Saturday marks the 19th Annual Keene Pumpkin Festival. Growing from a modest community-based Harvest celebration it has become a world-record showplace for thousands of carved pumpkins. Even more thousands of enthusiastic visitors come to view them. The Festival is an event Keene-ites look forward to all year.

Before you head downtown to jostle with the crowds, register your jack o’lantern and gasp with delight at the sheer overload of these lighted works of art, make sure you eat a hearty breakfast. These pancakes are delicious and boast beta-carotene from the addition of pumpkin.

And don’t forget the real maple syrup.

Makes about 16 pancakes

¾ cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 whole egg
½ cup pumpkin puree (do not use pumpkin pie mix)
½ cup nonfat plain yogurt
1 cup unbleached flour
3 tablespoons sugar*
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ginger
¼ teaspoon allspice
pinch of nutmeg
Milk (to thin the batter)
Chocolate chips, raisins or chopped nuts
Real Maple Syrup

1. Whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter and egg. Add the pumpkin purée and yogurt and stir until combined. Set the wet ingredients aside.

2. In another bowl, place all the dry ingredients, including the spices. Stir together with a fork until the mixture is uniform.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet all at once and stir just enough to dampen the flour. If the batter is too thick, add milk a little at a time until you have the right consistency. It should be thin enough to pour.

4. Heat a griddle or large sauté pan over medium heat. Grease with a little shortening or cooking oil. Don’t use butter as this will burn your pancakes. When drops of water “dance” on the surface of the pan, drop the batter, about ¼ cup makes a good size cake, onto the pan.

5. Using chocolate chips, raisins or chopped nuts, form jack o’lantern faces on the pancakes. Allow the pancakes to cook until bubbles stop forming on top and the surface becomes dull.

6. Carefully slide a spatula under each cake and turn gently but quickly. Allow the other side to brown.

7. Serve with butter and real maple syrup.

*If you wish for a lower sugar recipe, you may substitute an equal amount of Splenda® for the sugar, increasing the baking powder to 3 teaspoons, and omit the chocolate chips.

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