Pumpkin Spice Oat Pancakes

One of my favourite things about Autumn is pumpkin spice and if you are a fan too, you are going to LOVE these oat pancakes. And bonus - they are gluten-free! I’ve tried pumpkin spice wheat flour pancakes but when mixed with the oats, the texture and flavour is just unbeatable. Because we are using oats instead of flour, the inside of the pancakes is going to remain lovely and moist while having a lovely crust to contrast on the outside. 

There are two ways we like to enjoy these pancakes. The first is keeping it simple with just butter and maple syrup, and oh my gosh they pair perfectly with maple syrup. The second is for a special treat with whipped cream (or spray cream) and pecan nut pieces. Just dreamy.  And I’ve kept the warming spices at the perfect mild level for everyone to enjoy, babies and toddlers included. See how to adapt this recipe for your family here.

Pancake Idea for Halloween

These are the perfect pancakes to create a festive Halloween breakfast with. I use these pumpkin cookie cutters to turn them into Jack-o-lanterns. Your kids will absolutely love this pancake idea Halloween morning, mine do!

These pancakes keep really well in the freezer so I sometimes even make them in advance, cooking and cooling them, then cutting them into pumpkin shapes before I freeze them. You can also make them the day before and just chill them in the fridge in an air tight container. However you freeze or chill them, lay them in an even layer and if you need to stack them, use baking paper in between so they don’t stick together.

You should be able to get 2-3 Jack-o-lanterns out of each pancake. My husband and I usually eat the discarded pancake bits OR you can do like the above picture and cut out just in the middle of the pancakes and then serve the discard pancake with spray cream filling the Jack-o-lantern. You can use the cut out eye and mouth leftovers to make a face in the cream.

The Stars of my Pumpkin Spice Oat Pancakes

The Oats

I have said in the recipe to use rolled oats, but really you can use any plain breakfast oats you like as they are going to be ground in the food processor. I always have Quaker rolled oats, so I use those. If you don’t have a food processor but you have a small food chopper, you can whizz up the oats in there and then transfer to a large mixing bowl, add all the other ingredients and then use an electric hand-whisk to combine. If you have oat flour, you can use that instead or rolled oats. Using oat flour is another option too if you don’t have a food processor or mini chopper.

The Pumpkin Puree

So for this recipe we aren’t going to cook up a pumpkin, we are going to use tinned pumpkin puree. In the UK during October you should be able to find it in the world foods section of most supermarkets. You can buy it here through Ocado or Amazon. You can also use pumpkin puree to make soups, muffins, cakes and cookies - just search online for recipes.

Making Your Own Purée

You can also make your own pumpkin purée, just slice a cooking pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds, then lay on a lined baking sheet, skin facing up and roast at 180ºc/160ºc fan/350ºf/gas 4 for 50mins-1 hour or until the inside is soft. Allow to cool, scoop the flesh out and blitz in a blender or using a stick blender.

The Pumpkin Spice

In the recipe for these pancakes I have given a breakdown of the individual spices, but you can also use pumpkin pie spice which already has the right spices mixed. If you are in the US you will be able to buy this easily. In the UK, if you wanted too, you would probably need to buy it on Amazon.

Pumpkin Spice Oat Pancakes Pro Tips

Prep Tips

It’s super important that you whizz up the oats on their own before you add in any other ingredients or the oats won’t get ground down enough and you won’t achieve the right texture of pancake, they will be too stodgy and lumpy. You want to whizz them until they look finely ground like in this picture.

Prep my Pumpkin Spice Oat Pancakes in Advance

You can prep all the dry ingredients the night before and leave them sitting in your food processor with the lid on until the next morning. Just whizz up the oats fully and then add the rest of the dry ingredients. Then in the morning add the pumpkin puree, eggs and milk.

Cook Tips

You want to start cooking your pancakes as soon as you’ve finished making the batter, so what I usually do is start heating the pan once I have added all the ingredients to the food processor but not yet whizzed it up to combine. As the pan needs 2 minutes to heat up, this allows you plenty of time to finish off the batter. Then I start adding the batter as soon as the pan is heated up. The longer you leave an oat batter to sit, the more liquid the oats will absorb, and so the thicker the batter will become. 

You want the first pancake to be a good one, so be sure to heat the pan over a low heat for the full two minutes to get it nice and hot. Then grease the pan a little using a silicone brush, I just use butter but you can use a different cooking fat. Then add one large spoonful (use a serving spoon) for small pancakes, and two for large. As these pancakes take longer to cook than regular pancakes, it’s quicker to make large pancakes instead of small.

Because the batter is going to be on the thicker side, as soon as you add it to the pan, lift the pan slightly and gently roll it round to flatten the batter a little. If you are doubling the batch or leaving the batter to sit for a while before using and it gets really thick, you’ll need to use the back of the spoon to flatten the batter down a little.

How to Know When the Pancakes are Ready

Unlike pancakes made with flour, these oat ones are not going to have bubbles form all over the top of the batter. And because these use oats instead of flour, they are going to take longer to cook through than regular pancakes. This is why you need to cook them for around 2 minutes each side, and why you need to cook them over a low heat. They need time to cook through the middle, yet you don’t want them to burn on the outside. You want the crust to go brown, not black and burnt. As the pan gets hotter over time, later in the batch you may need to cook them for a little less time, 1 min 45 seconds each side.

Also, if you want to cook all the pancakes up and then serve them at the same time, just pop them onto a plate in a preheated oven at 70ºc / 160ºf as you make them. 

Kids Cook Too

Younger children will love to help you make these, let them help make the batter.

Feed a Crowd

If you have guests staying you can easily double this recipe, just bear in mind that the more you make the longer the batter will stand and thicken, so towards the end you may need to use the back of a large spoon to flatten the batter out a little when you add it to the pan. 

Storing My Pumpkin Spice Oat Pancakes

The pancakes are best eaten fresh. Leftovers of the batter shouldn’t be stored as it will get too thick. You can store leftover pumpkin puree in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week. 

For more on safe food storage and reheating read here >

Diet Details

My Pumpkin Spice Oat Pancakes are gluten-free and nut-free. 

Adapting My Pumpkin Spice Oat Pancakes For Your Family

Eating together is beneficial for families of all ages and stages, for a multitude of reasons; nutritional, behavioural, psychological and for healthy family functioning. This section will show you how to tweak this recipe for Pumpkin Spice Oat Pancakes for sharing with a weaning baby, toddler or a fussy eater, to help make it easier for you to eat together as a family.

Keeping Younger Kids & Picky Eaters Happy

The spices in these Pumpkin Spice Oat Pancakes are mild enough to be fine for younger children. Serve theirs simply with just a little butter and maple syrup too if you like.

See more from me on fussy eaters here >

Add On’s for Adults

If you are feeling like an extra special treat, these Pumpkin Spice Oat Pancakes are a dream with whipped cream, pecan nut pieces and maple syrup.

Making My Pumpkin Spice Oat Pancakes Baby & Toddler Friendly 

You can leave out the pinch of salt and even reduce the amount of sugar you add in by half if you like, and then just add extra maple syrup to yours pancakes. Either serve a whole small pancake or slice it into strips for baby. Serve alongside some fresh fruit and with some plain yogurt to dip in if you like.

I’ve also added these notes to the bottom of the recipe so you have them to hand when you come to cook. For more info on how I keep my family meals baby & toddler friendly, read here >

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