Pumpkin Pancakes 4.09 Ted Koppel’s Big Night Out

“Okay. Uh, hey, are you in the mood for pancakes?” “Pancakes, sure, yeah. I guess we have enough space for pancakes.” “Cause I'm making pumpkin pancakes and it comes with homemade cinnamon butter.” “You made cinnamon butter?” “This morning.” “Wow. I bet the other people who would love a table right now but can't have one 'cause they're all taken would love pumpkin pancakes with homemade cinnamon butter.”

Ingredients:

For the pancakes:

• Half a cup of pumpkin puree

• 1 ¼ cup milk

• 2 eggs

• 2 tbsp sugar

• ½ tsp vanilla

• 3 tbsp melted butter

• 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour

• ¼ tsp salt

• 1 tbsp baking powder

• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (if you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, you can also use a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger)

• ¼ tsp ground cloves

For the cinnamon butter:

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 1⁄2 tbsp cinnamon

• 2 tsp brown sugar

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and melted butter until fully combined.

2. Mix in the flour, salt, baking powder, and spices. Stir together until fully combined. Some lumps are okay.

3. Turn on an electric griddle to 300 degrees F or place a large skillet over medium heat.

4. Melt a teaspoon of butter or canola oil so the pancakes don’t stick.

5. Pour about ¼ cup of the pancake batter. You can work in batches or one at a time, depending on the size of your skillet or griddle.

6. Allow the pancake to cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side. When small bubbles have formed on the uncooked side, it’s time to flip the pancake.

7. While you’re cooking the rest of the pancakes, keep the finished ones warmed under foil or in the oven set to the warming setting.

8. To make the cinnamon butter, add the heavy cream to a large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the cream for about 10-15 minutes on the highest setting.

9. The cream will first turn to whipped cream and then will begin to solidify. Liquid will separate out from the solids. This is buttermilk, don’t discard it! (You can use it for other recipes!) Once the solids have turned yellow and have started to form together, stop mixing.

10. Strain the butter from the buttermilk with a fine mesh sieve. Then squeeze the butter to remove more of the buttermilk.

11. Run the butter under cold water for about 15 seconds, then squeeze out the liquid again.

12. Transfer the butter to a small mixing bowl and add the cinnamon and brown sugar. Stir to combine fully.

13. Serve your pancakes with the cinnamon butter and add maple syrup if you’d like.

My pumpkin pancake batter

Now, I know I haven’t been talking about my thoughts on each of the episodes I’ve been covering lately, but I want to with this one because there is a lot that happens in this episode. To me, it’s always felt like it should have been two different episodes. The Harvard/Yale game could have been its own stand-alone episode, while Lorelai and Jason’s first date could have been combined with a different episode. I would have preferred that as a replacement to the previous episode, Die Jerk, which is one of my least favorite episodes of the entire series.

Once your pancake is cooked on both sides, you're ready to go!

The big conflict of this episode is Emily finding out that Richard has been having yearly lunches with his ex, Pennalyn Lott, behind her back for pretty much their entire relationship. I think the lunches themselves are pretty harmless, but Richard was definitely in the wrong for not telling Emily about them. However, I do think this is a good catalyst for the eventual separation between the two as season 4 wears on.

updated stack in 2024 with homemade butter recipe

In the second half of this episode, we see Lorelai and Jason go on their first date. I asked on my Instagram if people thought Lorelai was right to not want to eat in a private room or if she should have just sucked it up. It was split pretty much down the middle. Here are my thoughts on it. For a first date, I get that Jason was trying to seem impressive and a private room is a good way to have some quiet so that they can get to know each other. But knowing that Lorelai loves being in the center of the action, I get why she felt uncomfortable with it. I think a bit of pre-date communication could have helped them reach an easy compromise, but I know that it’s supposed to show that they are very different. What do you think?

Happy Cooking from the Hollow!

If you missed what I made last episode, catch up here!

If I got to try one thing from Luke's, it would be his pumpkin pancakes (yes, even over the burger).