Pumpkin Pancakes with Pancake Mix

Making pumpkin pancakes with pancake mix couldn't be easier! Just add pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice to your boxed mix and whip up a batch of fluffy pumpkin pancakes that taste like fall with every bite.

Jump to:

• 🗒 Ingredients
• 🥞 How to make
• Why does adding pumpkin puree to pancake mix work?
• How much pumpkin puree & spice to add
• ⏲️ How to store
• 🎉 Variations
• 👩‍🍳 More pancake mix recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

I have a secret to share with you today: You can make nearly any flavor pancakes you want with a box of plain pancake mix.

And yes, that includes pumpkin pancakes. In fact, it's extremely easy to do. Almost too easy. I love my homemade pumpkin pancakes recipe, but sometimes I want to take a shortcut or two for a super quick and easy breakfast.

I experimented with this pumpkin pancakes with pancake mix recipe quite a bit before realizing I was complicating things too much.

I tried a variety of different pancake mixes and discovered that, for the most part, adjusting the pancake mix box recipe simply means adding pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice. Which means, you can make pumpkin pancakes with pancake mix any time you want!

🗒 Ingredients

When it comes to ingredients, you'll first have to determine what kind of pancake mix you'll be using. Though there are tons of different brands, there are two main types of pancake mix: traditional and complete.

Most traditional pancake mixes require you to add eggs and milk and sometimes vegetable oil to them. But complete pancake mixes have all of the fats already combined and just need water added.

You can make these pumpkin pancakes with regular or complete pancake mix.

In my pumpkin pancake testing, my favorite traditional mix was Bisquick. If you're using Bisquick or a similar mix, here's what you'll need:

• Pancake mix
• Large eggs
• Milk
• Pumpkin puree
• Pumpkin pie spice

(note that my Bisquick box didn't call for vegetable oil, but some do. You can add this in for extra moistness if you want).

You'll use the box as a guide for ingredient amounts, but I also have a guide in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

And for the complete mix, I like the Krusteaz buttermilk mix the best. Here's what you need with a complete mix:

• Complete pancake mix
• Water
• Pumpkin puree
• Pumpkin pie spice

Again, see the box and the recipe card for ingredient amounts.

But you can certainly use whatever brand pancake mix you want to make pumpkin pancakes, though it's likely that some will work better than others.

I will note that in all my testing, the only brand I didn't love was Annie's pancake mix. I typically love their mix, but with the pumpkin added, the pancakes were much more dense than I prefer.

🥞 How to make

To make pumpkin pancakes with pancake mix all you have to do is follow the boxed instructions and add pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice.

That's it!

Since pumpkin is adding moisture to the pancakes, I assumed I'd have to adjust the amount of liquid the pancake mix box calls for, but that was not the case. I kept everything as instructed and just added pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice.

If your box is a complete pancake mix, you'll likely be adding water, pumpkin puree, and pancake spice mix.

And if it's a standard mix, you'll likely be using eggs, milk, pumpkin puree, and pumpkin pie spice.

Remember, the above is just a rule of thumb and you may have to experiment based on the brand of pancake mix you're using and just how pumpkin-y you want your pancakes.

Mix everything together to combine, making sure not to over-mix. It's OK if the pancake batter is a little bit lumpy.

I recommend letting the batter rest for about two minutes.

While the batter is resting, you can heat your griddle or skillet or medium heat. Brush some butter on the griddle.

And scoop about ¼ cup batter onto it.

Cook the pancakes until bubbles start to form, about 1 ½ minutes.

Flip and cook for another 1 ½ minutes or until golden.

And the results should be super light and fluffy pumpkin pancakes that are perfectly spiced.

Obviously I recommend serving with a little pat of butter and a hearty dose of maple syrup. And a cup of coffee. Or this Iced Pumpkin Chai Tea Latte.

Your family will likely think you made them a big batch of pumpkin pancakes from scratch and will never know you took an itty bitty little shortcut.

⏲️ How to store

If you have leftover pumpkin pancake, you can keep them stored for later!

Just keep the cooled pancakes in an airtight container or in a large Ziplock bag in the fridge. They should stay fresh for about 2 days.

You can reheat the pancakes in the microwave or the toaster oven.

You can even freeze leftover pancake mix pumpkin pancakes for the easiest weekday breakfast ever! I recommend first putting them in a single layer on a baking sheet and putting in the freezer for a couple hours, so they can freeze without sticking.

Then, transfer the frozen pancakes to a freezer-safe bag or other airtight container (layer parchment paper between them to prevent sticking).

You can reheat the pancakes directly from frozen either in the microwave or in a toaster oven.

🎉 Variations

Now that you know you can follow the instructions on your favorite pancake mix and just add a couple ingredients to get pumpkin pancakes, the options really are endless!

Here are some more ideas for the pancake recipe:

• Add chocolate chips for chocolate chip pumpkin pancakes. White chocolate chips or caramel chips would be delicious, too.
  
• Add nuts like pecans or walnuts for a little crunch.
  
• Add espresso powder or even coffee to the batter to make pumpkin spice latte pancakes.

• Add protein powder to the pancake mix (I especially recommend pumpkin spice protein powder, but vanilla or cinnamon bun powder would also be delicious) for a protein and flavor boost.

• Add old-fashioned oats to the batter to make these heartier pancakes.

• Add a cinnamon swirl to the pancakes by drizzling a mixture of melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon over the pancakes as they cook.
  
• Add mashed bananas to the batter for banana pumpkin pancakes.
  
• Instead of maple syrup, drizzle caramel sauce over the pancakes.
  

No matter if you serve these pancakes as is or you add all kinds of deliciousness to them, they're the most perfect fall breakfast.

So easy you can make them on a weekday, but also decadent enough for a weekend brunch.

Did you know you can even make your own homemade pancake mix?

And now you know how to make the easiest pumpkin pancakes ever!

If you make this recipe, please let me know in the comments below what kind of pancake mix you used and any adjustments you made.

📖 Recipe