Secret Recipe Club - Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes

Yes it's that time of the month again!!
I say that every month, don't I?
And NO, I'm not hormonal!  There ARE other things that can happen each month you know, and it's not necessarily that.
Yes, the third Monday of the month means it's reveal day for Group C of.....(drumroll).......

The Secret Recipe Club is based on Secret Santa ~ everyone is assigned a blog for the month to "secretly stalk".  We are to choose a recipe we would like to make and blog about on our assigned reveal day.  But pssst... we have to keep it a secret from the author of the blog we are given!  This club is the brainchild of Amanda of Amanda's Cookin'.  She has since handed over the reins to April of Angel's Homestead and the leader of Group C is Debbie of Debbie Does Dinner...Healthy & Low Calorie.  These women, in addition to the other group leaders and social media butterflies do a lot of work to keep things running smoothly, so THANK YOU, ladies!! BIG HUGS!!!

If you think The Secret Recipe Club is something you might be interested in, go here to join us!

The blog I was assigned for the month of October was...(another drumroll, Maestro, please).........

Mother Thyme

Mother Thyme is written, photographed and created by Jennifer.
I have blog envy.  I really do.
Her blog is so beautiful, her layout so clean and organized, and her recipes...
I just can't say enough about her recipes.
They're incredible and many, if not all, of her photographs are just stunning!
One month for The Secret Recipe Club she was assigned to 365 Days of Baking (WOO HOO!), and the recipe she chose to make were these, but go look at HERS!  They're SO pretty and she did such a great job with them!  I was so flattered!!
It's not a surprise though because it's evident that she takes great pride in her work and pays close attention to detail.
Well done, Jennifer!!

There are SO many wonderful recipes on her blog that it was really difficult to choose just one.  But don't worry, I have a list of things that I'll be making besides today's recipe! I've bookmarked her Apple Pie Smoothie, the Slow Cooker Pork Ragu which is on the menu for tomorrow's dinner, Green Beans with Dijon and Thyme and her Oven Baked Salted Caramel Popcorn.  But believe me, this isn't all I want to make!

The one I chose for today's reveal was her Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes.  I haven't made any recipes with pumpkin yet this Fall (I know, can you believe it?!), so I figured these would be a great recipe to start with.

Since I started this blog, I have really been experimenting with our pancakes, adding different things and making them quite flavorful.  For some reason I seemed to have it stuck in my head that you either made homemade pancakes plain or with blueberries.

I've come OUT of THE BISQUICK BOX, people and I have to say, I am very excited!!  Not to mention the fact that so are my kids. haha

Kind of like when I started watching Seinfeld and it gave me permission to have more than one kind of cereal in my pantry.

Yeah, don't ask, it just never occurred to me to purchase different ones that I was in the mood for. I bought one cereal one week and a different one the next even though there were mornings during the week that I wanted another kind.

But then along came Seinfeld and he said to me, "Go for it, Lynne!  LIVE a little and be kind to your taste buds during the week.  They deserve to have variety.  Variety is the spice of life!"
Yes, Jerry spoke directly to ME!!!  He did, he really did!
Alright, alright.  Well I can dream, can't I?

I did make some changes to what Jennifer had made and I'll tell you about that after the recipe.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes - makes about 12-14

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (did you know you can make your own? I can show you how!)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup buttermilk (or use 1 cup milk as in original recipe and omit additional 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup regular milk

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons butter, melted, plus additional for cooking

Preheat a griddle or large skillet on medium high heat.

In a large bowl, whisk together, flour, sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and cinnamon.

Create a well in the middle of the mixture and add milk(s), pumpkin puree, egg and melted butter.

Mix everything together until well combined.

Place a small amount of butter on the heated surface and pour batter by 1/4 cupful onto it.

Cook until small bubbles form and begin to pop, then flip to other side.

Cook for an additional 3-5 minutes.

I rate everything I make on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best and these Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes earned 3 1/2 rolling pins.

The family really liked them.  Mr. 365 said (and I quote), "Wow!  These are really good.  I don't like pumpkin, but these are really good!"

SCORE!!!

I found that they were very filling, and I could only eat two and a half as opposed to the four I usually eat for breakfast.

Thanks, Jennifer for such a great recipe!

One note:  make sure your griddle or pan is preheated enough before you place your batter on it.

Yeah, still attempting to figure this flat-top stove out.  Seems like I either have the burners not hot enough or too hot. and yes, I'm still burning the Cream of Wheat in the morning.
I miss my gas stove since we moved.
But, at least I've got a stove, haha - then I'd really be bumming!
I made one change to Jennifer's recipe - I substituted one cup of buttermilk for the one cup of regular milk she called for.  After mixing all of the ingredients together, the batter was really thick, like not pourable, gonna-be-fat-clumps-of-pancake-thick-that-will-be-cooked-on-the-outside-but-not-in-the-middle thick.
Know what I mean?
So I added 1/2 cup of regular milk to the batter to thin it.  And that worked perfectly.
And fortunately, there was ONLY 1/2 cup milk left in the house which was why I originally went with the buttermilk, anyway.

Please stop by Mother Thyme and say hello to Jennifer! You'll certainly be glad you did!!

I give you BIG baking hugs and muffins!!