These gingerbread pancakes are thick, fluffy & ultra fragrant. Every bite is packed with warm spices & molasses, so they're reminiscent of your favorite gingerbread cookie. Top with whipped cream, gingerbread syrup, maple syrup, candied pecans & crystallized ginger for the ultimate Christmas breakfast. TIP: Prep a batch of the dry mix with simple pantry ingredients to save time (or give as food gifts). The cooked pancakes also freeze & reheat well for a lazy weekend breakfast!
I made this recipe last year for Christmas and shared it for my DIY breakfast gift basket, but decided it deserves its own post. These pancakes have practically ruined regular buttermilk pancakes for me. They make my kitchen smell heavenly and give me instant feel-good vibes from all the sweet, warm spices.
When I sit down to eat a plate dressed up with all the festive toppings, I feel like a little kid ordering a special breakfast at IHOP or Denny's. Maybe it's the whipped cream (something I never had on pancakes growing up). Or the fancy gingerbread syrup (which is super simple to make).
Either way, they're glorious. Perfect for a festive meal on Christmas morning or a cozy breakfast on a chilly winter's day. Or a homemade birthday breakfast for a Sagittarius or Capricorn in your life. If you want to go all out, serve them with a maple gingerbread latte or a Gingerbread White Russian. It's so good!
I'm not always in the mood to stand over the stove flipping pancakes (I need to get one of those electric griddles), so I'll often make a batch on a random weekday then purposefully freeze the leftovers. Then on a lazy Sunday, I can pop a few in the oven, make coffee, scramble some eggs, and breakfast is served.
A slow, intentional day filled with comfy blankets, warm drinks (coffee & hot chocolate), homemade food, some fresh air, and an empty schedule is my kinda self-care day.
Throw in a good book (Outlander), TV series (The Witcher), board game (Monopoly), or video game (Animal Crossing) & I'm in introvert heaven. What about you?
Ingredients For Gingerbread Pancakes
- All-Purpose Flour: I use an unbleached variety (usually King Arthur Flour).
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: These help our pancakes to rise. Don't skip the baking soda as it reacts with the buttermilk, molasses & brown sugar.
- Kosher Salt: This brings out the sweetness & makes the warm spices pop.
- Coconut Sugar or Brown Sugar: This adds a touch of sweetness to the pancakes to balance out the warm spices - you can increase this by a tablespoon or so if you like sweeter pancakes or omit it altogether if you prefer.
- Ground Gingerbread Spices (ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice & clove): This is what gives the pancakes the classic gingerbread scent + flavor. You can tweak the ratios of these spices based on your personal preferences; however, ginger should definitely be at the top since it's the key ingredient.
- Eggs: These add moisture & fat and help make the pancakes fluffy. It helps to beat the eggs before adding buttermilk & melted butter so you can get some air into them.
- Vanilla Extract: Gingerbread spices pair beautifully with vanilla extract (homemade or storebought) so I always add a teaspoon to make everything pop.
- Unsulphered Molasses: This is the other key ingredient that gives the pancakes a gingerbread cookie flavor. Grab a jar of the Grandma brand. It's easy to find at most Walmarts or you can buy it online. Don't use blackstrap molasses, as it's more bitter (we want the sweetness).
- Buttermilk: This adds a bit of tang to the pancakes, as well as richness & moisture. I haven't tried this with a buttermilk substitute (1 cup of milk mixed with 1 tablespoon of vinegar), but that may be an option if you're out. Although the pancakes could turn out flatter. If you try this leave a comment & let me know how it goes.
- Melted Unsalted Butter: This adds moisture & fat, which makes the pancakes taste delicious. It also means you can use less butter (or spray) when cooking the pancakes since the extra fat in the batter helps prevent sticking (at least in a non-stick skillet). For good measure, I place an extra nob of butter on top of each pancake after I pull it out of the skillet. Butter is a beautiful thing.
- whipped cream
- finely chopped crystallized ginger (the soft kind)
- chopped candied pecans (if I have them on hand)
- gingerbread simple syrup (it doubles the gingerbread flavor which is 100% worth it)
- a bit of real maple syrup
TIP: Use Fresh Spices & Leavening Agents
For the most fragrant & fluffy pancakes, it's important to use fresh spices, baking soda & powder in your dry mix. Bottles of ground spices lose their potency after six months or more of being open, so buying new bottles (or grinding your own with whole spices) ensures your pancake mix will have a stronger gingerbread taste & smell (which we want).
Likewise, baking powder and soda can lose their effectiveness after a while and we need them to work properly so our pancakes rise. I recommend buying new bottles/cartons for this mix (use any extra to make flourless peanut butter cookies, double chocolate banana muffins, and cheddar drop biscuits), then write the date you opened it on the top so you know when to toss them next.
DIY Pancake Mix Option
Save yourself time by mixing the dry ingredients together and storing the pancake mix in a glass jar or bag for later. If you like to cook & bake regularly, there's a good chance you have all the ingredients in your pantry already and you can make several batches at once.
Then you can pull the mix out on Christmas morning or any random weekend when you're craving pancakes and skip right to prepping the wet ingredients. Convenience for the win. A little forethought and you'll enjoy more time lounging in your pajamas with a hot beverage of choice.
Gingerbread pancake mix also makes an excellent Christmas food gift or hostess gift for holiday parties taking place in November & December. I like to package mine in a hermetic glass jar with festive twine & place a bit of crystallized ginger on top. Pair it with a bottle of gingerbread syrup (link in the recipe card below) for the coziest of gifts!
More Breakfast Recipes:
- Make-Ahead English Muffin Breakfast Sandwiches
- Egg Bake Breakfast Casserole
- Overnight Steel Cut Oats
- Tex Mex Egg Breakfast Muffins
- Banana Bread with Applesauce & Yogurt
Adapted from Grandma's Gingerbread Pancakes & The Simple But Perfect Pancake
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