Homemade pumpkin pancakes are spiced with cinnamon and loaded with chocolate chips. You’ll love starting fall mornings with a happy stack of these thick, moist, and flavorful pumpkin pancakes.
Pancakes, buttermilk waffles, whole wheat waffles, or French toast are a weekend tradition. In the fall, soak into this pumpkin French toast casserole or try today’s pumpkin pancakes instead. Who said pumpkin only belongs in at the dessert table in pumpkin pie? 🙂
Overview: How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes
I always appreciate how quickly these pumpkin pancakes come together. You’ll have a satisfying breakfast on the table in no time.
- Mix the dry ingredients together.
- Use a blender to mix all wet ingredients together (see more below). This recipe uses 1 and 1/4 cups (285g) of pumpkin puree and if you have more to use up, here are recipes to make with leftover pumpkin puree.
- Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until *just* combined. The batter is very thick.
- Heat a skillet and generously coat with butter. Once it’s very hot, drop about 1/4 cup of batter onto the griddle. Cook on both sides until cooked through, then repeat this process for remaining batter.
- Keep pancakes warm in a preheated 200°F (93°C) oven until all pancakes are cooked. Serve with your favorite pancake toppings like maple syrup, salted caramel, or whipped cream.
Looking for a pumpkin waffles recipe? Use this pumpkin pancake batter for your waffle maker! Follow steps 4 and 5 in my recipe for buttermilk waffles.
Use a Blender for Smooth Pancake Batter
My trick for perfect pancakes? Mix the wet ingredients in a blender. A blender guarantees an incredibly smooth batter and also breaks down the pumpkin in the process. This is especially necessary if you are using fresh pumpkin puree. Add the pumpkin, brown sugar, egg, oil, and whole milk to a blender and blend on high for 45 seconds until combined. I have used and love all of these blenders—you can’t go wrong! I recommend a blender when making homemade crepes, too.
No blender? No problem. Whisk by hand or use a hand mixer.
Ingredients in Pumpkin Pancakes
Made with fall pantry staples, these pumpkin pancakes come together easily.
- Flour: Use all-purpose flour for the base of these pancakes.
- Baking Powder + Baking Soda: Yes, we use both, just like we do in whole wheat pancakes and birthday cake pancakes. These leaveners are what make your pancakes tall and fluffy.
- Cinnamon + Pumpkin Pie Spice: Pumpkin’s favorite spices. Using a combination of these two adds mega fall flavor. Go ahead and whip up a batch of this homemade pumpkin pie spice because you’ll want to use it again for other favorites like pumpkin snickerdoodles & pumpkin muffins.
- Chocolate Chips: I used semi-sweet in this recipe, but mini, dark chocolate, white chocolate, or cinnamon chips would also be delicious! If you don’t like chocolate chips in your pancakes, feel free to leave them out—they’ll still be delicious.
- Pumpkin: Measure your pumpkin carefully. In my recipe testing, I found that 1 cup of pumpkin wasn’t enough, while 1 and 1/2 cups was way too much. You need a precise 1 and 1/4 cups.
- Brown Sugar: The slight molasses flavor from brown sugar pairs well with pumpkin.
- Egg: Binds everything together.
- Oil: Adds moisture.
- Whole Milk: Whole milk is key to rich and tender pancakes. I do not recommend using soy, almond, rice, coconut, skim, 1%, or 2% milk. The best substitute would be buttermilk.
Pumpkin Pancakes Success Tips
It’s easy to make fluffy pancakes using a box of pancake mix, but nothing compares to homemade. When I began testing pumpkin pancake recipes, I had a long streak of reject batches comparable to hockey pucks. They were dense and flavorless. Why? Because pumpkin is a funny little ingredient. It changes the moisture, tenderness, and texture of anything it touches.
Here are my tips to making perfect pumpkin pancakes:
- Pumpkin pancakes are very temperamental and even the slightest change in ingredients could spell disaster. Make the recipe as written first, then tweak as you see fit if necessary.
- Measure the pumpkin carefully! Use exactly 1 and 1/4 cups in this recipe.
- Use a blender to combine the wet ingredients.
- Whisk batter until *just* combined, no more. A few lumps is OK.
- Make sure your griddle is very hot before adding the pancake batter.
Follow these tips for moist, fluffy, and flavorful pancakes!
