Pancakes & A Snow Day

Sunday marked our first official snow day here in Wiesbaden, Germany for 2012! We'd had a few flurries the last of week of October, but on December 1st, old man winter made his grand appearance by laying down about an inch of white precipitation. I was overjoyed, mostly because I was afraid I wouldn't get to see snow in Germany before I went home for Christmas, but also because who doesn't love snow? I'm sure people who hate the cold hate snow...and we should lock them in boxes and mail them to outer space because they're crazy...but I, on the other hand, adore it. North Carolina isn't known for massive snow storms (the last time I remember getting a heck of a lot of snow was the Christmas D was deployed in 2010...of course it would snow on Christmas when he was gone), so when it snows...and then keeps snowing, it's something to be celebrated in the Coté household. When D got up to pee at 6am (TMI?), he peeked out the window, then scurried back to bed to give me the good news. Of course, sleep was irrelevant after that. In true blogger fashion, I hopped up, slipped on my boots, and made my way out on our balcony to take a bagillion photos of the snow to share with you all. And then we made a piping hot stack of Pumpkin Spiced Pancakes to celebrate. It's your lucky day, because I'm sharing that with you, too. You can thank me with virtual hugs. ;)

Pumpkin Spiced Pancakes

Adapted from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

dash of ground ginger

1 cup skim milk

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1 large egg

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Directions:

In mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, & spices) together with a whisk. In a separate mixing bowl, stir together the milk, pumpkin, egg, and veggie oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk together just until they're combined. Do not over mix (batter may still be a bit lumpy, and that's ok!). Heat a greased skillet or griddle on medium. Once hot, add 1/3 cup of the batter to the center of the skillet. Let cook on one side until bubbles begin to form on the surface of the pancake batter. Take a spatula and FLIP! Then allow the pancake to cool on the opposite side for another 2 minutes or until golden brown. Keep re-greasing the skillet in between each dollop of pancake batter to ensure even browning. 

Top these yummy flapjacks with a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar, a slurry of maple syrup, or a drop of Cool Whip. Or you can do as I did and eat them topped with all three. I have no regrets. ;)

Happy Monday, friends! I'm off to enjoy our second round of snow! YES...it's snowing again! Coincidence? 

Nope. Just another opportunity to make pancakes. Toodles!