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These fluffy pumpkin pancakes have the perfect amount of pumpkin spice flavor and are such a cozy fall breakfast idea! Add your favorite pancake toppings and dig in.

Why You’ll Love This Pumpkin Pancake Recipe
- Easy. Just mix up a simple pancake batter, then cook on the stovetop same as for regular pancakes.
- Fluffy. These pumpkin pancakes are tender and fluffy. The perfect vehicle for your favorite pancake toppings like maple syrup or even fresh blueberries.
- Full of fall flavor. Every bite is bursting with pumpkin flavor. Warming spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves add extra autumn flavor. Your kitchen will smell amazing while you cook these pancakes.
What You’ll Need
Eating these pancakes feels like a luxurious experience, but they only need a few simple ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need. Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for specific amounts.
- All purpose flour
- Sugar – White or brown sugar works
- Baking powder
- Spices – Ground cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, ground ginger, ground cloves
- Wheat germ – This adds both nutritional value and a nice nutty flavor to the pancakes.
- Kosher salt
- Milk – Any kind of milk works. From a cow or from a plant!
- Pumpkin puree – Not pumpkin pie filling
- Unsalted butter
- Egg
How to Make Pumpkin Pancakes
The process for making these pancakes is similar to all my other pancake recipes. In other words, easy! Here’s how to do it:
- Mix dry ingredients. In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder, spices, wheat germ, and salt.
- Combine wet ingredients. In a medium bowl combine the sugar, milk, canned pumpkin puree, melted butter, and egg. Whisk to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Slowly add the dry ingredients, stirring until just combined. There should not be any dry bits of batter.
- Prep the griddle. Heat your griddle or heavy skillet over medium heat and lightly grease with butter. Wipe the griddle with a thick wad of paper towel. You shouldn’t be able to see the fat on the griddle.
- Cook the pancakes. Pour 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Cook pancakes for about 2-3 minutes per side, or until bubbles begin to form on the surface and the underside of the pancake is golden (you can check with your spatula by gently lifting an edge). Flip and cook for about 2 minutes on the other side. If you want to see what the pancakes should look like before flipping them, here are step-by-step photos showing how to make pancakes.
- Serve and enjoy!
Tips for The Best Pumpkin Pancakes
- Keeping pancakes warm. Since you will need to work in a couple patches, you can keep the cooked pancakes warm by placing them on an oven-safe plate in the oven. I usually heat the oven to 150F.
- How to tell pancakes are done. You can tell your pancakes are done when the insides are fluffy. After I have cooked each pancake on both sides, I usually make a tiny crack in them with my spatula. If no batter is visible the pancakes are done. Serve the pancakes “crack side down” and know one will know the difference.
Topping Ideas
All of the usual pancake fixings go well with these pumpkin pancakes: maple syrup, butter, confectioners sugar, and fresh fruit. I also like to add a generous dollop of homemade whipped cream! Other topping ideas include:
- Apricot Jam – As you may have guessed from my Pumpkin Apple Apricot Bread recipe, I love the combination of apricot with pumpkin. It’s super tasty!
- Apple Butter/Jelly – I will be sharing my recipes for crockpot apple butter soon. In the meantime, store-bought apple butter or apple jelly goes wonderfully with these pancakes.
- Maple Cream – This may be hard to find depending on where you live, but a generous swath of thick maple cream is delightful on these.
- Raw Honey Cream – Another somewhat rustic topping that is delicious if you can find it. In my area you can usually find this at farmer’s markets, farm stands, or gourmet grocery stores.
- Cooked apples. You can use the method in my baked oatmeal recipe to make tender, cinnamon-spiced apples that you can spoon on top of your pancakes.
- Fresh berries. I actually love serving pumpkin pancakes with fresh blueberries. The flavor combo is delightful! Other tasty options are raspberries, blackberries or black raspberries.
How to Store and Reheat Pancakes
- Fridge: Let your pancakes cool to room temperature, then store them in an airtight container in the fridge. They will keep for up to 3 days. I like to place a piece of parchment paper between each pancake to prevent them from sticking to each other.
- Freezer: You can also freeze pancakes in a freezer safe, airtight container for up to 3 months. Definitely use the parchment paper if you are freezing.
- To reheat: Just pop the pancakes into the microwave and reheat for about 30 seconds to a minute. (Depending on how many you want to eat and whether they are frozen.)
A fun way to use up extra pancakes is to turn them into Kaiserschmarrn. 🙂
More Pancake Recipes
Pumpkin Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- Pinch of ground cloves
- 1 tablespoon wheat germ
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup milk
- 6 tablespoons canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling
- 2 tablespoon melted butter
- 1 large egg
- Extra butter for cooking and serving the pancakes, plus maple syrup. You could also serve with confectioners sugar. Up to you!
Instructions
- Mix dry ingredients. In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder, spices, wheat germ and salt.
- Combine wet ingredients. In a medium bowl combine the sugar, milk, canned pumpkin puree, melted butter and egg. Whisk to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Slowly add the dry ingredients, stirring until just combined. There should not be any dry bits of batter.
- Prep the griddle. Heat your griddle or heavy skillet over medium heat and lightly grease with butter. Wipe the griddle with a thick wad of paper towel. You shouldn’t be able to see the fat on the griddle.
- Cook the pancakes. Pour 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Cook pancakes about 2-3 minutes per side, or until bubbles begin to form on the surface and the underside of the pancake is golden (you can check with your spatula by gently lifting an edge). Flip and cook for about 2 minutes on the other side.
- Serve. We like apricot jam, maple syrup or apple butter with these pancakes, but your favorite pancake toppings will do just fine!
Notes
- Fridge: Let your pancakes cool to room temperature, then store them in an airtight container in the fridge. They will keep for up to 3 days. I like to place a piece of parchment paper between each pancake to prevent them from sticking.
- Freezer: You can also freeze pancakes in a freezer-safe, airtight container for up to 3 months. Definitely use the parchment paper if you are freezing.
- To reheat: Just pop the pancakes into the microwave and reheat for about 30 seconds to a minute. (Depending on how many you want to eat and whether they are frozen.)
As usual, another fabulous recipe. It was a hit with my kids. Puffy and soft and yummy.
That’s awesome! So glad your family enjoyed the recipe. Thank you for coming back to tell me. 🙂