Pumpkin Pancakes from Scratch!

Firstly, long time no blog... my life is a bit too busy with uni to a) have time to blog b) have time to do anything really interesting to blog about!
This morning I finally made my long-awaited pumpkin pancakes, completely from scratch as I puréed the pumpkin myself. This is proof that we're not 'proper' students any more... Hannah and I spent too much money in Sainsbury's buying good food (decent wine included), and I think we were the first students ever to be buying pumpkins after Halloween. Ever!

Pumpkin Pancakes!

So worth it though, for these beauties.

Here's how to start with your pumpkin purée...


Chop off the top of your pumpkin - my weapon of choice was the biggest knife we have, though maybe the bread knife with a serrated edge may have been slightly easier, I don't know.
Chop your pumpkin in to quarters, and scoop out those slimy seeds - pop them to the side for now, you might want them. (I certainly did! I experimented and now have toasted pumpkin seeds to snack on).

Before I chopped him up...

And pulled out his insides!

Pop your slices of pumpkin on a baking tray and cook in the oven at 190°C for 45 minutes. I started off too cold and had to crank up the heat and wait for longer; this may be why the next step was a bit trickier than expected.

Happily in the oven

Peel off the skin - if it has roasted enough this should come off easily. I scraped slightly with a knife but my pumpkin was definitely cooked enough.
Mash it all up. I cut my pumpkin pieces in to smaller chunks and bashed them around with a potato masher, and then whizzed them up with my hand blender. Make it as smooth as you like - I kept a bit of texture for my pancakes.

I left a few chunks of pumpkin for texture

Now it's time to make pumpkin pancakes. This is a slight twist on my previous pancake recipe. Swap the peanut butter for pumpkin purée, and 1/2 tsp ginger and 1 tsp cinnamon for a more autumnal kick and some more flavour. These would have been great with a drizzle of maple syrup, though unfortunately I don't have any, so a little bit of butter (as always) had to do. Enjoy a great brunch!

They had a lovely brown/orange tint to them

Delicious!