Give Basic Pancakes Rich Fall Flavor With A Pinch Of These Pantry Staples

One of the great things about pancakes is how adaptable they are. Basic buttermilk pancakes, for example, are wonderful with just the standard butter and syrup, but they're extra decadent with toppings, such as strawberries and whipped cream. This is to say nothing of all the potential mix-ins, such as chocolate chips and bananas. You can even tailor a pancake's flavors to reflect the season, and little says fall like a few pinches of ground cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg swirled into the batter.

These warming spices appear in so many cold weather recipes, including butternut squash soup, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie (the icon of the genre), that they've become synonymous with autumn. They even combine to make the historic pumpkin pie spice that people have been using for decades, so you can also reach for that when making pancakes. Otherwise, DIY it with 3 parts cinnamon, 2 parts each ginger and nutmeg, and 1 part cloves. Then, all it takes is a few taps of the blend added to your usual scratch ingredients, or favorite boxed pancake mix, and you have a worthy stack of golden deliciousness that seems like it took way more time and effort than you actually spent.

If you're adding store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice to a tried-and-true pancake preparation, 1 or 2 teaspoons per cup of flour is plenty, depending on your desired level of intensity. The same goes for adding it to a boxed variety; aim for 1 to 2 teaspoons per cup of powder. Once you combine all your ingredients and poured circles to sizzle in some butter on the stovetop, there are further fall flavor opportunities to explore.

The easiest autumn-spiced pancake enhancement is using real maple syrup versus pancake syrup. The former's woodsy, toasty notes are the perfect pairing for the combination of ground cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. You can also easily fluff that maple syrup up into whipped cream, should you want to get even fancier. All you need to do is add some maple syrup to your usual whipped cream recipe for the topical twist. Caramel sauce can have a similar effect. Swapping your usual butter with a pumpkin compound butter likewise hits the whole theme out of the park, and you can easily make one with a ratio of 2 parts butter to 1 part pumpkin puree (plus a sweetener if desired). A handful of toasted walnuts along with any of these toppings is plenty cozy as well, with the benefit of adding some texture.