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Make Halloween morning a bit more special with these festive Pumpkin Pie Pancakes topped with a Dark Chocolate Syrup. I love making holidays and birthdays a little bit more exciting by preparing a themed breakfast. It’s the little things in life that make a big impact! Your little ones (and, let’s be honest, any adults in the house) will love these vibrant orange pumpkin pie pancakes. Top them with a spooky dark chocolate syrup to celebrate the holiday.

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Story Time…

I’ve mentioned this before in other posts, but some of my favorite childhood memories are when my mom made holidays more exciting with little touches. Now, I don’t remember anything particular about Halloween, but when I became a mom, I knew I wanted to give my boy special memories to hold onto. Pumpkin pie pancakes definitely fit the bill.

For me, food is a tool to teach someone about another culture or, in this case, celebrate a special occasion. Ben has always been a fan of his funfetti birthday cake pancakes, so I figured I could easily adapt a pancake recipe to the flavors of the season. He is an incredibly picky eater, but I lucked out again with these. I think adding food coloring to bring out the orange color made them more fun!

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Pancakes, Pancakes, Pancakes… Pumpkin Pie Pancakes!

Pancakes are one of the easiest foods to switch up and create new flavor combos. If you have a basic pancake recipe, even Bisquick is amazing, you have endless possibilities. Boxed pancake mix is really great. So quick and easy, but this recipe makes mile high pancakes that I just don’t find in a box mix.

For Valentine’s Day I like to make heart shaped Red Velvet Pancakes. That recipe produces light and fluffy pancakes, so I decided to use that as my base. Since I was making these pumpkin pie pancakes for a picky eater, I aimed for a mild pumpkin spice flavor. However, if you would inject pumpkin spice directly into your veins, you could increase the amount. You could also try substituting some whole wheat flour (no more than a cup) for a “healthier” version. The texture won’t be as light and fluffy though.

Brown Sugar Tips

Since I was aiming for a pumpkin pie flavor, I opted for light brown sugar instead of the usual white granulated sugar. I figured dark brown sugar would be too heavy and moist for the light, fluffy pancake I had in mind, but the lighter version would add just enough caramel flavor to the pancake.

The only concern was that the brown sugar is pretty lumpy. I broke it up in my sieve, but there were still a few hard chunks. When I made the pancakes, two of them ended up with spots where the sugar melted. My best tip is to use soft brown sugar and break it up in a sieve before adding to your dry ingredients.

Chocolate Syrup…

I knew I wanted to top my vibrant orange pancakes with a black drizzle, but I wasn’t quite sure where to start. My first thought was a dark chocolate ganache, because ganache, right? Chocolate ganache is super easy, and I even top my Green Velvet Waffles with a white chocolate ganache. But I went a different route with these pumpkin pie pancakes.

Of course, I considered making a syrup from scratch using dark cocoa powder, sugar, vanilla, and milk or water, but that just sounded like too many variables to nail down. In the end, I went with the easiest answer I could think of. Maple syrup and cocoa powder. It does not get easier than that. I decided to add just a few drops of black food coloring to make it really dark, but that’s not necessary.

Related Reading: Banana Bread Waffles

Enjoy!

These light and fluffy Pumpkin Pie Pancakes are a delightful way to start your day on Halloween morning. Make them a day or two in advance and you’ll just have to warm them up when you’re ready to dig in. I promise you will love these thick, light, fluffy seasonal pancakes. Follow Bakes & Blunders on Facebook for even more baking goodness!

Pumpkin Pie Pancakes

Perfect for any Fall day, these thick and fluffy pancakes are reminiscent of a rich pumpkin pie. Top them with Dark Chocolate Syrup for a very spooky breakfast.

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Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Keyword Breakfast, Chocolate, Fall, Holiday, Pancakes, Pie, Pumpkin

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 30

Total Time 35

Servings 15 pancakes

Calories 88kcal

Ingredients

Pancakes

2 cups all- purpose flour
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 Tbsps light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 Tbsp vanilla
orange food gel color (3 drops red, 4 drops yellow)

Dark Chocolate Syrup

1 Tbsp dark cocoa powder
2 Tbsp maple syrup
black food color optional

Instructions

Pancakes

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and brown sugar. Use a sieve to break up the brown sugar,
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, pumpkin, vanilla, and orange food gel. Adjust the orange coloring as necessary. (For me, 3 drops of red and 4 drops of yellow worked well.)
Pour your wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until just combined. If you over mix, your pancakes may not rise well. The batter will be lumpy, but you should not see any flour.
For medium sized pancakes, pour a 1/4 cup of the batter into a skillet on medium- low heat. For mini pancakes (toddler sized), pour tablespoonfuls into the preheated skillet. Cook pancakes for 3- 4 minutes per side.

Dark Chocolate Syrup

In a small bowl or mug, stir dark cocoa powder and maple syrup together. Once combined, add black food coloring one drop at a time, until desired color is reached.
Warm the syrup in the microwave for 10 seconds to easily pour over your pancakes.

Notes

The syrup will only make a small amount, if you need more, just increase the recipe as necessary. 1 part cocoa powder: 2 parts syrup
Calorie count does not include syrup.

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