Mini Pumpkin Spice Pancakes with Bacon and Maple Cream Topping

I recently received a Sweet Creations Whoopie Pie Pan along with the challenge to think outside the box when using it. And by “outside the box,” they meant: Don’t use this whoopie pie pan to make whoopie pies.

Even though this is the perfect pan for baking whoopie pies, did you know that whoopie pie pans can be used to bake a lot of OTHER things? Neither did I, at first…but now I know that you can use them to bake:

• ice cream sandwiches (tops and bottoms)
• single serving layer cakes
• brownies
• muffin tops
• cookies
• eggs
• mini pancakes
• and more!

Honestly, I will probably end up using this whoopie pie pan to make other stuff a lot more often than I’ll use it to make whoopie pies. No offense to whoopie pies, but this is just a really versatile pan for the baker. 

The Sweet Creations Whoopie Pie Pan is completely nonstick and everything slides right out of it. Everything I have baked in it so far has cooked evenly. I think the creative uses for this pan are just about limitless.

The first time I used this pan, I baked eggs for breakfast sandwiches. They came out perfectly round and just the right size to go in between the English muffin. The pan has 12 wells, so I can bake enough eggs for a dozen sandwiches and freeze them if needed.

Pumpkin Spice and Pancakes

I knew I wanted to use this pan for mini pancakes with a fall taste twist. So I used canned pumpkin and spices in a homemade pancake mix for Pumpkin Spice Pancakes. I sprinkled cooked bacon onto the pancake batter before baking them and well, you can see how they turned out. I served those with a maple syrup-infused whipped cream, which takes about 2 minutes to make at home. I made a second batch of pancakes without the bacon and drizzled those with maple syrup. Delicious!

Mini Pumpkin Spice Pancakes with Bacon Recipe

makes 24 mini pumpkin pancakes using Sweet Creations (12-well) whoopie pie pan

Ingredients:

• 2 cups white flour
• 3 T. brown sugar
• 2 t. baking powder
• 1 t. baking soda
• 2.5 t. pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1.5 cups milk
• 2 T. oil
• 1 c. canned pumpkin
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 T. vinegar
• optional: Bacon (12 strips, fully cooked and then crumbled)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine wet ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl (milk, oil, pumpkin, egg and vinegar) and stir until mixed. Combine dry ingredients in a separate, large mixing bowl and mix well. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir thoroughly.

Fill each whoopie pie pan well with about 3-4 tablespoons of pumpkin spice pancake batter. Sprinkle tops with bacon. Bake on 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes or until done in the middle.

Remove from oven and serve with maple syrup and/or maple whipped cream.

Maple Whipped Cream

Use a hand mixer to beat one cup of heavy whipping cream and 3-4 tablespoons of maple syrup until whipped and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add more syrup as desired to suit your taste preferences.

Do you have a whoopie pie pan? What other uses for whoopie pie pan do you know about? Are you a fan of pumpkin spice and pancakes? 

Purchase the Sweet Creations Nonstick Whoopie Pie Pan online at GoodCook.com.