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Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes are that classic pumpkin pancake recipe you’ve been looking for — large, tender-cakey and moist, like you remember, but better. Made with cassava flour and high in protein, these favorites are healthy to boot.
Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes are a long-earned recipe that I had to work on several times to get JUST PERFECT. You will love these, and your family will love them too!
Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes
There are some big perks to being a food blogger:
- You get to eat what you photograph.
- Your family’s meals are often made while you’re “at work.”
- You sometimes get to eat while you photograph.
- You get to eat Pumpkin Pancakes.
- Your kids tell you (and you AGREE) that these are seriously the best pancakes they’ve ever eaten.
- This makes you happy.
- Your job makes you happy.
- And you eat more Paleo pancakes. 😉
- With lots of butter.
- Today you photographed a coffee mug. It did indeed have coffee in it. You also get to drink the coffee while you eat the pancakes.
So yes, I like my job — especially on a morning when I’m photographing Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes made with cassava flour. 🙂
The history of pancakes
Until these, the best pancakes I’d ever eaten were served to me a looong time ago. 🙁 By my mom. 🙂 She used to make us buckwheat pancakes. They seemed perfect, and they were delicious.
Then one day I went to a friend’s house. We were served white, fluffy Krusteaz (badly spelled “cutely” spelled food names ALWAYS mean fake ingredients) with some kind of nasty “whipped topping” from a container. I was confused. I ate them; but they were not good.
Now I’m all grown up, but I still love good pancakes …
When I got Otto’s cassava flour in my life I tried several times to make great pancakes. They were never quite right. We ate a lot of attempts.
But then I finally succeeded.
And now, 🙂 we are REALLY happy with this recipe.
The pancakes in these photos? I ate them like 25 minutes ago. And I’m still smiling.
I feel HAPPY. I feel energetic. I feel cozy and full. I’m saving the leftovers for my husband, because I know he’ll feel loved by them and love them.
Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes ingredients
This recipe features cassava flour, to make that delicious cakey, traditional pancakes texture, that’s also healthy. I only recommend Otto’s or Bob’s for this recipe. Other brands are too starchy, and you won’t end up with the same results. Otto’s is my preferred product.
In addition to cassava flour, this recipe uses some great high-protein ingredients: eggs, collagen (great amino acids for joint, skin and gut health) and your favorite non-dairy or well-sourced dairy milk.
Whipped up in the blender, Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes also include:
- canned pumpkin — but you can also use leftover winter squash if you prefer
- fat of choice — ghee, butter, coconut oil, lard or avocado oil are all good options
- honey or maple syrup — coconut sugar would probably be fine too
- baking soda and sea salt
These basic staples in the right ratio, whirled together in the blender, make the perfect breakfast hot cake!
Variation: If you’d like Pumpkin Spice pancakes, with cinnamon and ginger etc!, that variation is found in the Recipe Notes below the recipe itself. I made these pancakes without traditional fall spices, because they taste just lovely how they are. But there’s always a time when you want those autumnal/wintry flavors.
Stacked pancakes
Do you know about stacked pancakes? Yes, you can stack your pancakes. But the history is very old-fashioned. Please forget about the Michael Landon-starred show called Little House on the Prairie.
Have you ever read the book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder?? I kid you not: They are literature. They are the best books in the world, almost. They are SO good. Children’s books teach us all about what is right and good in the world. They contain more wisdom than most of the silly modern fiction books now available.
Laura’s husband Almanzo grew up on the most amazing (not exaggerating) farm in New York state. There is a lot of FOOD TALK in these books, a lot! His mom made donuts that flipped themselves. She made sauteed apples and onions. She sent the kids to school with homemade bread stuffed with sausages and butter. She made them stacked pancakes. When Almanzo grew up and became a homesteader, before he courted Laura, he used to make stacked pancakes for he and his brother Royal. They survived on pancakes.
Read these books to see the full glory of a lost, hard, but idyllic and wonderful world.
