Pumpkin Pancakes for Thanksgiving Breakfast

What a great way to kick off the blessing of 
Thanksgiving morning!

These Pumpkin Pancakes with a splat of Cinnamon Brown Sugar are delish… let’s get started so you’ll be sure to have all of the ingredients on hand.

Ingredients:

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoons brown sugar (packed)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 1/3 cups 2% milk

3/4 cup canned pumpkin

½ cup ricotta cheese

Let the kids get all of the ingredients together and measure it all out. Use a small heavy bottom saucepan and ask the adult helper to cook the butter over medium heat for about 8 minutes while stirring constantly. Then add the maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg. Remove from heat and let the kids dump in the pecans. Stir and set aside.

Now the fun for the kids… In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar and salt. Using another bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, pumpkin and cheese. Note: Kids love to whisk! Let them dump the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients (I know you’re supposed to stir it in… but we’re cooking with kids and that’s difficult for them :-)!

Let them stir the wet and dry ingredients together until moistened.

Drop the batter using a 1/4 cup measuring cup onto a buttered griddle. Turn when bubbles form on top. Cook until second side is golden brown.

If you are right there at the stove and the child is old enough to flip the pancakes, they will love it!

Serve while hot with the yummy Maple Cinnamon Butter poured over the pancakes. For a special treat, add a dollop of whipped cream.

Happy Thanksgiving Morning! The fun has just begun!

Happy Cooking with Kids,

Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach

Pumpkin-Cranberry Muffins!

All righty… since we’re into cranberries at the moment let’s whip up some Pumpkin-Cranberry Muffins! These are super easy breezy too and the kids will love them.

If you’re up for it, let them decorate the tops of the muffins after they cool. The dollar store has cute turkey and pumpkin picks that make the muffins very festive!

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 (15-oz.) can of pumpkin (that would be the real pumpkin, please)

1 cup oil (not olive oil)

3 cups sugar

3 cups flour

1 1/12 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 Tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 eggs

1 large bag fresh cranberries

Cupcake papers (maybe some fun Thanksgiving ones?)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Have the kids rinse the cranberries and drain them in a colander. Look for bad berries and toss them.

Crack the eggs in a small bowl or cup and beat slightly with a fork. Set aside.

Get out a big mixing bowl (this is a fun recipe because you can dump it all in at once)! Prepare the cupcake tins with the papers. Yep, teach them the right order of all things cooking!

Have the kids measure everything first. In doing this when measuring ingredients like baking soda and baking powder, they can measure and dump it in a little shallow bowl (this makes the whole process easier and go also go more quickly).

Take all of the measured ingredients and dump it ALL into the large mixing bowl EXCEPT for the cranberries. With a large wooden spoon, mix really well. Then fold in the cranberries (another lesson in folding here).

Fill each of the cupcake papers 1/2 full with the batter. This can easily be accomplished without a lot of mess by using a cookie scoop or a measuring cup… the cookie scoop is much more efficient.

Bake for 30 minutes. This recipe makes a lot…. About 44 muffins!

P.S. This is a great recipe for the kids to make and then color on some brown paper bags and decorate them and give a few muffins away to some of their friends for Thanksgiving… teaching them not only to prepare food with love but to share their food by blessing other people. 

Happy Cooking with Kids,

Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach