Pumpkin Pancakes

This past Saturday morning we met up with our friends Kim and Amy and drove up the coast to camp at San Simeon State Park. I’ve been there many times before – on the bike tour, when we went backpacking in Big Sur, and on countless road trips, but never for more than a night. This time, we got to spend a long weekend there with our our friend Justin from San Francisco.

Justin and Kim are Kismat’s college buddies, and lucky for me, Kismat always picks the best friends. We regularly hang out with Kim and his wife Amy, but since Justin’s in San Francisco, we only get to see him once every year or two. He called Kismat out of the blue one Saturday a few weeks back and they talked about meeting for a camping trip, but I really didn’t think we’d make it happen. We did though, and I’m so glad! It’s wonderful to spend time with old friends, and it doesn’t happen often enough.

San Simeon turned out to be a great place to spend a long weekend. We explored the tiny artist town of Cambria, watched the blubbery elephant seals relax on the beach, and played plenty of Scrabble. But the best part was the company.

We cooked some great food. Some of it was tried and true (vegan sausages with tomato relish), but we also tried some new recipes, including a huge Indian meal (homemade naan, dal, fire roasted squash, and raita) and pumpkin pancakes. This pumpkin pancake recipe is appropriately seasonal and with a little prep at home, all you have to do is combine wet & dry ingredients at camp and stir!

Pumpkin Pancakes

Yield

12 pancakes

Prep Time / Cook Time

20 minutes / 20 minutes

Activity Guide

Car Camping

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups milk (I used almond)
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 egg (I used egg replacer)
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar

Tools

• Large pot
• Mixing spoon
• 2 Zip-top baggies

Method

At Home

• Combine dry ingredients in the zip-top baggie.

At Camp

1. Combine wet ingredients in second zip-top baggie.
2. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well.
3. Canola oil or butter a skillet on medium-high heat.
4. Cut the corner of the zip-top baggie and ooze out the perfect amount of batter directly into the skillet (any size you want, as long as it fits in your skillet).
5. Once the pancake is bubbling on top and the edges have cooked, flip. Cook through. Then flip directly onto a plate and enjoy hot.