How to make stacked pancakes
And/or make these stacked pancakes: Yes, you layer butter and maple syrup as you go. You cook a pancake, put it on a plate, put a bit of butter and syrup, and each time a new hot pancake comes off the griddle you stack it and do the same. The flavor, the texture, the juicy cake with butter oozing out is unparalleled.
Sourdough version
If you’d like to “pre-digest” the cassava flour in this recipe to make it even gentler and more nutritious, see the Notes section below the recipe.
There, I give the Sourdough Pumpkin Pancakes variation.
Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes (cassava flour, with sourdough variation)
Equipment
- frying pan or large skillet
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- ½ cup pumpkin canned (organic and BPA-free lining) or leftover winter squash
- ½ cup cassava flour Otto's, see link below
- ¼ cup collagen Perfect brand preferred, see link below for discount code
- ¼ cup milk of choice (OR use soured milk if you want to make a sourdough batter; then let the batter sit out for 4 hours, then in the fridge for 2-5 days; see more on this in Notes section below.)
- ¼ cup butter melted, or melted lard, melted coconut oil or avocado oil
- 1 Tablespoon honey or maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon baking soda , sifted
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Place eggs in blender. Add pumpkin, milk, honey, cooled fat (if melted first). Add collagen, cassava, sifted baking soda and sea salt. Blend for 5-10 seconds. Scrape sides of blender. Blend 2-3 seconds more.
- Heat griddle or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tablespoon high heat fat: lard, butter, ghee or avocado oil. Pour batter into desired size pancake and reduce heat to low. Wait until edges dry out a bit and bubbles appear all over the wobbly-looking surface of raw batter, about 4-5 minutes. Flip and cook again on second side until done, about 2 minutes more.
- Finish cooking all pancakes, adding more fat to pan occasionally, (stacking them on a plate and layering with butter and maple syrup as you go, if desired). Batter will make 6 good-sized (pretty big) pancakes, enough to feed 3. Or make smaller pancakes if preferred.
Notes
Here's where to buy Otto's Cassava Flour. I buy 20 lbs. at a time, hehe! GOOD stuff! Free shipping, family-owned small business. 🙂
Here's where to buy Perfect Collagen. They give 10% off to Eat Beautiful readers. 🙂 Use the coupon code BEAUTIFUL10 at checkout.
Pumpkin Spice Variation- Add to the blender 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ginger, ¼ teaspoon each: allspice, cloves and nutmeg
Sourdough Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes instructions
- Assemble the whole batter early, as outlined in the main recipe above. But sub in ¼ cup sauerkraut juice or non-dairy whey for the milk.
- Let the batter sit on the counter for 4 hours (safe by health department standards); then put it in fridge overnight or for up to 3 to 4 days.
Nutrition
Similar recipes I think you’ll love:
- Paleo & AIP Cassava Flour Waffles
- Sourdough Sandwich Bread (Paleo & AIP)
- Korean Pancakes with Scallions (Paleo)
- Plantain Waffles or Pancakes (Paleo & AIP)
- Paleo Overnight Healthy Chocolate Muffins (with soaked/sourdough variation)
Renee Kohley says
These look amazing! I have been adding the collagen to our pancake recipes too and it makes them so soft!!!
Megan Stevens says
Thank you! Yes, that was the key!! So interesting, learning its role in baking!
Shayla says
Would gelatin work in place of collagen?
Megan Stevens says
Hi Shayla, no; they behave differently in baked goods, even though they’re so similar when it comes to gut healing.
Shayla says
I thought so, but figured I’d ask. Thanks!
Megan Stevens says
Sure! <3
Shayla says
I bought collagen just for this recipe. So delicious! (I added cinnamon, nutmeg, and fresh ginger. Pumpkin pie pancakes!)
Heather says
It may be less ideal and probably not as the original recipe intended, but I actually make these with gelatin all the time (instead of collagen) and they still turn out beautifully and are delicious. My daughter has a glutamate sensitivity and cannot tolerate collagen, so hence we needed the substitute. They actually turn out really well! We love them that way. Thanks, Megan, for our favorite pancake recipe – we adore these!
