Pumpkin Seed Cakes

This time of year I crave all things pumpkin….well, actually pumpkin, squash and apple.  I’ll be sharing recipes in the next few weeks featuring these ingredients.  There’s no better way to get started than breakfast, so this time I give you Pumpkin Seed Cakes.

This recipe was inspired by Kris Carr‘s Sexy Seed Cake recipe from her Crazy Sexy Diet book.  If you haven’t read this book, you should!  Buy it, do the 21-day cleanse, start living like you mean it! Most importantly, make the Sexy Seed Cakes in the book.  They are a breakfast favorite around here.  The first time we made them, I thought they would be a typical pancake, sans gluten and animal products.  Instead, they are a bit more dense, lots more nutrient dense and packed with flavors I had never experienced together before. 

Not one to leave well enough alone, I’ve added pumpkin.  Here’s my variation on the original recipe. I hope you love these as much as we do!

Pumpkin Seed Cakes
(Makes 10-4″ cakes)

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds (raw preferable, but unsalted roasted work fine, too)
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds (raw preferable)
1/4 cup raw flaxseeds or flax meal
1/4 cup raw sesame seeds or hemp seeds (I prefer sesame)
1 cup of my favorite gluten-free flour blend
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. sea salt
1 t. Stevia, or more to taste
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of ginger
pinch of cloves
(you could also add 1/2 t. of pumpkin pie spice instead of the four spices above)

3/4 c. canned organic pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling, just plain ol’ pumpkin)
3/4 c. unsweetened almond milk

Using a coffee grinder, grind all of the seeds until they are a fine powder, like flour.  If you are using hemp seeds, no need to grind them.  Mix with flour, baking soda, salt, Stevia and spices.  Add pumpkin puree and stir to incorporate as best you can, it will be very thick.  Add milk a little bit at a time until you have a thick batter, thicker than a typical pancake batter.

Using a hot pancake griddle, pour heaping tablespoons of batter out and cook until the batter starts to bubble on the outer edges.  Flip when the cake is browned on the bottom.  Cook on the other side.  These take a little longer than a typical pancake to cook. 

Serve with a drizzle of pure maple syrup or agave nectar.  I add a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds and a tiny bit of powdered sugar.  These are also really good with agave nectar.  My husband likes to smear Trader Joe’s pumpkin butter on them, too. 

I’m also sharing Pumpkin Pistachio Bundt Cake over at 52 Sweets this week.  I hope you’ll check it out!