With the excitement of Halloween in the air there’s no better time to cook as much orange, brown and black food as possible! We make pumpkin pancakes all the time at our house, but come October I like to spice things up and fill them with a chocolate cream cheese filling. They’re like Halloween whoopie pies, only without the gnarly ingredients or food dyes of the pre-packaged ones.

Warning: once you try these babies you may never be able to go back to regular pancakes again!

Pumpkin Pancake Sandwiches w/Chocolate Filling

Pumpkin Pancakes (Makes 18 Pancakes)

1 Cup White Flour
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Large Egg
1 1/4 Cup Whole Milk
1 Tbsp Honey
1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil, plus extra for greasing the pan
1 Cup Pumpkin Puree, canned

Chocolate filling:

1 Cup Cream Cheese
2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
2 Tbsp Honey

1. Sift the first 6 ingredients in a bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the rest of the pancake ingredients.
3. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet until combined; it’s ok if there are some lumps.
4. Heat a large sauté pan or griddle over medium heat and grease with oil.
5. Drop about 2 tbsp of the pancake mixture onto the griddle and cook for 2 minutes on each side until golden.
6. Set aside and allow to cool.
7. To make the filling: In a small bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the filling until smooth.
8. Place 1 tbsp of the filling between two pancakes to make a sammie.
9. Continue to make the rest of the sammies.
10. Serve.

* Tip: For perfectly round pancakes, use an ice cream scooper to put the pancake batter onto the griddle.

People often ask me why I make so many vegan recipes. There are actually tons of reasons, one being that I have several vegan friends, so I frequently cook for them.
But the second reason is that so many kids today have allergies to a variety of foods, many specifically to dairy and eggs. Since vegans don’t eat any animal products or foods made by animals such as honey, these dishes are good for some kids with specific allergies.
I made these pancakes for a bunch of friends who aren’t vegan and they didn’t know that they were dairy and egg free until they had cleaned their plates . Light as feathers, but with tons of depth of flavor and added texture from the spelt or buckwheat, these pancakes are a real treat. I actually served them for dessert later that night and the kids had a blast eating them with their hands and dipping them in syrup. See, pancakes really can be enjoyed morning, noon and night!

Vegan Pumpkin Pancakes (Makes 18 Pancakes)

1 Cup White Flour
1/2 Cup Buckwheat or Spelt Flour (I tested both versions and they were equally delicious)
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 1/4 Cup Rice Milk (you could also use soy or almond milk)
1 Tbsp Maple Syrup, plus extra for serving with pancakes
1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil, plus extra for greasing the pan
1/2 Cup Pumpkin Puree, canned

1. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. Mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk to combine (don’t over mix, some lumps are fine).
4. Heat a griddle or large saute pan over medium heat and lightly
grease with oil.
5. Ladle as many pancakes as possible (about 2 tbsp of batter for each one) on the griddle and cook 2 minutes or until bubbles start forming on the surface and the bottom is golden brown.
6. Flip the pancakes and cook another 2 minutes.
7. Repeat the process until you run out of batter (you can hold the finished pancakes in a 250 degree oven while you finish making the pancakes).
7. Serve with maple syrup and enjoy.

*Allow to cool, place in a ziploc bag, label and freeze. When ready, place in toaster oven or oven at 300 and heat for 10 minutes or until heated through.

We used these to make this recipe:

Chef’s Design 20-Inch Double Burner Reversible Grill/Griddle