Start your day out right, with a healthy and hearty breakfast. Pumpkin Spice Quinoa Pancakes- These pancakes are pumped up nutritionally with the addition of quinoa and pumpkin puree. Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice give them the flavor of pumpkin pie. Pour on some warm maple syrup and you’ve got a quick easy (and healthy) hot breakfast for a cool Fall day. Pumpkin pancakes! Pumpkin pancakes! oh ya!
I was headed East into to Cascade mountains, the amber glow of the sun shone brightly against the varying hues of autumn leaves. Vivid colors of red, orange, yellow and bright green. It’s Fall, and it’s gorgeous in the Pacific Northwest. I am continually awestruck at the beauty that surrounds this part of the world.
The stereo in the car was blasting and I was doing my “I’m a rockstar, no one can see me in my car” best signing . I glance to my right when I notice that the guy in the car next me can in fact see me, and he’s having a good laugh at my air drumming ( a somewhat spastic banging of my imaginary drum stick in the air which probably looks something like a frantic music conductor ). I give him my best Chesire cat grin..busted!
Oops!…both hands back on the wheel, I commence admiring the fall foliage and thinking about the fact that it’s early Nov. and I haven’t even posted one recipe with pumpkin in it! What, no pumpkin? The quintessential symbol of the season. I really need to do something about that! How about some pumpkin pancakes?!
So here you have it….Pumpkin Spice Quinoa Pancakes. Quinoa pancakes? You might be asking... And to that I say Oh Heck Ya! If you’ve been reading this blog for a bit, then you know I’m a huge fan of quinoa and all its goodness. I’ve used it in Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Fall Quinoa and Quinoa “Meatball” Sandwiches to name a few. If you want to know more about quinoa and it’s many benefits, you can check out this post (Honey Cinnamon Breakfast Quinoa)
Quinoa adds so many good nutritional properties to the pancakes, as does the pumpkin. Pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) adds a good dose of fiber and antioxidants (like beta-carotene, which is essential for healthy, glowing skin, good eyesight and your immune system.)
This recipe for pumpkin pancakes calls for cooked quinoa which you can cook up the night before if you like. The addition of the quinoa and pumpkin make for dense (but still fluffy!) filling pancakes. I’m using cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice to give the pancakes that fallish (ya, that’s probably a made up word) flavor. You could substitute pumpkin pie spice if you prefer.
Pour your self a steaming cup of coffee and start your Fall day out right with a stack of pumpkin pancakes. Top the pancakes with pecans and warm maple syrup. Ahhh...it's going to be a good day!
Pumpkin Spice Quinoa Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon all spice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- ⅓ cup canned pumpkin not pumpkin pie filling
- ¼ cup low-fat milk
- 2 teaspoon maple syrup
- Pecans powdered sugar, maple syrup or any toppings of your choice
Instructions
- In a medium bowl combine quinoa, flour, baking powder, spices and salt. In another medium bowl stir together egg, pumpkin, milk and maple syrup until thoroughly combined. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and fold together.
- Coat a large skillet (or griddle) with non-stick spray and heat over medium-high. Scoop approx. ¼ cup batter per pancake into skillet and cook approx. 3 min on each side. ( you may need to work in batches depending on the size of your skillet or griddle). Serve with maple syrup and pecans (or toppings of your choice) .
Claudia | Breakfast Drama Queen
These pancakes look delicious! I love that there's quinoa in them!
And that story about singing the car made me laugh - it seems there'll always be someone looking at us when we're doing something embarrassing 😉