drizzle of maple syrup will add some sweetness if needed but with no added sugar in this recipe, I like that the subtleness of the spices can be tasted. These pancakes freeze beautifully and heat up in the toaster oven perfectly, so I make a whole batch and save what we don’t eat so the kids can make their own breakfasts on other mornings. Placing parchment paper in between each stack of pancakes makes it super easy to pop out only the number of pancakes that are needed. We still love the original recipe but these pancakes are the favored variety throughout the year.
Einkorn Sourdough Pumpkin Pancakes
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose einkorn flour
- 1 cup fed sourdough starter
- 3/4 cup filtered water (I like Clearly Filtered)
- 3 pastured/organic eggs, scrambled in a separate bowl
- 1/2 cup organic buttermilk milk
- 1 15-oz can organic pumpkin purée
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (we make our own but I would use Frontier if I was buying)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp aluminum-free baking soda
- 1.5 tsp organic cinnamon
- 1 tsp organic ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp organic ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp organic ground clove
- 1/4 tsp organic ground nutmeg
- 4 tbsp melted grass-fed butter (cooled and not hot)
Instructions
The night before:
- In a medium bowl (I use the Pampered Chef Classic Batter Bowl), mix together the einkorn flour, sourdough starter, and filtered water until combined. I find a stiff spatula works best. The dough will be wet and sticky.
- Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot to proof overnight. The oven with the inside light on creates a perfect environment. Just make sure to put a sticky note or some other reminder on top of the oven buttons so you don't accidentally turn it on. I've done that one too many times!
- Let proof overnight, 10-12 hours. This dough should double in size.
The morning of:
- Warm up your cast iron skillet or pancake griddle to a medium-low temperature. I prefer a slow and steady cooking at about 250 degrees on pancakes so they don't brown too much.
- Using a whisk, add into the dough the eggs, milk, pumpkin purée, vanilla extract, sea salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, clove, and nutmeg. Mix until well combined.
- Add the melted butter and mix until well combined. The batter should be somewhat thin, depending on the hydration of your starter.
- If needed, butter your cooking surface.
- Drop pancakes in about 1/4-cup increments. Pancakes are normally cooked on the first side until the batter is bubbling, but the baking soda will make it bubble almost immediately. So, cook the pancakes until the ends start to show signs of hardening, about 2 minutes, depending on your cooking temperature.
- Flip and cook the other side for about 90 seconds.
- Remove to a plate and repeat the process until all of the batter is used. This recipe should yield approximately 17 pancakes, depending on size.
- Serve immediately with your favorite toppings. They also freeze extremely well.
