Pumpkin Whole Wheat Pancakes with Buttery Syrup

I don't know about you, but in the morning my sweet tooth comes alive!  I usually crave breakfasts that could easily fall under the dessert category, which is why I adore pancakes!  Ever since I discovered the wonders of making pancakes from scratch I've never been tempted to go back to that box of Aunt Jemima.  However, I made regular pancakes and added blueberries or chocolate chips to them and that was about it.  Mom was the one that came up with this recipe for moist and fluffy healthier whole wheat pumpkin pancakes (I could definitely add more words to their description, but I'll leave it at that!)  

As for the syrup...  No matter how much I loved homemade pancakes I could never fathom giving up my precious plastic bottle of Aunt Jemima Butter Lite!  All that high fructose corn syrup, cellulose gum, artificial flavoring and food coloring had captivated my taste buds ever since I could remember.  But when I found the recipe for this buttery syrup, it became my family's favorite!  I no longer need the fake stuff. In my opinion, real ingredients is always the way to go. ;) So here's how it's done...

So the first thing I had to do is make the buttermilk substitute.  I have to do this because I can never find buttermilk in Puerto Rico.  The way I do it is add 1 tbsp of white vinegar to a measuring cup and then pour in milk until it reaches 1 cup.  I mix it, let it sit for five minutes and voila!  The "buttermilk" I use in all my recipes. 

After that, you can start working on the syrup.  It's actually pretty simple. You gotta get a pretty big sauce pan and add butter, sugar, buttermilk, vanilla extract, corn syrup and cinnamon.  Bring it to a simmer over medium-high heat.  Start mixing it as it begins to simmer.

Once it's simmering whisk in the baking soda for ten seconds and then remove from heat.  This is why you need a large sauce pan.  When you add the baking soda it will suddenly rise a lot!

I stored it in a nice bottle. There's Mom in her PJs working on the pancake mix!

For the pancakes you simply have to combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl, combine the wet ingredients in a medium bowl and then add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix.  Do not over mix it because you'll ruin the fluff factor! ;)

Once it's all mixed, heat a large skillet over medium heat and melt some butter on it.  Measure 1/3 cup of batter for each pancake and cook on one side until bubbles appear, borders start looking dry and until you peek in the bottom and they look golden brown.  Cook on the other side until golden brown as well. 

Serve with that wonderful syrup and enjoy your sweet morning!

Pumpkin Whole Wheat Pancakes with Buttery Syrup 

Yield: 12 pancakes 

Pancake Syrup adapted from: All Recipes

Buttery Pancake Syrup:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup  granulated sugar
• 1 cup buttermilk (see Note)
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp corn syrup
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Note: To make a buttermilk substitute, add 1 tbsp of white vinegar to a measuring cup and then add milk until it reaches 1 cup.  Stir and let stand for five minutes. 

Pumpkin Whole Wheat Pancakes: 

• 2 cups white whole wheat flour (We prefer this one, but we've also used regular whole wheat flour and it works.  I figure all-purpose flour would also work fine.)
• 1/4 instant oats
• 2 tbsp baking powder
• 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 ½ tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 2 cups vanilla almond milk (or skim milk, 1%, whole milk, regular almond milk, etc.)
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/4 cup pumpkin (from a can)
• 1/4 cup greek yogurt (or vanilla greek yogurt)
• Butter for cooking

Directions:

1. Syrup: Bring butter, sugar, buttermilk, vanilla, corn syrup and cinnamon to a simmer over medium high heat in a large sauce pan.  Mix as this happens. Once simmering whisk in baking soda for ten seconds and remove from heat.  The sauce pan has to be large because when you add the baking soda it will suddenly rise a lot.  Then it will go down again.
2. Pancakes: Combine dry ingredients (flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and salt) in a large bowl.
3. Combine wet ingredients (eggs, milk, brown sugar, pumpkin and greek yogurt) in a medium bowl.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix.  Do not over-mix.
5. Melt some butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Once hot add 1/3 cup of batter for each pancake and cook them in batches until golden brown on both sides.  You know they're ready to turn when bubbles appear, the edges start getting dry and you peek in the bottom and you see they're golden brown.  
6. Serve with the epic syrup and enjoy! :)

Linked to: You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and Two Cup Tuesday