More Pumpkin Breakfast Recipes
- Pumpkin Bread & Pumpkin Coffee Crumb Cake
- Mini Pumpkin Muffins
- Pumpkin Crumb Cake Muffins
- Homemade Pumpkin Coffee Creamer
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12 pancakes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes are the epitome of a cozy fall breakfast! Moist and fluffy, they’re wonderful with a pat of butter and a cascade of maple syrup. Make sure you read my notes in the post before beginning.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 heaping teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice*
- 1 cup (180g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 and 1/4 cups (285g) pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)
- 1/3 cup (67g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 3 Tablespoons (45ml) canola or vegetable oil
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) whole milk*
Instructions
- In a large bowl, preferably with a pour spout, toss the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and chocolate chips together until combined. Set aside.
- I like to mix the wet ingredients in a blender (I love the one that is linked!). This guarantees a smoother batter and breaks down the pumpkin. This is especially necessary if you are using fresh pumpkin puree. Add the pumpkin, brown sugar, egg, oil, and whole milk to a blender and blend on high for 45 seconds until combined. Alternatively, you may whisk by hand or use a hand mixer.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk gently to combine. Make sure there are no patches of dry flour at the bottom of the bowl. The batter is very thick and a few lumps are fine.
- Heat a griddle or large skillet over medium heat. Coat generously with butter or nonstick cooking spray. Once it’s hot, drop/pour a heaping 1/4 cup of batter on the griddle. Cook until the edges look set and you notice holes in the pancake’s surface around the border, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook the other side until cooked through, about 1–2 more minutes. Coat griddle/skillet with butter or nonstick spray again, if needed, for each batch of pancakes.
- Keep pancakes warm in a preheated 200°F (93°C) oven until all pancakes are cooked. Serve pancakes immediately with toppings of choice.
- Cover and store leftover pancakes in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Pancakes freeze well up to 3 months. Reheat frozen pancakes in the microwave. Or you can reheat frozen pancakes in a 350°F (177°C) oven. Place pancakes on a lined baking sheet and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 6–8 minutes or until defrosted and warm.
- Can I make the batter the night before? No, I don’t recommend it. Baking powder is activated once wet. You can, however, mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients together and keep them separate and covered in the refrigerator until the morning.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Mixing Bowls | Blender | Whisk | Electric Griddle, Griddle Pan, or Shallow Skillet/Pan
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: You can find pumpkin pie spice in the baking aisle of most grocery stores or make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice. If you don’t have either and want to use individual spices, use 1/4 teaspoon each: ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, and ground allspice. This is in addition to the 2 teaspoons of cinnamon—you will still add that.
- Milk: Whole milk is key for the richest tasting pancakes.
Keywords: pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes
Thank you so much for this and so many other fabulous and simple recipes. I made these pancakes for my Airbnb guests Saturday morning. The compliments kept coming after every bite. I have gotten into the habit of printing out a few extra copies of your recipes when I’m going to make them for guests. That way I can give them the recipe and promote your blog. This was the first time a guest ate 5 of the pancakes! Your recipes are why I keep getting such great reviews.
Oh my word, these are tasty! My husband kept going back for more and more. Thanks for this one!
Great recipe Sally! Thank you! I made these without the chips because I dislike melted chocolate. These were a huge hit with my family. I have tried a few pumpkin pancake recipes and this is by far my favorite.
Best. Pancakes. Ever!!!!!
I just made these this morning. WOW! Fluffy, moist, and just the right amount of spice and sweetness. Definitely a keeper.
Sally! Well done!! These are ridiculously delicious. Thanks for the recipe!
We just made these for breakfast this week, so good!
Made a batch on Monday and kept in the fridge and ate from it all week. My daughter loved them so it was easy to get her to eat breakfast before school.
I’ve made SO many pumpkin pancake recipes that turn out horrible – mushy and gloppy These though … THESE are the one!! Thank you for a pumpkin pancake recipes that actually works!!
I made these pancakes (sans chocolate chips) for our latest Airbnb guests from Holland, this breakfast was a big hit! The pancakes were moist and flavorful with just the right amount of pumpkin flavor. I served them with cinnamon whipped cream as well as pure maple syrup and butter. Usually I make a test batch before guests are due to arrive, but I didn’t have time this week so they were my guinea pigs or as they said, they were my test rabbits. I learned a lot about Dutch culture in just three days.
