Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: pancakes

Tuesday, September 23, 2025

PERFECT PUMPKIN PANCAKES with EASY BUTTER PECAN SYRUP from author Cleo Coyle

From Cleo Coyle: Fall is now officially here. Whenever I feel that brisk autumn chill in the air, I start craving pancakes, and these Pumpkin Pancakes make a fantastic fall meal. 🍂 Adding pumpkin is a great way to bring extra fiber, nutrition, and flavor to the table. These little cakes are amazing topped with my easy-to-make Warm Butter Pecan Syrup, which is also delicious over ice cream and baked apples. Or try my lighter topping idea for the pancakes, which I've also included in the recipe...

So happy fall, everyone!

Let's get our Pumpkin Pancakes on...

Cleo Coyle writes two
bestselling mystery

series with her husband.
To learn more, click here.

☕ A Recipe Note from Cleo...

🍂 As I mentioned above, adding pumpkin to pancakes is a great way to bring extra fiber, nutrition, and flavor to your breakfast table.

I like to buy a few extra cans of pumpkin puree during the fall shopping discount window, so I can make these pancakes throughout the winter season.

These Pumpkin Pancakes are incredibly good with the Warm Butter Pecan Syrup recipe I'm also sharing. The syrup is quick and easy to make and fantastic on the cakes, as well as ice cream, baked apples, and grilled peaches.

Or try my lighter topping idea, which I've included below. It's a deliciously different way to finish these warm little cakes and a much lighter option than the syrup.

May you flip with joy!

~ Cleo

To download this recipe as a free

PDF that you can print, save,

or share, click here...

Click here for Cleo's
free Recipe PDF.

☕ Cleo Coyle’s
Perfect Pumpkin Pancakes

Makes 8 – 10 pancakes, depending on size

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter, melted
4 eggs
½ cup pureed pumpkin (I use canned)
1-½ cups milk (low fat is fine)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (double if you like spice)
(optional) ½ teaspoon orange zest (grated orange peel)
¼ cup dark brown sugar, packed
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

Directions:

Step 1 - Make batter: Melt butter and set aside to cool a bit. In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, pureed pumpkin, milk, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and (optional) orange zest. Add brown sugar, salt, and the melted butter that you set aside. Finally mix in the flour and baking powder. Do not over-mix the batter at this point or your pancakes will be tough instead of tender. You can make the pancakes immediately or cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow batter to sit in the refrigerator (and hydrate) for 30 minutes to an hour (or even overnight).

Step 2 – Cooking the perfect pancake:

(a) Pre-heat: Pre-heat a nonstick griddle or skillet. If you have a good quality nonstick griddle or pan (and there is absolutely no residue on the surface), you will see prettier results without using grease. Butter, cooking spray, and oil all produce mottled surfaces on your pancakes. If you do have an older pan or it does not have a nonstick surface, lightly grease with butter, oil, or cooking spray.

(b) Pour: Using a measuring cup, pour ¼ cup of batter onto the pre-heated pan or griddle; immediately pour ¼ cup more right on top of the first pour. The pancake batter should spread into a perfect circle, about five inches in diameter.

(c) Flip and finish: When you see bubbles begin to form on pancake’s top, it’s ready to flip. Cook lightly on the other side and serve with my Warm Butter Pecan Syrup or my Lighter Topping Option, both are below.

Cleo's Warm

Butter Pecan Syrup

☕

A Final Note from Cleo

Full of buttery sweet caramel flavor, this syrup is delicious served warm over pancakes, but also ice cream as well as baked apples or grilled peaches. Enjoy!

Cleo Coyle's
Warm Butter Pecan Syrup

Makes 2/3 cup syrup

Ingredients:

½ cup butter (1 stick)

¼ cup half-and-half or heavy cream

½ cup dark brown sugar, packed

¼ cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Quick warning: Do not melt butter first in this recipe. If you do, the butter may separate and your syrup will not thicken properly unless you boil it down. Instead, use this method: In a saucepan, over low heat, combine solid butter, half-and-half (or cream), brown sugar, and chopped pecans. Stir immediately and continually. Mixture should not boil. When butter is fully melted, remove from heat, cover and keep warm to serve over pancakes, ice cream, baked apples, or grilled peaches.

Cleo's Lighter Topping Option

Instead of using butter and syrup on your pancakes, try this lighter and easier method...

Squeeze juice from the wedge of an orange over the top of your warm pumpkin pancakes and lightly dust with powdered sugar or a sugar-free powdered sugar substitute like allulose or monkfruit.

This is a lighter option than butter and syrup, and it tastes delicious—almost like a carnival funnel cake, one of my favorite treats from childhood. The orange flavor also pairs beautifully with the light pumpkin taste in the pancakes.

Eat (and read) with joy!

CLEO COYLE is a pseudonym for Alice Alfonsi, writing in collaboration with her husband, Marc Cerasini. Both are New York Times bestselling authors of the long-running Coffeehouse Mysteries, now celebrating more than twenty years in print. With more than 1 million books sold, they have gained an enthusiastic following. Cleo's "relentlessly entertaining" (Criminal Element) novels have been translated into Spanish, Japanese, and Czech; earned starred reviews from Library Journal and Kirkus; received Best of Year selection honors from multiple reviewers; and have been recommended by Booklist as among the best culinary mysteries for core library mystery collections. Alice and Marc are also bestselling media tie-in writers who have penned properties for Lucasfilm, NBC, Fox, Disney, Imagine, Toho, and MGM. They live in New York City, where they write independently and together, including the nationally bestselling Haunted Bookshop Mysteries.