Megan says
Great Heather!! I appreciate your feedback! and SO happy you guys love them! 🙂
Heather says
I forgot to mention that with the gelatin instead of collagen the batter is, of course, much thicker. I usually make them as waffles instead of pancakes which works better with the thicker batter – just scoop into waffle iron with an ice-cream scoop. (I usually increase the milk slightly). No drips or mess, which I love too:)
Emily @ Recipes to Nourish says
Swoon!!! Loved learning about your childhood favorite pancake. I can’t wait to make these! I’m a huge fan of using PS collagen in baked goods and waffles too. I love the soft consistency it adds to everything. Yum, yum, yum I’ll be making these this week.
Megan Stevens says
Yay!!! I’m excited for you to try/have them!!
Ariana Mullins says
Definitely a huge Laura Ingalls Wilder fan, and loved all of the food talk in those books! These pancakes look great– we have tried a lot of grain-free recipes, but I have yet to do ones with collagen. The texture looks perfect!
Megan Stevens says
I hope you enjoy these, and what collagen and cassava flour bring to the table. Yay about the Little House books, such treasures and such a great window into the kitchens of the past.
thefoodhunter says
Making these for my mom…she is going to love them.
Megan Stevens says
Yay, so glad to hear this!
linda spiker says
These are fabulous! Pinned and shared 🙂
Megan Stevens says
Thank you! <3
Elaina Newton says
Wow, wow, wow! I am totally drooling and craving pancakes now. I want to make them for dinner, LOL! I only remember reading Little House in the Big Woods & Farmer Boy when I was a child and, yes, the food descriptions were amazing. I should read the whole series now. 🙂
Megan Stevens says
Yes, yes, you should!! I am so thankful to have kids of varying ages, so I can keep reading the whole series every few years. I hope you love the pancakes!! 🙂
Michala says
Love Pumpkin Flavor! These sound delicious, will be making them this weekend!
Megan Stevens says
So glad!! Enjoy!!
Rad | The Snobby Foodie says
I’m so excited to try this for the fall! It looks amazing!
Megan Stevens says
So glad!! They are the best. Enjoy!
Tessa@ Tessa the Domestic Diva says
mmmmm…these are a must try for me!!! 2 of my three kids LIVE for pancakes!!
Megan Stevens says
Awesome and yay! I love that they can be so healthy. They’re staples for us, too; and my kids LIVE for pancakes AND pumpkin! 😉
Allie says
Megan, thank you for this recipe! Our family has made it a tradition to eat these every Saturday morning with bacon. Yum!!! I’d like to soak the cassava flour to neutralize the phytic acid (but we are dairy-free, so use store-bought almond milk right now), so would that mean soaking the flour for 12-24 hrs in the almond milk plus adding a couple Tablespoons of juice from a veggie ferment I have on hand? Then in the a.m. adding all the other ingredients and making the pancakes? Thanks for any pointers!
Megan Stevens says
Hi Allie, I’m so happy to hear this!! 🙂 🙂 And I love that you want to reduce the phytic acid, yay! With this recipe I think it best to do what I do with our weekly waffle batter, which is to just go ahead and assemble the whole batter early, but sub in 1/4 cup sauerkraut juice for the milk. Then let the batter sit on the counter for 4 hours (safe by health department standards); then put in fridge overnight or for up to 3-4 days. Tell me how this method works when you do it. We’ve been doing this every week with many variations on my waffle batter and it works SOO well. It’s a super exciting ferment. It will make pancake prep Saturday mornings so much easier too. 😉 The reason I’m having you ferment the whole batter is I don’t think there’s enough liquid to flour ratio to make the ferment work quite right. This way you’ll have the right batter thickness, and the ferment action will work well, plus you won’t have to mix the ingredients out of order, which makes the final assembly of ingredients awkward. HOWEVER, it also depends what fat you’re using. If you really want to mix the wet ingredients sans the eggs and ferment that first, you’d mix the pumpkin, liquid fat like avo oil, sauerkraut juice (in place of milk), and the cassava flour. Then add the rest after 24 hours. Have fun! 🙂
Allie says
Thank you for these tips, I’ll give it a try! Oh, and I thought I’d mention that we discovered that these pancakes freeze and thaw really well. Texture is still perfect after thawing in microwave for 2 minutes on defrost. I was so happy to discover this, as baby #3 is coming at the end of April, and I’m looking for more ways to have bkfst ready to go ahead of time for kids and hubby to grab and eat by themselves. (Your waffles also freeze perfectly and thaw in the toaster!) Thanks for all these great recipes!
