Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

Well fall has finally arrived and the days have gotten noticeably cooler. As much as I love autumn it's still sad to say goodbye to summer. It's hard to believe that it is over.  *Le sigh*

On the other hand I kind of like the cooler temperatures for sleeping. It wasn't the best year in my garden for tomatoes; they had a slow start and took a long time ripening. The plants have finally fallen from the frost we had a few nights ago. Peppers were fantastic, even though they didn't grow very big.

It's that time of year again. Time to open my first can of pure pumpkin.... today we're talking about pancakes.

There are some recipes that you always come back to, and these pumpkin spice pancakes are one of them.

Pancakes don't happen nearly as often as I'd like in our house, but when they do it's magical. After-all, breakfast is my favourite meal of the day.

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes serves 2-3 (6 pancakes)

Print or email this recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (I used pure canned)
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted (or melted butter)
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 cup 2% milk

Directions:

1.  Combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and clove. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, egg, oil, maple syrup, and milk until very well blended.
3. With a rubber spatula, fold wet mixture into dry mixture. Add a touch more milk if the batter is too thick to pour.
4. Heat a skillet (or griddle) over medium heat. When skillet is hot, pour 1/4 cup of batter into the pan.
5. Cook 3 minutes until bubbles begin to form, then flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes until cooked through.
6. Serve with maple syrup and cinnamon, or your favourite toppings. Maybe even a smear of maple cinnamon almond butter.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Peanut Butter, almond butter, hazelnut butter, cashew butter...I love them all and wish I could use them as toothpaste!

If you have a serious cookie craving then you have come to the right place. These peanut butter cookies are now one of my new favourites. They have a bit of a twist on the classic peanut butter cookie.

I decided to make them gluten-free, so for the flour I used my all purpose gluten-free blend, which I had leftover from last week's Blueberry-Peach Cobbler. If you don't have any problems with gluten and you want to, you can substitute plain old everyday all purpose flour with the exact same measurements I give for the gluten-free flour. However, these cookies turned out amazing using the gluten-free all purpose flour mix. In fact if you gave these cookies to your friends and family and then told them that they were gluten-free they probably wouldn't believe you. That's how much faith I have in this flour mix.

These are lightly spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. The butter is cut back because of the addition of peanut butter. They're similar in taste to a ginger cookie with the molasses and warm spices.

They are a very thin cookie but don't let that fool you. They're soft and chewy on the inside. And the little bit of chocolate brings it all together.

This is my new addiction!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies gluten free (yields 1 dozen)

Print or email this recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup + 1 tbsp all purpose gluten-free flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon, divided
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (or ground nutmeg)
  
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar (lightly packed)
• 1/3 cup light peanut butter
• 3 tbsp butter, softened
• 2 tbsp molasses
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 ounces chocolate chunks
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare a large cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together flours, baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Set aside. Combine granulated sugar and remaining 1 tsp cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. In another medium bowl, beat together brown sugar, peanut butter and butter on medium speed of electric mixer for about 1 minute. Add molasses, egg, and vanilla. Beat again until smooth.
4. Working a little bit at a time, stir flour mixture into peanut butter mixture until all the flour mix is incorporated. Stir in chocolate chunks. The dough will be stiff. Using your hands, shape dough into 2 inch balls. Roll balls in reserved cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place on cookie sheet at least 2 inches apart (6 per sheet is best). Flatten cookies slightly using a fork.
5. Bake for 7 minutes. They may appear undercooked, but that’s okay. Remove cookies from oven and immediately transfer from pan to a wire rack to cool.