Halloween Pancakes

Fluffy, spiced and topped with a chocolate spider web, these vegan Halloween pancakes are the easiest way to bring a little spooky fun to the breakfast table. Made with pumpkin purée and no eggs or dairy, they’re ready in under an hour and kids love decorating them.

Easy Vegan Halloween Pancakes with Pumpkin and Chocolate

These Halloween pancakes make a fun, family-friendly breakfast, dessert or treat for October. They are soft, fluffy and lightly spiced. Fresh pumpkin purée, dark brown sugar and mixed spice go into the batter, with chocolate chips folded through. A chocolate spider web piped across the top of the stack, finished with a pair of edible eyes, turns them into a spooky centrepiece.

The idea for this recipe came from the leftover pumpkin purée from my pumpkin-shaped bread.

There are no eggs or dairy here: the pumpkin purée keeps the pancakes moist and tender, and I am using plant milk and dairy-free butter do the rest. That makes them an easy vegan Halloween breakfast everyone can share, whether you’re feeding the kids before school, hosting a Halloween brunch or fuelling up before trick-or-treating.

Why you’ll love these Halloween pancakes

• Egg-free and dairy-free. Pumpkin purée and extra baking powder replaces the eggs, so they suit vegans and anyone with an egg-free household.
• Real autumn flavour. Pumpkin, mixed spice, cinnamon and dark brown sugar make them taste like pumpkin pie.
• Easy to decorate. Make the spider web with a piping bag and a jar of chocolate spread. No special skills needed.
• Kid-friendly. Children love piping the webs and adding the eyes.
• Make-ahead and freezer-friendly. Cook them the day before or freeze a batch for half-term.
• A use for pumpkin. It’s a delicious way to use up the flesh from your Halloween pumpkin.

Ingredients for Halloween pancakes

• Plain flour: gives a soft, fluffy pancake. A plain gluten-free flour blend works too (see swaps below).
• Baking powder: makes the pancakes rise.
• Mixed spice and ground cinnamon: mixed spice is the British cupboard version of American pumpkin pie spice.
• Dark brown sugar: adds a rich, toffee-like sweetness that goes beautifully with pumpkin. Light brown sugar works if that’s what you have.
• Pumpkin purée: I make my own pumpkin purée by steaming some fresh pumpkin. You can use tinned 100% pumpkin purée, not “pumpkin pie filling”, which is already sweetened and spiced. Roasted and blended butternut squash also works well.
• Milk of choice: any plant milk works – oat, soya and almond are all good. Use dairy milk if you’re not making them vegan.
• Vegetable oil and vanilla extract: for softeness and flavour.
• Dark chocolate chips: many dark chocolate chips are dairy-free, but check the label if you’re cooking for vegans.
• Dairy-free butter or butter: for greasing the pan. It gives lovely golden edges.
• For the spider web: chocolate spread (a dairy-free hazelnut or cocoa spread keeps it vegan) and edible eyes. Edible eyes are sold in the baking aisle of most UK supermarkets. Some contain egg white, gelatine or shellac, so check the label for vegan guests.

How to make your own pumpkin purée

Unsweetened shop-bought tinned pumpkin purée works perfectly, but homemade is easy and a great way to use up a leftover Halloween pumpkin or butternut squash. You’ll need 240g for this recipe.

Steamed pumpkin purée (my favourite method)

This is how I make it for my pumpkin-shaped bread. Peel, deseed and dice the pumpkin, then steam it in a steamer basket set over a pan of simmering water for 10–12 minutes, until completely soft. Mash to a purée with a potato masher, or blend until smooth.

Roasted pumpkin purée

Cut the pumpkin or squash into wedges and scoop out the seeds – there’s no need to peel it. Roast at 200°C (180°C fan) for 40–45 minutes, until completely soft. Scoop the flesh away from the skin and blend until smooth. Roasting gives the purée a slightly deeper, sweeter flavour.

Whichever method you choose, drain off any excess water. If the purée still looks watery, strain it in a sieve first, as too much liquid makes the pancakes heavy.

You will need around 200g of fresh pumpkin to steam, or 400g if you roast it.

How to make Halloween pancakes

The full measurements and method are in the recipe card below. Here’s an overview with step-by-step photos.

Step 1: Mix the dry ingredients

In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, mixed spice, cinnamon, salt and dark brown sugar. Break up any lumps of sugar with your fingers.

Step 2: Whisk the wet ingredients

In a jug, whisk the pumpkin purée, milk, oil and vanilla extract until well combined.

Step 3: Combine and fold in the chocolate

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined – a few small lumps are fine. Overmixing makes pancakes tough. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Step 4: Cook the pancakes

Heat a large frying pan over a medium-high heat and grease it generously with dairy-free butter. Add 4 tablespoons of batter per pancake, then turn the heat down to medium. Cook for 1–2 minutes, until bubbles form on the surface, then flip and cook for another minute or so until golden. Repeat with the rest of the batter.

