Warm Up Camp With These Easy-To-Make Pumpkin Pancakes

Cold winter mornings should be met with strong coffee and a cozy meal. While a steaming bowl of porridge is a winter breakfast go-to, if you’re looking for something a little more fun and festive, these pumpkin pancakes are for you. Just be sure to wear your wool liner gloves while cooking.

What’s great about pancakes is that as long as you’re willing to spend some time frying and flipping, they are a relatively simple outdoor breakfast as you can make the dry mix ahead of time at home. This time of year when Pumpkin Absolutely Everything is in season, it’s easy to throw a container of pumpkin puree in your bag and mix it into your pancakes. You’re basically making yourself a rendition of pumpkin pie for breakfast.

I personally like to add raisins and walnuts (or whatever is in your trail mix bag) to these pancakes, as it gives them an additional pop of sweetness as well as some added texture. It’s also a way to pretend that I ate something more than just starch for breakfast. But I know that some people out there are morally opposed to extra ingredients in fluffy pancakes, and if you’re one of those purists, leave them out.

You want to be sure you’re packing plenty of maple syrup to drown these in, because let’s be honest, nobody’s kidding themselves about health benefits when they eat pancakes for breakfast. Besides, if you want this to taste even more like pumpkin pie, you’ll want to top it with a little sweetener. Honey will work too.

Made too many pancakes? Pack them in a bag or container and snack on them as a trail treat in a few hours.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Makes: 6 to 8 pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cloves

⅓ cup pumpkin puree

1 to 1 1/4 cups water

Oil to fry

Optional:

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 cup walnuts

At home: Mix together the dry ingredients (including raisins and walnuts) and store in a sealable container or bag.

At camp: In a large bowl or food canister, add the dry ingredients followed by the pumpkin puree. Add a cup of water and stir together until well-blended. If the batter is too thick and chunky, add a little more water until it’s smooth, but not runny.

Add a little oil to a frying pan and place over medium heat. Place a few spoonfuls of batter in the pan. Cook until the sides of the pancake look dry and bubbles appear in the middle, about 2 to 3 minutes, depending on the size of pancakes you are cooking. Flip and cook on the other side for an additional 1 to 2 minutes.

Camp Notes is a big high five to the fun of sleeping outdoors and all that comes along with it. You know, camping and stuff.