Pumpkin Pancakes with Whipped Maple Topping

Full disclosure: This is an Instagram photo. See, every once in a while, I get so excited to eat a meal that I get all verklempt when I'm taking photos. In this case, I was so excited to devour these pancakes that I took the pictures really quickly and all of the photos turned out blurry. Of course, I didn't realize this until I was editing them. I can only assume the blurriness was because my hands were shaking with anticipation of eating this meal. So this photo will have to suffice until I make these pancakes again (which will be soon, but I still couldn't wait to share these with you).

Breakfast for dinner is a huge treat in our house, especially when it's really dessert masquerading as breakfast -- which, let's be honest, is exactly what these pancakes are. They're loaded with pumpkin puree, brown sugar, and cinnamon, and dolloped with a topping made of cream cheese, maple syrup, and whipped topping. They are so good. 

This recipe makes a ton of pancakes and a ton of topping, which worked out great for us because we ate them for breakfast throughout the week. You can reduce the amounts below if you want to, but really, I don't know why you would want to.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Whipped Maple Topping

For the pancakes:

3 cups pancake mix
1 cup water
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla

For the topping:

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups whipped topping
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Heat a greased griddle over medium high heat. In a large bowl, combine all of the pancake ingredients until thoroughly combined. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, pour the pancake mix in batches onto the griddle. Cook until the edges bubble, then flip and continue cooking until the opposite side is golden brown. Keep the pancakes warm in the oven.

2. Meanwhile, whisk all of the topping ingredients together in a large bowl.

3. Serve the pancakes with the topping. Serve with additional maple syrup. Refrigerate any leftovers.