Skye says
I just made the pumpkin pancake batter with soured milk! So excited to try it in a few days. : ) I also have the waffle batter fermenting in the fridge right now. It’s been 48 hours and it’s got lots of lovely bubbles and has a lovely sour smell. Question, Megan – how many days total do you think these batters can be kept in the fridge? Including fermenting time? For example, if I leave the waffle batter to ferment for the full 5 days before I start actually cooking with it, how many days after that do I have to eat all the batter, do you think? Thank you SO much!
Megan says
Hi Skye, thanks for your comments and questions! My commenting system changed, and I’m still figuring it out. So I apologize for the long delay in responding! By now you will have experimented and figured out a bit, I assume. You can go ahead and start enjoying it after 48 hours! Then you have longer to use it, if it’s a waffle or pancake batter. 7 days is as long as I let ours go, either because we eat it by then or because it starts getting increasingly sour in flavor. I don’t know what the longest possible number of days is; but if you start enjoying it at 48 hours, that should work well. The bubbles and lovely sour smell tell you, as you know, that a lot of goodness has already happened! So happy for your fun process and successes!! 🙂
Skye says
Made the ‘sourdough’ version by fermenting the batter for 5 days with soured milk (didn’t mean to ferment it that long!), and the pancakes are MINDBLOWING! No idea what they taste like not fermented since this is the first time I’ve made this recipe, but made this way they are seriously so, so good!!! Thank you, Megan!
Megan says
Aw, made my moment!! Thank you! SO so glad! 🙂 🙂
Dorothy says
If I leave out the honey and add a few drops of stevia, do you think the consistency would still be ok? We’re trying to be sugar free as much as possible, not perfectly, but for the most part. I ordered yacon syrup, which would substitute well, but it won’t come right away, so I’d probably try to leave out the honey. Thanks for all the delicious recipes; pumpkin is one of my favorites. ?
Megan says
Hi Dorothy, yes, for sure. The honey does affect the texture of the pancakes nicely, so it will be nice to add in the yacon syrup and see the difference, but I’ve been in your shoes over the years and used only stevia as well. I think you’ll still enjoy the recipe. 🙂
Jennifer says
Hi Megan,
I am planning to make a soured version of your pumpkin pancake recipe to reduce the phytic acid in the cassava flour, and just wanted to make sure I understand the process before starting.
I plan to use sauerkraut juice instead of milk. From what I understand, I should make the batter by blending the eggs, pumpkin, 1/4 cup of sauerkraut juice, honey, fat (I plan to use coconut oil), collagen, cassava, baking soda and sea salt.
Next, let the batter sit on the counter for 4 hours. Is this the time the batter ferments?
After this step, must I make the pancakes right away, or can I leave the batter in the fridge up to 3-4 days and use whenever I like?
Also, may I freeze the made pancakes?
Thank you for helping me understand this process of fermentation–I’ve never done it before! I am really excited to try these pancakes!
Sincerely,
Jennifer
Megan says
Hi Jennifer, great and you’re welcome! 🙂 Yes, the 4 hours is a time during which the ferment is jump-started (it begins) at room temperature. The longer you leave the batter in the fridge, the longer it will continue to reduce antinutrients and ferment. So, fine to leave it in the fridge for 4 days and make the pancakes as you need them. Also, the cooked cakes will freeze great if sealed well. In regard to putting everything in the blender, I would add the sauerkraut juice with the final ingredients, so it doesn’t get blended in until briefly at the end. Enjoy!!
