Pumpkin Pancakes with Cinnamon Butter

I'm not usually much of a breakfast for dinner person. I used to be, and then I got married.

Jeremiah doesn't like breakfast food unless it's breakfast time. This includes but is not limited to eggs, pancakes, French toast, and crepes. In fact, crepes are "dessert" to him. He was raised by French parents, so he's not entirely to blame.

He also won't eat casseroles, but that's another {sad} story.

Tonight, though, angels were looking out for me and my craving for pumpkin pancakes. Jeremiah is sick and only wants soup.

He'll eat Top Ramen but not casseroles? Who did I marry?!

So I made pumpkin pancakes the way I've been making them but used a technique I found online. I separated the eggs, mixing the yolks with the batter and beating the whites until stiff, then folding them into the batter. The result was super light and fluffy pancakes. It's an extra step, and certainly not necessary, but you won't be disappointed. Trust me.

Love the pic? Maybe just a little? I played around with my photoshop and this was the best I could do. I'm not a photographer by any means {in case that wasn't obvious} but I do try!

 Isn't pumpkin so pretty? I love the vibrant orange!

 Sift the dry ingredients together in one bowl and all the wet ingredients in another bowl, except the egg whites if you are planning on beating them separate.

 Another thing I love is beaten egg whites. Weird, maybe, but I love how shiny and glossy and light they are.

 You know your pancakes are ready to turn over when you see bubbles rise to the surface and the underside is browned.

 A pile of pancakes {well, at least the ones my munchins didn't eat} topped with cinnamon butter.

Pumpkin Pancakes
by Kelli Lafranca

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/3 cup milk (whole will make it richer, I used non-fat and it was still great)
3/4 cup canned pure pumpkin
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
4 large eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla extract
Butter, for greasing

Whisk first 5 ingredients in a large bowl to blend.

Whisk milk, pumpkin, butter, egg yolks, and vanilla in medium bowl to blend well. Add pumpkin mixture to dry ingredients; whisk just until smooth. Batter will be thick. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites in another bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into batter.

Heat a large pan over medium to medium-high heat (or heat a griddle to 300 degrees) and melt butter to grease the bottom. Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto heated pan. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface and the bottoms are browned, about 1-2 minutes per side. Flip over and cook another minute. Grease pan with butter after each batch. Serve with cinnamon butter.

Cinnamon Butter

1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 tsp cinnamon

Whisk together butter and cinnamon.

You can use this cinnamon butter on pancakes, toast, and other bread. Keep in the fridge.