Pumpkin Pancakes!

Yes. I am on the bandwagon with all of those who start making and searching out pumpkin flavored foods and treats at the first sign of fall. I've already enjoyed a pumpkin latte and made pumpkin cranberry cookies. So, when I walked into Trader Joes and saw this pumpkin pancake mix, I just had to try it!

These pancakes are easy to make and have a wonderful pumpkin flavor. It was exactly what I was craving. I had some leftover pumpkin puree from some cookies I baked, so I made a second batch of pancakes and added a splash of vanilla, pumpkin pie spice and a couple good dollops of pumpkin puree. These doctored pancakes turned out wonderful as well! Either way, they both make for excellent fall flavored pancakes.

The batter is a pretty orange color too.

And they cook up nicely.

I topped mine with real maple syrup (also from TJ's) and that's all they needed. Of course, a smear of melted butter would be heavenly too.

So, if you have a Trader Joes by you, just know that their pancake mix is really good and worth trying out! Also, their spices like cinnamon, cloves and pumpkin pie spice are only $1.99 each (and they're nice glass jars too.)

If you're feeling adventurous, make some cinnamon butter to go on top!

Cinnamon Butter

3/4 cups unsalted butter

1 tbsp corn syrup 

1 tsp brown sugar 

1 tsp granulated sugar 

2 tsp cinnamon

Using an electric mixer, whip room temperature butter until fluffy. Add corn syrup, sugars and cinnamon and beat to combine.

Valentine's Breakfast

My family and I enjoyed a relaxing day in for valentine's. We started the morning off by cooking a healthy breakfast together. We put on classical music and whisked up some whole wheat, honey and oat pancakes and scrambled some eggs.

My husband happened upon this Kodiak Cakes Flapjack and Waffle Mix at the grocery store. My favorite part about the healthy mix is the simple ingredient list and the fact that you only have to add water to make them.

We thought some ground cinnamon, applesauce and a splash of vanilla would be a tasty addition to the mix and it was! This Santa Cruz applesauce is really good. 

These turned out amazing! Very fluffy, moist and a really great hearty flavor. The applesauce on top was an experiment, since we weren't using butter or syrup and it was really good, honest. 

These pancakes were healthy, tasty and better than any sugar laden ones fried in butter you would get at a restaurant. The topping of applesauce and fruit was a delicious substitute for butter and syrup. We bought two boxes of pancake mix and a package of applesauce and we will be making these again very soon.

Whole Wheat, Oat and Honey Pancakes

1 1/2 cups Kodiak Cakes flapjack and waffle mix

1 cup water

1 container applesauce

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

Whisk ingredients until just incorporated. Follow directions for cooking on back of flapjack mix package. Top with a dollop of warm applesauce and fresh fruit. Enjoy