Pumpkin Cranberry Orange Pancakes with Caramelized Pecans, Cheesy Eggs and Bacon

Yes another pumpkin thing. You'll live. It's fall. I like pumpkin. So there.

I had some leftover pumpkin and cranberry sauce from the pumpkin cinnamon rolls and cranberry pancakes made about a week ago and they needed to get used.

I decided that pancakes would be a good idea. I was tired of my fried egg on toast that is the usual morning breakfast. Along with coffee. Must have coffee.

And its Saturday, which means for some odd reason I need to make a real breakfast. Something from the kids about since I'm home and they are home and we have no place to go, I should make a real breakfast...vs cereal or toast. Whatever.



What you will need:

• Pumpkin
• Cranberry sauce
• Flour
• Eggs
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Sugar
• Vanilla
• Orange extract or frozen orange concentrate (if you use concentrate, eliminate the sugar)
• Vinegar
• Salt
• Pumpkin Pie spice
• Eggs (1-2 per person), salt and pepper, milk (1tbs per egg more or less)
• Bacon

So this is super simple. These are fat fluffy pancakes so therefore are filling. 

Get your bacon started now, get eggs mixed up with a pinch of salt and pepper and little milk. Use paper towels (or we have a cloth towel dedicated for draining grease to be more environ friendly) to sop up grease as bacon gets done. You can also cook the bacon in the over on a baking sheet with edges. This makes them all done at once.

In a medium mixing bowl, mix together with a fork, flour, soda, powder, sugar, spice and salt. Add vanilla and orange extracts, 2 eggs, 1c pumpkin, 1/4c cranberry sauce, 2tbs vinegar (to make baking soda all fizzy and happy. This is why they are sooooo fluffy!) Mix together with dry ingredients.

Warm up 2 skillets, one large for your pancakes, unless you have one of those electric griddle thingy's, then use it. The other skillet is smaller, for pecans. MMMMM pecans. If you made bacon, you can use some of the grease to coat your pan for pancakes and for eggs. Just makes for added yumminess.

In the smaller skillet melt 1Tbs butter, 1/4c crumbled/chopped/not whole pecans. When butter is melty, coat pecans and add 1Tbs of brown sugar. 

Coat your big skillet/griddle with butter (hold a stick by the wrapper and with open end, rub all over pan. Hands stay clean, no excess of butter.)

Cook until edges look dryish. Sorry, no bubbles on these. Flip and cook on other side for a few seconds.

Keep pancakes warm in oven at 250 on an oven safe dish. 

Turn off the pecans, and let them cool.

Finish off bacon/sausage (if you didn't use oven method) and use same pan for eggs (minus a lot of the grease). To get rid of the grease, I keep a tin can or jar with lid next to stove. Sometimes I am lazy and run it down the garbage disposal (gasp) with hot water. You can keep bacon warm with pancakes in oven, as the get cold fast.

When pancakes are ready sprinkle with pecans and drizzle with syrup. Make the kids set the table and enjoy!

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Pumpkin Cranberry Orange Pancakes____________________________________

1c flour

2t baking soda

1T baking powder

2t pumpkin pie spice

1t salt

2T vinegar

1t vanilla

1t orange extract or 2tsp orange juice concentrate

2 eggs

1c pumpkin

1/4c cranberry sauce (canned)

Pecans:

1/2c pecans

1T brown sugar

1T butter

Mix dry ingredients together. Add wet ingredients and mix gently with a fork. Heat pan of griddle to medium-high heat. Drop pancake batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto greased pan. Cook until edges start to look dry and pancake puffs. Flip and cook for a 1-2 minutes on opposite side.

Pecans: Heat butter in small skillet over medium heat until melted. Add chopped pecans and brown sugar. Heat until glazed evenly. 

Peaches and Cream Pancakes

I know its been awhile. I deeply apologize. Life takes its twists and turns and well, I have had little time or gumption to write anything.

To kick off the weekend, I ended up in the E.R. for back issues. My daughter of course, was up by the time I returned home and as such announced she wanted pancakes. Here's the sucky part...I can't stand up straight and I am in the mood to cook. These 2 things do not go together well.

I did it anyway. I'm a stubborn bitch. End of story.

So this mornings breakfast, since I had 2 lovely white peaches with absolutely no flavor, is Peaches and Cream Pancakes.

The pancake recipe is mom's. I alter it with add-ins to make it fun. The basic recipe makes fat, fluffy, dense pancakes.

Now I am not a huge fan of pancakes.

I know. Blasphemy.

But my kiddos are, so I indulge them.

So first off, warm up you griddle or skillet. I use my cast iron. Ok, I use my cast iron for darn near everything.

Looks yummy right?

From scratch pancakes are super easy, I promise. Even you bachelors can get this.

You need:

2c Flour

1Tbs Baking POWDER

1tsp salt

1Tbs Sugar

and these...

...plus a little milk. I usually end up using about a cup, but it depends. 

So first off dump the dry ingredients into a bowl.

Add Egg.

My daughter loves to help me with this part. She is an egg-o-holic like me and her specialty now is breaking and adding eggs.

Add milk. Start with a little and keep adding until blended and a thick batter forms. You wan it to be gloppy, not runny.

Like this. 

I would like to apologize for the not well lit pics. I hurt. I am not feeling camera mode today :-(

Add into your batter a splash of vanilla and if you have it a tiny amount of maple extract. Almond works well too if you have it.

Next, chop a peach into bits.

No! Don't put them in yet! I didn't tell you to do that and I am the boss right now! Got it? 

Ok good. Geez. Thinking your a pro and all. ;-)

Dust the peaches with a little flour. A tablespoon works pretty well.

What? Why?

Because the flour helps fruit or any watery, chunky additions to suspend in the batter instead of floating to the bottom. 

Wait. Can you float to the bottom? Uh...fall, coagulate, have a meeting in the depths of the batter. 

This way you have even peachiness in every cake. 

Now that your batter is all happy and peachy, coat your skillet with an oily substance (I use butter)

and pour batter in small circles. about 1/4 c per cake.

Whilst they are cooking slice up another peach.

Why? Again you ask why? 

'Cause you can't have enough tasteless white winter peaches, that's why.

And your gonna coat them in sugar too. 

Turn the cakes over when they get bubbly on top and start to look dryish on the edges. Depending on your skillet, heat level and stove, 1-2 minutes per side. I cook on medium when using cast iron.

See pretty peach slices.

Coated in sugar.

Flip over your cakes.

Put them on a plate.

Top them with your peach slices and a dollop of your favorite yogurt flavor (I used banana 'cause that's what I had). I also added this peach-mango compote stuff I get at Costco. It's yummy on vanilla ice cream too.

Voila! Peaches and Cream Pancakes.

See that was easy!

Fry an egg, cook up some sausage and bacon, pour a cup of the nectar of the gods and enjoy on the front porch. Make sure you wave at the neighbors!