They may not look pretty...

But they sure did taste good.

I feel like that sounds like something my father would say. Or at least I'm thinking of him saying it in his accent, and it's funny. (Think stereotypical hillbilly drawl, but do so lovingly.)

Many of my friends get incredibly excited about Fall due to the return of the pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks. The last few years it's been incredibly too sweet for me, even when I get only two pumps instead of the usual four. So now that I'm vegan and won't be having them anyway, I don't feel like I'm missing anything.*

Lest you label me an Autumnal Scrooge, please know that I love pumpkin! I do! Why just this morning I ate pumpkin pancakes! And I had to share.



They may not be my most photogenic subject, but they were pretty darned tasty. I had a Sandra Lee semi-homemade moment, as I usually do with pancakes, and as always, I didn't really measure a thing. I guess if I'm going to be sharing things with people, I should start measuring?

The mix I've been using is Cherrybrook Kitchen, and I am very happy with it. I mean, pankcakes! It's good for kiddos with allergies or vegans, and it's available at Whole Foods (and probably other places as allergies become more commonplace).

I started with 1/2 cup mix. The smallest quantity on the directions is seven pancakes, which I have no business making (and subsequently eating until I'm in a food coma), so I always cut the recipe in half. Standard recipe calls for rice milk (or milk of choice) and oil. I usually substitute apple sauce for the oil, as meh, why not? I got some of the little unsweetened apple sauce cups, and they're perfect for cases such as these.

This morning though, as I was lying awake with a terrible headache, I thought, why not use pumpkin instead of the apple sauce? But the half recipe oil sub of 1 TBS just wouldn't do. So I mixed 1/2 cup mix, 1/2 cup pumpkin, and poured is some unsweetened almond milk until it started to look like pancake batter. It  didn't really, so I put in some more mix. And then some more almond milk. And then I shrugged and thought to myself, whatever, let's fry 'em.

The secret to pumpkin flavored things is Pumpkin Pie Spice. I put a good hardy shake of that and a glug of vanilla and another half stir while my frying pan preheated.



Like I said, they aren't pretty, but they sure did taste good. While it's omnipresent this fall, throw a can of pumpkin into your cart. (I like the organic canned pumpkin at Whole Foods, but I'm kind of weird about things.) You'll be surprised all the places you can stir a spoonful in. Well, unless your vegan, then maybe you know that it's a great substitute for eggs.**

Heck, some wacky New York Best-Selling author puts pumpkin in smoothies!

I hope you are having a beautiful Fall day, and if you're not, mix in a spoonful of pumpkin.

*Pumpkin spice syrup contains dairy state by several sources found via Google. I'm not really concerned about investigating further because, as stated, I don't like 'em.
**Depending on what you're making, if the pumpkin flavor may effect the end product positively or what purpose the egg serves in the recipe, i.e. to bind or to moisten.