Easy, healthy pumpkin pancakes

One of my pet peeves is unnecessary sugar in foods, especially kids foods (I'm looking at you, pumpkin pancake mixes!). At the same time, I understand the struggle to get something into your kid in the morning, and still get them to school on time.

I love this because it is low/no sugar, had loads of beta carotene, and is quick and easy enough for school days. The trick is that I make a batch of these pancakes on a weekend and freeze them. On school days I just pop one in the toaster. Ours get an extra protein boost because I mix about a tablespoon of tahini with less than a teaspoon of maple syrup and have Anna dip strips of pancake into it.

Note: this is really more of a hack than a recipe, because I don't make my pancakes from scratch (I use Arrowhead Mills Multigrain Pancake Mix). Also, I don't measure, so I can't tell you exact amounts. If you're uncomfortable with winging the measurements, email me or leave a comment and I'll measure next weekend!

Pumpkin Pancakes
Makes about 8 Anna-sized pancakes

• Mix about 1 c. Multigrain Pancake Mix with about .5 c. pumpkin puree (not pie filling).
• Add about 3 shakes of cinnamon and 1 of nutmeg.
• Stir.
• Add milk to desired consistency (I like the pancakes to be a bit thick, so my batter is fairly thick).
• Add about 1 t canola or vegetable oil.
• Stir some more.
• Cook on a nonstick skillet.

As you're cooking the first pancakes, the batter left in the bowl will thicken. Just add in a little bit more milk to get your consistency back where you want it. And remember that this recipe is very forgiving, so you can always add a little more dry mix if it's too thin, more milk if it's too thick.

To Freeze
After they've cooled, I place individual pancakes in sandwich-size, wax paper bags. I fold down the top of each bag and then place all bags in a Ziploc Freezer Bag.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you try this out!