Made these this morning and they were delicious! I did have to substitute in almond milk because of an allergy in my family but they were still amazing! Thank you for sharing 😀
Made these this morning and they were amazing! Not overly sweet. I added the chocolate chips while one side was cooking. This allowed me to add a little or a a lot used 2%milk. I used my nutribullet to mix the wet ingredients (this was easier than grabbing the blender or mixer). Cooked at a med/low heat. I had no issues with uncooked batter. This is a thick batter and you need to be patient while cooking. Thanks Sally for another great recipe!
Thanks for this recipe. It has become a fall favorite at our house!
These pancakes are divine. I made a double batch, and the pancakes were still gone in no time. Your notes were very helpful; I followed them carefully, and they were perfect! Your pumpkin recipes are wonderful; thank you so much for sharing with us!
THANK YOU! We love this recipe. I had been using another pumpkin pancake recipe. They were always too heavy/dense. These are PERFECT! I make them year round and keep some in the freezer. My son loves them for a quick breakfast. No syrup needed with the sweet chocolate in them. Thanks again for a recipe I use time and time again!
These came out great! Thanks for the recipe!!
Hi Sally – I love all your recipes and am very excited to try this one. What do you think about substituting coconut oil for the vegetable oil? Thanks so much for this recipe and all your other recipes!
Melted coconut oil works! 🙂
I made these for the first time this morning. I subbed half a cup of whole wheat flour and used your favorite trick – using 1 1/2 cups milk and subbing half a cup of plain Greek yogurt since all I had was 1 percent. They were A mazing! My 2 and 4 year olds gobbled them up. I will use half the amount of chocolate chips next time though I found it a little sweet and drowning out the pumpkin flavor and also threw some pecans in a few of mine. So good.
I have been poring over your blog and Facebook page since I stumbled on it several weeks ago. This is around the dozenth recipe of yours I have tried and I have loved all but one and have a list I’m dying to try.
I made these last week. THEY WERE THE BEST!!! Thanks for posting!
Oh, Sally!!! I made these pancakes over the weekend and they melted my heart and soul! Wow! What an amazing recipe. Thank you so so much for sharing. I’ve now become addicted to your site! 🙂
Can this recipe be easily doubled, or would it be best to just make two separate batches? Thank you for posting such delicious recipes!
Doubling should be just fine.
These are our new favorite pancakes. We make them at least once a month, and keep them in the freezer for quick breakfast to warm up. We use half the amount of chocolate chips. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Sally!
These look so so amazing, and I’m going to make them for my boyfriends birthday (he’s OBSESSED) with pumpkin! Do you think that the batter would last overnight in the fridge? We both have work early so I was just trying to save a little time in the morning.
Thank you!
The pancakes should be cooked right after the batter is made. It doesn’t take long to stir together, I promise!
I followed the recipe and measured everything properly, but they wouldn’t get done on the middle. I don’t usually have a problem when I made other homemade pancakes.
I’m so HAPPY to have found your site! It’s my second time making these pumpkin chic chip pancakes and my teens gobble them up! We had these for lunch today and for tonight’s big MSU football game I am going to try your BBQ chicken finger recipe. All I want for Christmas is your cookbook! Keep up the fantastic work!
Absolutely delicious!! I didn’t use the entire batter, about half left.. Do you think I could make muffins with it?
AMAZING! Delicious- perfect and exactly what I was craving. I am allergic to dairy so I substituted the whole milk for coconut cream (Thai Kitchen). And I always use non dairy butter. Smart Balance is great. Thank you!
Made these today. Half without chocolate chips and half with. They were so silky and delicious! Other pumpkin pancake recipes I’ve tried have been quite heavy, but these had a airiness about them that I just loved. The kids gobbled them up too!
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Sally, I love to make these without the chocolate chips, then when they are cooking I put white chocolate chips for the kids and blueberries for me. I love the moisture that the blueberry juices add, and I tried them with Biscoff on them today…OMG! So good, you have to try it!
I love pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes and I make them often from a few different recipes and let me tell you, this, next to one other I have as a favorite is just if not better than that one!
Thank you just polished off a stack for myself with some powdered sugar and Vermont maple syrup.
Thank you and will check out your we sight for other recipes 🙂
Jean