How to decorate spider web pancakes

This is the fun part, and children can easily help. You’ll need a piping bag fitted with a small round nozzle. A sandwich bag with a tiny corner snipped off works too.

1. Stack the pancakes on a serving plate.
2. Spoon chocolate spread into the piping bag. If the spread is too thick to pipe, warm it for 10 seconds in the microwave.
3. On the top pancake, pipe 4 straight lines that cross in the centre to make an 8-pointed star.
4. Pipe small curved lines between neighbouring star lines, about halfway along each one, then repeat near the outer ends to create the web.
5. Add two edible eyes to the web and serve straight away.

More spooky Halloween pancake ideas

Use the same batter to make a whole spooky platter:

• Ghost pancakes: drop the batter into wobbly, uneven shapes in the pan. Once cooked, dust with icing sugar and add chocolate chips for the eyes and mouth.
• Jack-o’-lantern pancakes: pipe a face onto each pancake with chocolate spread and add a small piece of pretzel or a mint leaf for the stalk.
• Blackberry spiders: top each pancake with a blackberry “body”, pipe chocolate legs and add two edible eyes.
• Vampire bite pancakes: spoon two dots of raspberry or strawberry jam onto the stack and drizzle a little more down the side for a bloody effect.
• Mummy pancakes: pipe zigzag strips of dairy-free yoghurt or icing across a pancake, leaving a gap for two edible eyes.
• Monster pancakes: stir a few drops of natural green or purple food colouring into a portion of the batter, then add eyes and chocolate-chip teeth.

Tips for perfect pumpkin pancakes

• Don’t overmix the batter. Stir until no dry flour remains and stop – lumps disappear as the pancakes cook.
• Get the heat right. Pumpkin batter is thicker than classic pancake batter, so the outside browns before the middle cooks if the pan is too hot. Start on medium-high to heat the pan, then cook on medium.
• Flip once. Wait until bubbles form and the edges look set. Pressing the pancakes down with the spatula knocks the air out.
• Use a measure. A ¼-cup measure or 4 level tablespoons makes evenly sized pancakes that stack neatly.
• Keep them warm. Put cooked pancakes on a baking tray in a low oven (120°C/100°C fan), loosely covered with foil, while you cook the rest.
• Decorate just before serving, so the chocolate web stays sharp.

Variations and swaps

• Gluten-free: use a plain gluten-free flour blend and check your baking powder is gluten-free. Add an extra splash of milk if the batter is very thick.
• No pumpkin? Use the same weight of puréed steamed or roasted butternut squash or sweet potato.
• Spice it up: add ½ tsp ground ginger, or swap the mixed spice for a chai spice blend.
• Chocolate swaps: use milk or white chocolate chips (not vegan unless labelled dairy-free), or chopped pecans instead.
• Not vegan? Use dairy milk and butter, and any chocolate you like.
• Wholemeal: replace up to half the plain flour with wholemeal flour for extra fibre.
• Lower sugar: reduce the brown sugar to 4 tbsp – the chocolate chips and toppings add plenty of sweetness.

Make ahead, storage and freezing

• Make the batter ahead: keep it covered in the fridge for up to 12 hours. It will thicken and lose a little lift, so stir in a splash of milk before cooking.
• Fridge: keep cooled, undecorated pancakes in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
• Freezer: freeze cooled pancakes in a single layer on a tray, then transfer them to a freezer bag with baking parchment between the layers. They keep for up to 3 months.
• Reheat: warm from frozen in the toaster, in the microwave for 30–60 seconds, or covered with foil in the oven at 180°C (160°C fan) for 10 minutes. Decorate once warm.

What to serve with Halloween pancakes

• Maple syrup or a drizzle of melted dark chocolate
• Thick dairy-free yoghurt and blackberries, blueberries or pomegranate seeds for a gory red touch
• Caramelised apple or pear slices for a seasonal twist
• A mug of hot chocolate or a spiced oat milk latte

What to do with leftover pumpkin

In the UK, millions of pumpkins are carved for Halloween and then thrown away without being eaten. Roast and purée the flesh from your carved pumpkin for these pancakes, toast the seeds for a crunchy snack, and use any extra in soups, curries and our Halloween pumpkin chilli. You can find more ideas from Love Food Hate Waste.

Halloween pancakes FAQs

More Halloween and autumn recipes

• Halloween pumpkin chilli
• 10 best spooky vegetarian and vegan Halloween recipes
• Apple pie overnight oats
• Roasted winter squash with creamy lentils
• Bonfire Night recipes

I hope you enjoy these Halloween pancakes as much as we do. If you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram!

Other things you might like

• 6 Best Spooky Vegetarian & Vegan Halloween Recipes
• Vegan Meringue Halloween Ghosts
• Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
• Pumpkin Bread
• Christmas Pancakes