Mmmm.  I love pumpkin as much as the next gal but until recently I hadn’t ever made or eaten Pumpkin Pancakes.  Eli found a recipe for pumpkin pancakes in an old Highlights magazine the recipe called for pancake mix, which we never buy.  We experimented with a couple recipes and this one from AllRecipes is utterly delicious, (shockingly better than Pioneer Woman’s)!!

If you want ideas of how to make this with a pancake mix, head on over to AllRecipes, there seems to be a good substitute in the comments to that highly-rated recipe (linked above).
Let me explain our big changes:

1. We added freshly ground nutmeg to ours.  All sweet pumpkin recipes should contain nutmeg.
2. The recipe calls for 1 cup of pumpkin puree.  We’re using canned pumpkin and that comes in a 15 oz can, leaving 7 oz of pumpkin left over and not enough for my pumpkin bread if I was being a stickler about amounts.  So I just adjusted it to be half a can of pumpkin.  I don’t think you have to get crazy about measuring is my point really.  Waste not…want not.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. milk
• 1 c. pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp butter, melted
• 2 Tbsp vinegar
• 2 c. flour
• 3 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg, (fresh ground is best)
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. In a bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, butter, and vinegar. Add the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt in a separate bowl. Stir all the ingredients just enough to combine.  Do not be tempted to add more milk to the batter, it will be thick.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle over medium high heat. Scoop 1/4 a cup of batter onto the griddle and spread the batter out with the back of a spoon. Brown on both sides.  Serve hot with maple syrup.

There must be an unwritten rule that if you do any time in North Dakota, you have to eat Knoephla Soup. I spent most of my first 20 years of life in North Dakota and hadn’t tried this German soup until 2 years ago. As a native North Dakotan, and 1/32 German. I am ashamed.

But to redeem myself, today I’m sharing the absolute VERY best, most delicious homemade Knoephla Soup recipe with you.

So for those of you who may be wondering what on earth Knoephla Soup is, it is a potato soup with little noodles (German word for these are knöpfle – meaning knobs). It is thick and hearty, somewhat like a stew so you can add less water to my version if you’d like.

I’m a protein girl so you may add cooked chicken to this soup as well. My sister and grandma both swear off chicken in Knoephla Soup…but I assure you, it’s yummo with it!

Knoephla Soup Recipe

Soup:

• 3 Tbps Butter
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 medium carrot, diced
• 2 celery ribs, diced
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
• 3 c. water
• 3 c. milk
• 2 c. chicken broth
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 1 c. heavy cream (added right before serving)
• boneless chicken, cooked and cut up, optional

Dough:

• 2 c. flour
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 tsp onion salt, (or 1 tsp salt & 1 tsp onion powder)
• 1/2 c. milk

Instructions:

In a large pot, melt butter and saute onions, celery, & carrots for about 10 minutes or until onions are cooked and transparent. Add water, seasonings, milk, broth, & seasonings to pot. Bring to a low boil and simmer for about a half an hour or until the potatoes are almost cooked.

While soup is cooking, in a separate bowl, mix all the ingredients for the dough. Roll dough into a ropes 1/2″ in diameter.

Cut these ropes into 1/4″ lengths.

When potatoes are almost cooked, drop the cut dough pieces individually into the boiling soup. Simmer for about 10 minutes or until the dough is cooked through. Add the heavy cream and serve.