Paleo Pumpkin Pancake
Everyone has that one dish in their repertoire that’s their own, that people always request and that they could make in their sleep. This is one of my mom’s signature dishes and highly requested recipes, ‘Arepa di Pampuna’ or simply Pumpkin Pancakes.
Growing up, this was the snack my mom always made when we would go to the beach. She would wake up early to make a super large portion and start cooking 30-40 of these pancakes to take to the beach. I would try to sneak in the kitchen and steal a few from the bottom of the stack without her noticing. At the beach we would meet up with friends and family and have a little breakfast picnic. It was a mini potluck and my mom’s contribution was the coveted pumpkin pancakes. My mom made sure that everyone got enough and that she still had some left for later during the day. These pancakes got even better after you had a swim and you could still taste the salt from the water, I would run back to our spot and ask my mom whether we still had pancakes, I knew she would save some and that the answer would be yes. She would open the box ever so slightly to cover the full contents and take out one and give it to me. I got a pumpkin sweetness explosion and because the day is only getting hotter the raisins almost melts in your mouth. One of my best childhood memories.
While we are still in lockdown and I don’t know when I’ll be able to visit my mom and my island again I get a little piece of home when making these pancakes. I remember the first time I asked my mom for the recipe she looked up at me and said there is no recipe, you just add everything together and see what else it might need, I think this is a trait you develop the more you cook, but at the time I couldn’t appreciate such vague answers. Below you can find the non-vague version of the ‘Arepa di Pampuna’. I hope you like it as much as I do.
Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup tapioca flour
- 1 cup almond flour
- ½ cup coconut flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 pinch salt
- 4 medium eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1¼ cup almond milk
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup raisins
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 cup roasted pumpkin
Instructions
- In a bowl pour hot water over the raisins and set aside while you’re working on the batter. Only necessary if your raisins are quite hard and completely dried out, otherwise you can skip this step.
- Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
- In a separate bowl whisk the eggs with vanilla, almond milk and maple syrup.
- Add the pumpkin puree to the wet ingredients and whisk till they are combined. It’s okay if you have a few chunks of pumpkin, they make for the most delicious bites in the pancake.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well.
- Strain the water from the raisins and add the raisins to the batter.
- Heat up your pan to medium low and coat the pan with some coconut oil.
- Once heated up ladle the batter to make 3 medium sized pancakes.
- Allow to cook for 2 minutes before flipping the pancakes over. They will be slightly firm at the edges.
- Cook on the other side for another 2 minutes.
- Place on kitchen paper to drain any excess oil.
- Repeat steps 8-11 to finish the batter while adding coconut oil in between to make sure the batter won’t stick.