Jennifer says
Ok, so first blend the eggs, pumpkin, honey and fat. Then, add the sauerkraut juice with the rest of the ingredients and blend again?
Thank you for clarifying everything–I’m understanding so much better!
Sincerely,
Jennifer
P.S.– You guided me in how to roast my soaked seeds and I am roasting a batch today! I can’t wait to enjoy them. 🙂
Katherine says
HI Megan, I’ve told you before via comments section that I absolutely love these pancakes, but I’ve just started aip. Is there a way to make them aip-compliant? Coconut milk for regular milk should be fine. But I’m not sure they’ll turn out anywhere like the original recipe without the eggs. I’ll miss them!!!
Megan says
Hi Katherine, so sorry, I understand! It’s true, there are just too many eggs in this recipe to turn this formula into an AIP recipe. I’m just finishing up a plantain recipe for pancakes and waffles that I hope will be helpful? I hope AIP will be great for you! 🙂
Katherine says
I look fiorward to trying your newest pancake recipe, Megan. Thank you!
Katherine says
Hi Megan,
I’m wondering if there is a way to reduce the protein in these pancakes. I love them as is, but I need a high ratio of carbs to protein than these provide. Could I reduce the collagen maybe?
Thanks Megan!
Megan says
Hi Katherine, I think you’ll need to try it to see if it works. I know that when I created this recipe, it took a lot of trial and error, and that the collagen helped the texture turn out right. But, you could certainly reduce it and see if you’re happy with the results. Any pancake is an edible pancake, lol, so it wouldn’t be too bad of an experiment if they aren’t perfect. 🙂
katherine says
Thank you very much, Megan!
yolanda bodine says
Is there a substitute for the 4 eggs? Could you use applesauce? Thanks
Megan says
Hi Yolanda, I wish! 😉 The typical understanding with baked goods is that up to 3 eggs in a recipe can be replaced with similar results. 4 or more and you can’t get the same texture. I’m so sorry!
O says
May I ask why raw egg mixed with sourdough starter can be stored for 2-5 days and still sage to be consumed? I have sourdough starter made of green banana flour mixed with the batter above. However, I still wonder…. Thanks!
Megan says
Hi O, sure! The sourdough version of this recipe actually ferments on the counter for only 4 hours, and then it’s placed in the fridge to ferment slowly there for 2 days. So it’s under refrigeration while it sours.
Brittney says
Hi Megan, These look AHHHMAZING and cannot wait to whip these up. Do you think these will turn out if I skip the collagen all together? I don’t have it on hand, can you recommend a sub?
Megan says
Great, Brittney! Unfortunately, what makes this recipe work is actually the collagen. I recipe tested this recipe quite a bit, and it was the collagen that created the perfect texture. There isn’t a sub for it. If you make it without, you’ll still have pancakes, but they won’t be as good. Sorry!!
Dorothy says
I’m not sure if I had made these before, but I recently made it after cooking two small pumpkins which had been on our counter for months! I didn’t leave the batter out as it was late in the evening when I put it together, but did refrigerate it overnight.
When I cooked some of the batter the following morning and served pumpkin pancakes to my hungry husband, they got rave reviews, like the best he’s ever had!! Of course, I hadn’t made pancakes or much else other than eggs and sometimes bacon for breakfast recently, so they would be enjoyed as something special. I appreciate this recipe for a comfort food that’s also nourishing.
Megan says
Thank you, Dorothy, so sweet to hear, and happy for the feast you made that made all happy! 🙂
Dorothy says
Thanks Megan!!
Megan says
You’re welcome; my pleasure!
Cindy Heckroth says
Could I use real pickle juice instead of sourkraut juice like you suggest in another of your recipes?
Megan says
Probiotic pickle juice will work, but it will make your pancakes taste like pickles! 🙂 I know because I actually tried it years ago! Haha, it wasn’t the kids’ fave version of the recipe. 😉