Autumn is finally here, which means it’s time to rewatch Gilmore Girls and start baking pumpkin-flavored treats. And, with this delicious recipe, you can combine the two! In season four, episode nine of Gilmore Girls, protagonists Rory and Lorelai Gilmore sit down at a table in Luke’s Diner, run by the notoriously grumpy Luke Danes—however, he is in a surprisingly good mood that day, chipperly offering to make the girls pumpkin pancakes with cinnamon butter. Fortunately, numerous people have managed to create this treat in real life. One of these people is Emily Rangel, whose take on the recipe is particularly good (I can confirm, after making them, that they are very delicious). But you don’t have to take my word for it; you can make them yourself!
INGREDIENTS:
Pumpkin Pancakes (10 pancakes)
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin spice
¼ tsp salt
1 cup milk
½ cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
3 tbsp butter (melted)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Cinnamon Butter
½ cup unsalted butter (room temp.)
¼ cup confectioners sugar
1½ tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp honey
½ tsp vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS:
- In a small bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, and salt.
- Add the milk, pumpkin puree, egg, melted butter, and vanilla into a large bowl. Whisk until well-combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and mix until smooth.
- Heat a large pan over medium-high heat and grease with butter.
- Pour the batter onto the pan in small portions. Flip pancakes once the bottoms are golden brown.
- Once both sides of the pancakes are golden brown, take them off the stove and allow them to cool for several minutes. In the meantime, mix together the cinnamon butter.
- When the pancakes are cool, add as much cinnamon butter as you please. Enjoy!
This recipe also appears in our September 2025 print edition.
