Pumpkin Pie for Breakfast: All Those Others Were Imposters Edition

So I didn't really have any intent to do an immediate follow-up to yesterday's post, but HOLD THE PHONE, I JUST MADE THE MOST DELICIOUS BREAKFAST EVER. And I had to share immediately. As in, I'm still eating it as I type this post.

I had a flash of inspiration this morning as I was getting ready to make a Pumpkin Breakfast Mug. I didn't feel like oatmeal, but I did feel like pumpkin pie for breakfast. (Let's be real, though, when don't I?) And I remembered a few years ago when I was having a pancake breakfast, but had a co-worker with a gluten allergy coming. My general approach to cooking gluten-free is to just make things that don't have gluten in them naturally rather than fuss around with flour substitutes.

So I found this recipe for bananacakes (I'd link it, but can't find it at the moment) that just had a mashed banana, scope of almond butter, and an egg. The texture was a little glomy, but they were delicious! They're my go-to for gluten-free breakfasts for friends, and I eat them myself all the time, despite loving gluten and its happy puffy formation in my baked goods.

Anyway, my flash of inspiration was to make this recipe with pumpkin instead. And OH, MY GOODNESS, I CAN'T EVEN HANDLE THE DELICIOUS. Be careful with this one, folks--you may never want to eat anything else ever again.



Pumpkincakes
Prep/Cook Time: About 10 minutes
Servings: 1 (3-4 small cakes--not suitable for mega-cake production) 

Ingredients
(Australian Customary--note that an Australian TBSP is 20ml while a US one is only 15ml.)
1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
1 egg
1 heaping TBSP nut butter/nut butter alternative (I used peanut butter today, but I've made tasty bananacakes with almond butter, cashew butter, and hazelnut butter in the past.)
About 5 shakes of each nutmeg, cinnamon, & powder ginger, 2 shakes of cloves
Optional, for topping: Something crunchy to sprinkle on top, like granola, toasted nuts, or even crumbled graham cracker, cookie, or biscuit. Maybe something sweet, like a drizzle of maple syrup or sprinkle of brown sugar.

Special Equipment: None!

Instructions
1. Pre-heat a skillet. Mix all the ingredients except the optional toppings in a bowl.

2. Test skillet to see if it's hot enough for pancakes (water sizzles when flicked on the surface). If it's the right temperature, spray the pan with cooking spray or add a bit of oil or butter to the pan.

3. Scoop out 3-4 small pancakes. These don't handle as well as normal pancakes (damn that gluten!), so take care to make them small. The batter is also thick, so I had to help them spread a bit with the back of my spoon.

It was at this point I tasted the batter, realised I might have made something magical, and went to get my camera. This is also the point that I started thinking I probably made them a bit too big to flip easily.

 4. Once they're brown on bottom (they might set up a bit on the side, but they won't set or have bubbles to the top like normal pancakes), flip them to cook on the other side.

Yup, too big. I ripped them a bit flipping them. Next time: 4 instead of 3. 

5. Stack on a plate, top with something crunchy, and add something sweet, if you like! The something crunchy is a stand-in for a crust and really makes a difference in the delicious factor, I think.

I used spiced pecans leftover from my Thanksgiving pecan pie. I also added a tiny drizzle of maple syrup, but I don't think it was actually needed. I'll probably skip it next time.

ACTION SHOT!

Verdict: 5 out of 5 pumpkin pies! This was seriously amazing. The closest thing to actually having real pumpkin pie, while still being breakfast-appropriate. Stacked up, they had not only the texture, but the thickness of pumpkin pie as well. This is the clear winner of anything I've made to date.

Height: Approximately 1 pie high. Deliciousness Points: About a million.

If anyone else makes any of my Pumpkin Pie for Breakfast goodies, let me know your thoughts! Which one is your favorite? Is there anything else I should try?