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
These look amazing! How would I turn them into sheet pancakes?
Hi Anna! We haven’t tested these pancakes as sheet pancakes, but let us know if you do.
I love this recipe. I didn’t have any milk in the fridge, so I used water and it still turned out great! This is my new favorite pancake recipe.
★★★★★
Can’t wait to try this recipe! It looks delicious. Quick question: Will using 1% or 2% milk make a big difference? I know the recipe says that whole milk gives it the richest taste, but I was wondering if using a different milk would affect the consistency or how it cooks.
Hi Olivia, a lower fat milk will work in a pinch. Hope you enjoy the pancakes!
I just made this recipe for the THIRD TIME this year!
The first two times, I made it with chocolate chips, and it was a big success. Even my mom – who dislikes having chocolate in the morning – ate a few!
The third time, I made it without chocolate chips, and it was still absolutely amazing. The flavour is so good you almost don’t even need syrup.
Overall:
-For me and my family personally we found that there’s a LOT of chocolate chips in these pancakes, so I would say don’t go too overboard when filling up the measuring cup.
-I also made this recipe overnight all three times. I combined all the dry ingredients together in a bowl and covered it. For the wet, I only measured out the pumpkin and put it in a bowl and then refrigerated it. Don’t combine the wet and dry until morning. You could also probably get away with doing all the wet ingredients, but I mostly wanted to do at least the pumpkin overnight since it seems to take the longest to measure out and such.
-The pancakes are fluffy but also thick in the way that they’ll fill you up fast (even though you want to keep eating them )
-I also used a beater instead of a blender, and it works great! (Although if you want to use a blender, it would probably save you the worry about potentially splattering the mixture everywhere )
This has definitely been a hit recipe with my family and I know I’ll be making it again soon!
★★★★★
I made these dairy free with allergen friendly chocolate chips and almond milk. They taste wonderful and no one would ever know they don’t have dairy in them.
★★★★★
Amazing. I made these using a gluten free flour mix. So good.
★★★★★
I’m pretty picky about pancakes, and these were absolutely delicious! Very fluffy for a pumpkin pancake, and the chocolate and spices pair nicely. Definitely took more than 2 minutes each side to cook, but maybe that was just my pan.
★★★★★
Sally these were sooo good! I love pumpkin pancakes but was intimidated to make them from scratch. However your recipe was easy to follow & my pancakes came out fluffy with lots of flavor. Thank you for sharing.
★★★★★
Amazing Only addition I made was some nutmeg because I really like nutmeg
★★★★★
We had pumpkin cinnamon chip pancakes at a highly rated local cafe last fall and my BF went ga ga over them. This recipe with the cinnamon chips instead of chocolate chips is an exact clone. Delicious!! Thank you for sharing.
★★★★★
So great, amazing recipe! Next time I’ll cut back on brown sugar or maybe omit all together… these are very sweet! Also, I used two smaller eggs and regular oat milk with great results. Thanks!
★★★★★
These were delicious! Made these this morning on this chilly fall day and they were perfect. I was nervous because the batter was SO DENSE. but they turned out great. I left out chocolate chips in half of the recipe for my toddler & she still loved them! Thanks for this recipe!
★★★★★
Oh my…Sally! You have definitely sweetened our lives for the last many, many years. Thank you SO much for all the hard work, the testing, and delivery of spectacular recipes; we have never been disappointed. Thank you
★★★★★
I just made these and omg they are so good!!!!! It also made a bunch so i had leftovers to freeze! This recipe is a keeper!
★★★★★
I absolutely loved this, thanks so much! The inside was so moist and yummy. But I couldn’t get them to look proper no matter how much I tried. They would break apart or burn every time, and even the best ones didn’t look as pretty as the pictures. Do you have any tips on how I could do better on the final look? I would appreciate it a lot.
Hi Tara, I’m glad you enjoyed them! Pay attention to how hot your pan/skillet is more than how high/low your burners are as different pans retain heat differently. If they are burning it sounds like your pan is too hot. Try lowering your heat and also making the pancakes smaller so that they don’t break when you flip them.
Great advice. I’ll try that for sure, thanks!
★★★★★
Made these for a celebratory brunch, and they were excellent! Fluffy, rich, melty, and delicious. Will keep this in my back pocket for special occasions.
★★★★★
THESE ARE A-MAZING! I used a stick blender for the wet ingredients (Libby’s canned pumpkin & skim milk) and they were SUPER fluffy. Fluffiest pancakes I’ve ever made. Maybe even seen! Raisins were a tasty addition. Definitely making these again (and I’m not even that big of a pumpkin fan). Thank YOU, Sally!
★★★★★
I have had these in the freezer since the fall…and like many of you am trying to use everything in the freezer and not go out. They ARE STILL FABULOUS!!! Sally YOU ARE AMAZING…ate on the patio this morning and tried to remember the normal times of last fall. God bless and be with all of you and Sally…thank you for continuing your recipes for our “cooking therapy” to help keep all of us sane!
★★★★★
Absolutely Delicious!
★★★★★
Can I use this batter in my Belgian waffle maker?
Absolutely!
These pancakes are perfection! I’ve already made them 3 times this month. They are soft and perfectly spiced, like an amazing pumpkin brownie. We freeze the leftovers and then reheat them in the microwave/toaster for breakfast all week. Just 2 notes on the recipe, I’ve never bothered to blend the wet ingredients, and I don’t think that step is necessary, I get it perfectly smooth with just a hand whisk. Also, I’ve substituted buttermilk for the whole milk before, and it’s worked great!
★★★★★
These pancakes are so tasty and don’t even really need syrup! Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
SALLY. This recipe is amazing. Great pumpkin spice flavor, not overly sweet, great texture, I could go on and on. Pumpkin is not the easiest ingredient to work with and I really appreciate the testing that you put into your recipes and ESPECIALLY the notes on *why* you do what you do. I’m working on developing my home chef skills and understanding the science behind recipes is incredibly helpful. Thank you!!
★★★★★
Fantastic! Followed the recipe and they were Fabulous! Love, love, love!
As always, thank you Sally!
Cheryl
★★★★★
Made this today without the choc chips. My family LOVED them.
I shared some with my neighbors and they loved it too.
Thanks for a tasty and easy recipe.
Is there a way to use less sugar and/or a different sweetener? Thanks!
Hi Brianna, You can try reducing the brown sugar to 1/4 cup, keeping in mind that the more you reduce it the more you will change the texture (not just the taste)!
I have made these dozens of times and they always turn out perfect! Fluffy, moist, and perfectly spiced. Can’t wait to make them again tomorrow morning!
★★★★★
I’m was willing it to be fall in a Texas with these pancakes this morning… even though it will still be getting up to almost 100° today. These were AMAZING! The best pumpkin pancakes I’ve had! Great pumpkin flavor but still a nice fluffy (and not dense) pancake. I made half without the chocolate chips and they were great too. Next time I’ll be making these into waffles for sure!
★★★★★
Hello! I made these and kept the batter thick, however when frying them on a griddle they were very very thick and heavy and not the thinn pancake consistency. What can I do to cook them nice and flat?
Hi Marianella! Did you add any ingredients to thicken the batter? Because that may have to do with why they were heavier. If not, flattening out with your spatula as they cook always helps.
These have become a family favorite and a special request for birthdays. We just made them for dinner (yes, in February) and they are just delicious. We love dark chocolate chips in them and sometimes pecans!