Pumpkin Pie Pancakes

Have you ever had this problem? You make a pumpkin pie, but the recipe calls for more filling than will fit inside the pie crust. 

If only all of life’s problems were so delicious.

I decided to freeze the leftover pie filling until I’d figured out just what to do with it. Pumpkin bread? Pancakes? I opted for the latter (but you can find a delicious pumpkin bread recipe here!). These were so simple–just a matter of adding a little flour and baking powder to the pie filling. And they tasted exactly like pumpkin pie.

The pumpkin pie filling for this recipe is an historic recipe from a Berks County Cookbook that was published in 1911 as a fundraiser for the city of Reading’s Home for Widows and Single Women.

One of the perks of exploring old recipes is that sometimes you get to learn about ingredients that are amazing but that no one really uses anymore. Mace is one such ingredient. It might call to mind pepper spray, or, if you’re like me, you might think it’s an alternate name for another spice. Mace is a cousin of nutmeg but uses a different part of the plant. These days, it’s a little pricier than nutmeg, but it makes perfect sense to shell out a little extra cash for a spice that will take every bite of pumpkin pie to another plane of existence.

I like how Max Falkowitz, a blogger on Serious Eats, describes mace:

“Imagine a cross between nutmeg and coriander, tinged with citrus and cinnamon. Add to that the same nostril-widening properties that nutmeg, mint, and basil share. Then add the complexity of raw sugar. So yeah. That’s mace.”

So yes, nutmeg will do for this recipe, but mace will change your world. And that’s a pretty good way to start your morning.