Pumpkin Spice Pancakes with Apples and Streusel

My family loved these pancakes.  I was concerned because they certainly did not look pretty.  I thought maybe it would be an unsuccessful experiment.  But nope... not pretty, but very tasty! (Sorry about the bad picture, I tried to show both sides of the pancake.) A wonderful fall pancake! It has all things fall in it:  pumpkin, apples and spice.  They are a bit time consuming, but I will be making these again.  They are huge pancakes when you spread the batter, and each of my kids ate 2!  Even my 2 year old.  YUM!

PUMPKIN SPICE PANCAKES WITH APPLES AND STREUSEL



adapted from Annie-eats

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 2 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 large egg
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil or melted butter
• 2 apples, peeled, cored and sliced very thin

STREUSEL:

• 3 TBSP butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 TBSP flour
• 1 tsp. cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

Peel and core apples, then slice very thin.  In a small  bowl, mix streusel ingredients with fingers of fork.  Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and spices and stir with a whisk to combine.  Mix together the buttermilk, pumpkin puree, vanilla, egg and oil or butter in a small bowl.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk together just until combine.  (If the batter is too thick, thin with a little bit of milk until it seems workable to you.)
Preheat the oven to 200° F.  Have an oven safe plate or serving dish ready.  Heat a greased skillet or griddle over medium heat.  Once the skillet is hot, add a ladleful of batter to the pan, spreading batter out with the backside of the ladle to make the pancake larger.   Place slices of apple around the uncooked side, fanning out from the middle.  Let cook until bubbles begin to form on the top surface.  Carefully flip with a spatula and then sprinkle tops with streusel.  Let cook for a few minutes until apples are tender.  Transfer the cooked pancake to the oven safe dish, and place in the oven to keep warm.  Repeat with the rest of the batter until it has all been cooked, regreasing the pan as needed.  Serve warm maple syrup, and/or whipped cream.