Pumpkin Roll Pancakes

Heaven.  Given that pumpkin rolls are my favorite dessert, you can imagine my excitement to try these pancakes on for size.  And, as Our Best Bites say themselves, they're not as dessert-ish and unhealthy as you might think.  I even tweaked the recipe a little bit to make them even more healthy even less unhealthy:)  

If you can believe it, I had never tried real maple syrup until this year!  In all honesty, at first I didn’t think I liked it in place of my oh-so-familiar imitation-flavored maple syrup on breakfast foods; however, I had it with these, and in combination with the cream cheese topping it was so amazing!  If you can, I would definitely recommend splurging for the pure maple syrup.  It just adds decadence to the pancakes.  (Can pancakes be decadent?  Yep.)

Pumpkin Roll Pancakes
Idea completely credited to the wonderful minds of Our Best Bites (Thank you so much!)

Recipe slightly adapted from Our Best Bites

Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
3/4 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon applesauce

1 tablespoon canola oil
2 eggs
2/3 cup pumpkin puree

Cream Cheese Whipped Cream
4 ounces cream cheese (low fat is fine, no fat free)
4 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup whipping cream (heavy or regular) whipped until medium peaks form

Or

4 ounces cream cheese

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Lite Cool Whip*

Pure maple syrup for serving

*(I folded in starting with about a cup until I reached the desired consistency and sweetness.  Remember this topping is meant to be less sweet than typical Pumpkin Roll filling; it makes it feel more breakfastyJ)

Instructions
Prepare whipped cream by beating cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth and creamy.  Take 1/2 of the whipped cream (that you already whipped) and beat it in until smooth.  Add the rest of the whipped cream and use a spatula to gently fold in (do not beat).  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.   

Prepare pancakes.  Whisk together flours, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger.  Make sure to break up any clumps of brown sugar.  In a separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, vanilla, oil, eggs and pumpkin.  Combine wet ingredients with dry and gently combine until mixed.  Do not overmix.

Heat a nonstick griddle to medium heat.  When hot, use butter or nonstick spray to coat the pan.  Drop 1/4 cup pancake batter to form each pancake and cook until edges set (if you wait until they bubble, it might be just a bit too long).  Flip pancakes and cook remaining side.
Serve warm pancakes with a dollop of cream cheese topping and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Makes 12-14 large pancakes.