Gingerbread Pancakes

The best soft and fluffy Gingerbread Pancakes! This quick and easy recipe is perfect for breakfast on Christmas morning – like eating gingerbread cookies for brunch!

This recipe is one of my kids’ favorite Christmas morning breakfast. If I’m an extra special mom, I cut the pancakes with a gingerbread man shaped cookie cutter and put chocolate chips as little eyes and buttons on top to serve. It’s the best thing to see the joy in their eyes from something so simple!

I had to make this recipe a few times to get the flavor right, but I believe now it has just the right balance of gingerbread spices and sweetness. It’s also very simple to pull together with just a few staple ingredients – no endless hours spent whipping up your special holiday brunch!

Ingredients you’ll need

Here is an overview of the ingredients in the recipe (great to use as a visual grocery list at the store!). Scroll down to the recipe at the bottom for quantities.

Ingredient notes

• Brown sugar: I prefer dark brown sugar in this recipe, but feel free to use light brown sugar if that’s all you have.
• Molasses: I go for dark molasses here, but light are fine if you prefer those. Please do not use blackstrap molasses, they are too bitter for a sweet recipe such as these pancakes. If you don’t have any molasses on hand, you can use honey. The gingerbread taste will be a little less intense, but still good.
• Oil: Feel free to use melted butter in place of the oil for an extra-rich taste.
• Gingerbread spices: Either use my homemade gingerbread spice mix, a store-bougt mix or a blend of ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¾ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves and ¼ teaspoon ground allspice.

How to make Gingerbread Pancakes

This is such a simple recipe with so little steps. First, whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl until well combined (1) – I always use a whisk because it helps the baking powder to evenly distribute.

In a separate bowl or large measuring jug, whisk together the wet ingredients until smooth (2).

Now pour the wet into the dry ingredients and fold together JUST until combined (3). Lumps are absolutely fine – but if you overmix the batter, your pancakes will come out dense and gummy.

Use a skillet or griddle over medium-low heat to cook your pancakes (4). I use 2 tablespoons of batter, if they’re too big they’re hard to flip.

It’s also important to use medium-low heat and watch them closely, the pancakes burn easily due to the high molasses and sugar content.

Recipe tips

• Do not overmix the pancake batter! Once you combine the wet and dry ingredients, use a spatula or wooden spoon to stir just until the flour is moistened. A lumpy, scraggly batter is perfect!
• Use medium-low heat to cook your pancakes. They burn easily because they are relatively high in sugar and molasses, so mind your temperature setting.
• Batter consistency: Depending on your exact size eggs and exact brand of brown sugar and molasses, the batter may seem a little thin. If you feel it’s much thinner than your regular pancake batter, feel free to fold in 2 more tablespoons of flour.
• Don’t stack the pancakes before serving – we place them on a wire rack in a single layer. You can also put them in the oven on the lowest temperature setting to keep them warm. But don’t stack them before serving, or they may come out dense.

Freezer instructions

To freeze, place the cooled pancakes in freezer bags. Label with the name and date, then freeze for up to 3 months.

Defrost unwrapped on a rack on the counter. You can also microwave the pancakes from frozen.

Serving ideas

We enjoy these with a side of my winter fruit salad. A pat of honey butter and drizzle of syrup on top never hurt, either 😉 If you want to be extra-fancy, sprinkle on some chopped pecans and icing sugar for a “snowed on” look. So pretty and festive!

More gingerbread recipes

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Gingerbread Pancakes

The best soft and fluffy Gingerbread Pancake recipe – perfect for Christmas morning with warm flavors from molasses and spices.

Recipe by Nora from Savory Nothings

made it? tap the stars to add your rating!

5 from 3 votes

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Recipe details

Prep 10 mins

Cook 25 mins

Total 35 mins

Difficulty Easy

Servings 4 servings

Nutrition 569 kcal

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

Dry Ingredients

• ▢ 2 ¼ cups flour
• ▢ 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ▢ 2 teaspoons Gingerbread Spice Mix see notes for individual spices
• ▢ 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ▢ ¼ cup brown sugar dark brown preferred
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients

• ▢ 1 ¼ cup milk
• ▢ ⅓ cup molasses (not blackstrap molasses, they're too bitter!)
• ▢ 2 large eggs
• ▢ 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Instructions

 

• In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients well. Whisk the wet ingredients together in a separate measuring jug until smooth.
• Pour the wet into the dry ingredients. Fold together with a spoon or spatula just until combined – some lumps are fine.
• Heat a griddle or frying pan over medium-low heat. Spray with nonstick cooking spray or use a little oil to keep the pancakes from sticking. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of the batter onto the griddle or into the frying pan per pancake. Cook for a few minutes or until you start seeing bubbles forming on the surface. Flip and continue cooking for another 1-2 minutes.

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Notes

Ingredient notes

• Brown sugar: I prefer dark brown sugar in this recipe, but feel free to use light brown sugar if that’s all you have.
• Molasses: I go for dark molasses here, but light are fine if you prefer those. Please do not use blackstrap molasses, they are too bitter for a sweet recipe such as these pancakes. If you don’t have any molasses on hand, you can use honey. The gingerbread taste will be a little less intense, but still good.
• Oil: Feel free to use melted butter in place of the oil for an extra-rich taste.
• Gingerbread spices: Either use my homemade gingerbread spice mix, a store-bougt mix or a blend of ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¾ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves and ¼ teaspoon ground allspice.

Recipe tips

• Do not overmix the pancake batter! Once you combine the wet and dry ingredients, use a spatula or wooden spoon to stir just until the flour is moistened. A lumpy, scraggly batter is perfect!
• Use medium-low heat to cook your pancakes. They burn easily because they are relatively high in sugar and molasses, so mind your temperature setting.
• Batter consistency: Depending on your exact size eggs and exact brand of brown sugar and molasses, the batter may seem a little thin. If you feel it’s much thinner than your regular pancake batter, feel free to fold in 2 more tablespoons of flour.
• Don’t stack the pancakes before serving – we place them on a wire rack in a single layer. You can also put them in the oven on the lowest temperature setting to keep them warm. But don’t stack them before serving, or they may come out dense.

Freezer instructions

To freeze, place the cooled pancakes in freezer bags. Label with the name and date, then freeze for up to 3 months.

Defrost unwrapped on a rack on the counter. You can also microwave the pancakes from frozen.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 569kcalCarbohydrates: 95gProtein: 13gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 101mgSodium: 377mgPotassium: 842mgFiber: 3gSugar: 39gVitamin A: 259IUCalcium: 286mgIron: 5mg

Nutrition is an estimate.

More recipe information

Suitable for: Vegetarian

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

I first published this recipe on 11/27/2014. I updated the recipe, photos, post and video on 12/13/2020 to make the recipe better, the post more helpful and the photos more beautiful!