Visit Cleo's online coffeehouse here.

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National Mystery Bestseller
(Triple) #1 Amazon Category Bestseller
Fresh Fiction Readers' Selection

To Buy:
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Bookshop.org
+ More Buy Links

"EASILY ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS THAT I HAVE READ THIS YEAR...10 STARS!" —Escape with Dollycas into a Good Book

"A KNOCKOUT STORY....one of the best books in this endearing series...a TERRIFIC READ..." —Dru Ann Love, Raven Award-winning reviewer, Dru's Book Musings

No Roast for the Weary is also a culinary mystery with a killer menu of delicious recipes. Click here or on the image below to see the free illustrated guide to our book's recipe section...

Click here or the image above for
Cleo's Free Illustrated Guide to
the recipes you'll find published in
No Roast for the Weary.

Get a free Title Checklist of
Cleo Coyle's Books in Order
Click here or on the image below.

Click here for Free
Title Checklist of Cleo Coyle's
Books in Order

👇

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Tuesday, September 24, 2024

BEST OATMEAL PANCAKES (with #dairyfree option) + #NYC Diner Visit for #NationalPancakeDay from @CleoCoyle

From Cleo Coyle: When I tasted the oatmeal pancakes at a famous retro diner near my home in Queens NYC (more on that diner below), I was in heaven. Their pancakes were fantastic; and while the diner didn't give me their exact recipe, they did mention soaking their oats in milk. After some experimenting, I found this was the secret to getting the best stack of tasty, fluffy oatmeal pancakes, and that's the recipe I'm sharing with you today.

RETRO DINER LOVE

The diner I mentioned, which Marc and I go to often, was the very one we had our amateur sleuth, Clare Cosi, visit with her beloved octogenarian mentor in our Coffeehouse Mystery HONEY ROASTED. They were in good company. Legendary Director Martin Scorsese featured it in his award-winning film Goodfellas, and you can take a virtual trip there now in the video below...

☕ ☕ ☕

--------------------------------

If you don't see the video above,
watch it on YouTube by clicking here.

So, happy eating, everyone. With National Pancake Day coming up this week, it's the perfect time to enjoy a stack!

~ Cleo

👇

To download a PDF of this

recipe that you can print,

save, or share, click here.

Click here for Cleo's free recipe PDF.

Cleo Coyle writes two
bestselling mystery

series with her husband.
To learn more, click here.

A Recipe Note from Cleo

Oatmeal is a whole grain that provides great fiber and nutrition, along with heartwarming flavor, which is why it's great in pancakes, but it has to be added in the right way for the best taste and texture.

Many recipes out there instruct you to simply mix the batter and cook (or even use a food processor, which will grind the oats and over-work the batter), but I knew what I wanted in an oatmeal pancake, and those recipes didn't produce it for me. In other words, not all oatmeal pancake recipes are created equal. In this recipe, I share a few tricks I learned to give you tender, fluffy, oatmeal pancakes (as opposed to rubbery disks). Because I always want you to...eat with joy. Happy Pancake Day! ~ Cleo

The Best Oatmeal Pancakes
by Cleo Coyle

Makes about 6 pancakes

(4- to 5-inches in diameter)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup quick-cooking oats (not instant)
3/4 cup whole or 2% cow's milk (*or dairy-free milk) mixed with…
1 teaspoon lemon juice or white vinegar
1 Tablespoon honey (or replace with sugar or a sugar substitute)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/8 tsp. table salt)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil (*see dairy-free note below)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons flour (all-purpose white or spelt flour)

Directions: Soak the oats in the dairy (or dairy-free) milk (that you have already mixed with the lemon or vinegar) for about 15 minutes, no longer. You’re watching for the oats to plump up and the mixture to thicken (see my photo below). Whisk in all the other ingredients except the flour. Be sure the mixture is well blended. Now stir in the flour until it is completely incorporated, but do not over-mix. Allow this mixture to sit for 5 minutes. It will thicken up into a nice batter. Grease a non-stick pan or griddle with butter, oil, or coat with non-stick spray. Ladle on the batter, forming cakes of 4 to 5 inches in diameter. See cooking tip below.

*Dairy-free variation notes: Replace cow’s milk with almond milk (or another nut milk) or soy milk and because these milks are lower in fat than cow’s milk, increase the vegetable oil by 1 teaspoon.

After 15 minutes, the oats will plump up and

the mixture will thicken. Don't skip this step
because it's one secret to getting great results.

Local, raw honey is delicious in this batter,

but you can use any honey. You can also
substitute white or brown sugar or
a sugar substitute in the same amount.

After the flour goes in, allow the batter to sit

for just five more minutes before cooking,
another secret to getting the best results.

Cooking tip: Oatmeal pancake batter cooks a little differently than standard pancake batter. Watch for the edges to appear cooked and crinkles to form across the cake surface with a few bubbles (you will not see as many bubbles as you would in a standard pancake). When you flip the cake should be golden brown. Cook until golden brown on the other side and serve warm.