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I’ve held off on sharing recipes like these chocolate chip pumpkin pancakes for a while now. I felt like since they aren’t super healthy I shouldn’t post them on a healthy family blog, but I’ve decided that is silly.

Sure this is a health focused blog, but part of living a healthy lifestyle is understanding balance and indulging here and there.

We LOVE these pancakes. I can’t tell you how many different pumpkin pancake box mixes I’ve gone through trying to find an easier way. But, they just aren’t nearly as good as homemade.

I love pumpkin spice, but the flavor in the box mixes is just wayy too strong for my taste. This homemade version is super subtle in its pumpkin flavor, but still delish and will definitely leave you wanting more.

Making pumpkin pancakes from scratch isn’t even that much more difficult than using a box mix.

My big hang up with it is that it only uses 6 tbs of pumpkin puree so it requires me to find another use for the rest of the can of pumpkin.

What I’ve found is that I can use 6 tbs for this recipe and then I have just enough left over to also make some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

I think I originally stumbled upon this pancake recipe on the Martha Stewart website years ago? And then I made some minor tweaks to the recipe based on the ingredients I normally have on hand.

Also, for anyone who doesn’t typically drink normal cow’s milk, I will say that I have successfully made this with almond milk and it’s still great.

I’m not sure cashew milk would work though because it has a stronger flavor and is a little thicker. But yes to normal milk and yes to almond milk.

Toppings are optional, but I will usually top with chocolate chips and whipped cream. I don’t even put any maple on them, just extra whipped cream! The brown powder in the pic is just a little cinnamon sprinkle over the whipped cream.

We love making these pancakes to kick off the Fall season. For us, this recipe makes the perfect amount for our family of 4. Keep in mind, we do have 2 little kids, ages 2 & 4, so if you have big eaters in your family, you may want to double the recipe.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Pancakes & IIFYM

If you are trying to stay healthy, but still want to make this recipe work for you I have some suggestions.

First I would say, don’t even try to swap ingredients for healthier ones. Just enjoy pumpkin pancakes the way the were meant to be enjoyed.

This recipe’s not that bad for you. It’s just a little high in carbs, as are pretty much all pancake recipes. So if I were you, I would just go a little lower carb for the remainder of your meals.

For example, I may do this blackened chicken salad for lunch and then maybe maybe lettuce wrapped burgers for dinner depending on my macros.

Although, like I said, these pancakes aren’t terrible for you and even if you don’t change the rest of your meals to low carb, one morning’s pancakes won’t hinder your progress much, if at all.

I think the best advice I could give is just to enjoy life, indulge every now and then, and pay attention to the serving size when you do indulge, ideally limiting yourself to 1 serving of the not-so-good food.