Today is a pure masterpiece! It’s one of those days that you just know could not be any more perfect than it is. Blue sky, low humidity, 77 degrees and my family all together with the teen and tween behaving and getting along. It doesn’ t get much better than that! We started our day, which in case you forgot is the first day of FALL, with a great breakfast followed by a beautiful walk then a little drive. It’s so pretty out with the little signs of fall approaching like the yellowing of the soy bean fields and the first blooms of cotton popping out.

Our puppy is almost 5 months old and we decided today would be a great day to take her on her first big walk, along with our older dog of course, and they were happy as could be! Our older Shih Tzu loves to go for walks, but during the summer heat doesn’t get out a whole lot as she does not handle heat too well. She really enjoyed today, they did great:-)

Can you tell they like to get out and about?!

It’s not every year in North Alabama that you can ring in the first day of fall where it actually really feels like fall outside! We woke up this morning and it was about 53 degrees! While it was “freezing” feeling it was so refreshing and cozy and we really enjoyed it. I decided what a perfect morning to make a nice fall breakfast and enjoy some peaceful and calm family time when there was no rush to be anywhere.  So I of course dug into my Pumpkin stash in the pantry and made the most delicious Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Buttermilk Pancakes, along with a cream cheese icing sauce to top them off with. It was so incredibly yummy! So of course I have to share it with all of you!

Ingredients: (for pancakes)

3 cups of flour

3 tbsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups Buttermilk (I used lowfat)

3/4 cups milk

3 eggs

1 cup canned pumpkin

3/4 bag (standard size bag) chocolate chunks or chips

vegetable oil for the skillet

Directions:

Heat your oil on your skillet or griddle  on medium-low heat while you prep the batter. I of course used my cast iron, I used my new flat pan which worked perfect! Heating these cast iron skillets ahead of time is important and makes a big difference with how your pancakes turn out. Mix all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl with a large spoon until it’s all mixed well. There will still be a few lumps, that is ok! Add the chocolate chips and mix well. Pour onto the skillet, I do 4 at a time. When the edges look browned and the top batter starts to bubble flip and cook the other side. Repeat until all the pancakes are made! This takes a bit as this makes a large batch, but then you have breakfast for the next couple of days too!

Sweet Cream Cheese Sauce Ingredients:

1 cup confectioners sugar

4 oz cream cheese

3 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together in a medium size bowl and beat on medium speed for about a minute. Done!

 

What I do is preheat my over to 170 degrees while I prep the batter and skillet. When I complete my first batch of pancakes  I place them on a cookie sheet as they come off the skillet and turn the oven off after the first batch comes off.  I then place the pancakes on that cookie sheet and keep them in the warm oven until all of them are done so that they stay warm and we can all eat together as a family. I also put the cream cheese mixture in the over to warm that because it tastes so much better warm plus it thins it a little with the heat making it easier to put on the pancakes.

Another hint that I didn’t do because I really just wanted to dive into these pancakes is this. To make the cream cheese sauce look “nicer” on the pancakes you can place the warm cream cheese in a baggie, seal it tight and cut just the very end off the bottom corner of the baggie and then you can nicely squeeze or drizzle the sauce on the pancakes. Or you can do what I did and just dab it on with a spoon and eat quicker! I hope you enjoy these!