Perfect Pumpkin Pancakes

The Red Sox lost the ALDS again. This is beginning to feel like a seasonal tradition rather than an event, which may be the only psychologically survivable interpretation. Patrick is walking it off. Sean Sr. has retreated into stoic silence, which lasts approximately forty-eight hours and then resolves into talking about next year, which is the mechanism. Sean D. took it with more grace than the Donovans, as he always does, and made the Saturday pancakes in a conspicuously cheerful way, which is either emotional maturity or a strategy for avoiding the grief and honestly I respect both.

Anatomy scan is in two weeks. I have been trying to think of how I feel about the impending revelation and the honest answer is: ready. I'm ready to know. I've been imagining both versions of a child — a son, a daughter — and each version is fully real to me in a way that will become more real once it has a name. Sean D. and I have had the name conversation and have two names each that we like and no firm decisions yet and I am fine with this because we have time and also because Sean D. has one name on his list that he will probably have to give up and I am allowing him to arrive at that conclusion on his own rather than telling him outright.

Fall cooking in full stride. I made a beef pot pie this week — proper full crust on top, braised beef filling with root vegetables and herbs, the kind of thing that requires most of a Saturday to make and produces something that tastes like October should taste. Sean D. looked at it coming out of the oven and said, "This is the best thing I've ever seen in this apartment." I said, "Better than me?" He said, "Differently impressive." I'm choosing to interpret that as a compliment about the pie rather than a comparative assessment.

I keep thinking about the way Sean D. handled that Saturday morning — the Red Sox grief hanging over the apartment, Patrick walking it off somewhere, Sean Sr. in his forty-eight-hour silence — and Sean D. just quietly making pancakes like that was the only reasonable response to the world. He’s right. It is. I’ve made these pumpkin pancakes every October since I found the recipe, and they have the same quality his Saturday pancakes had that morning: purposeful, warm, a little bit defiant against whatever the week threw at you.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 4 (about 12 pancakes)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Butter or neutral oil, for the griddle
Maple syrup and extra butter, to serve

Instructions

Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon until evenly combined.
Mix the wet ingredients. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, buttermilk, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract until smooth.
Combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently with a spatula until just combined. Do not overmix — a few lumps are fine. Let the batter rest for 5 minutes while your griddle heats.
Heat the griddle. Warm a griddle or large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Lightly grease with butter or oil. The surface is ready when a few drops of water skitter and evaporate on contact.
Cook the pancakes. Pour approximately 1/4 cup of batter per pancake onto the griddle. Cook until bubbles form across the surface and the edges look set, about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip and cook the second side for another 1 to 2 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through.
Keep warm and serve. Transfer finished pancakes to a plate in a low oven (200°F) to keep warm while you cook the remaining batter. Serve stacked with butter and warm maple syrup.

Nutrition (per serving)

Perfect Pumpkin Pancakes — The Saturday Morning That Got Us Through the Loss