Pumpkin Pancakes

I wasn't ready to be done with Thanksgiving this morning. A can of organic pumpkin purée called out to me, "Put me into pancakes and serve me with maple syrup!"

So that's what I did.

These pancakes strike a nice balance between fluffy and dense. The pumpkin, naturally a bit sweet, makes these pancakes very flavorful and a beautiful golden orange. Maple syrup is the perfect counterpart.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 6 tablespoons (packed) brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 2/3 cups buttermilk
• 3/4 cup canned solid pack pumpkin
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted

• 4 tablespoons (about) butter

• Pure maple syrup

Directions

Preheat oven to 250°F. 

Mix first 6 ingredients in large bowl to blend. Whisk buttermilk, pumpkin, eggs and melted butter in medium bowl until well blended. Add to dry ingredients and whisk until smooth.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, drop batter by 1/4 cupfuls into skillet. Cook pancakes until bubbles form on top and bottoms are golden brown, about 2 1/2 minutes. Turn pancakes over. Cook until bottoms are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Transfer to baking sheet; place in oven to keep warm up to 20 minutes. Repeat with remaining batter, adding more butter to skillet as necessary for each batch.

Serve pancakes hot with maple syrup.