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 a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post 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
PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.
Printable recipe
Gingerbread Pancakes
Recipe details
Ingredients
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.
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
More recipe information
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!
Eileen Wilks says
I look forward to trying this soon! One question: how much is one serving? To put it another way, how many pancakes does the recipe make?
Nora says
3-5 pancakes per serving, depending how big you make them! I prefer making these small, so we usually end up with 5 smaller pancakes pre serving. Hope this helps!
Jen says
Had some homemade pancake mix to use up, added the spices, brown sugar, and molasses and they turned out great. Thanks for the gingerbread spice mix recipe too
Aubrey says
These were the fluffiest pancakes I’ve ever made! I used regular granulated sugar in place of dark brown sugar, sour milk by adding 1 T. vinegar before measuring out the milk and letting it sit to curdle, only 1/4 cup molasses and I simplified the spices to match my favorite ginger snap recipe: 1 tsp. each of cinnamon, cloves and ginger. Came out great! Served stacked high with maple syrup and a dollop of Cool Whip. Yum!
Nora says
I’m so glad, Aubrey!
TMBriz says
It was delicious. Although I had to modify mine, which included fresh grated ginger instead of ginger powder, to make some for just me and my husband, the overall recipe was on point. This was a trial for our Christmas breakfast and we are so looking forward to serving these to our family.
Nora says
I’m so glad!
Sarah@WholeandHeavenlyOven says
This is seriously pancake heaven! Gingerbread is my jam right now and I say bring it on in EVERYTHING! P.S. Your photos are um, totally gorgeous. 🙂 pinned!
Nora says
Gingerbread needs to rule the world! Thanks so much Sarah!
Nora says
Thank you so much!
Jess @ Flying on Jess Fuel says
Love gingerbread!! These sound so yummy! My dad always made us mickey mouse pancakes when we were little… I wonder if you could make these into gingerbread-man shapes!!
Nora says
Thanks Jess! Aww that’s such a cute story! You can make them into gingerbread shapes with cookie cutters but it’s really not much fun to do, haha!
Denise | Sweet Peas & Saffron says
I am in serious awe of how you are able to post anything with a three-month old! I also do a lot of 1-handed tasks, and mine is a year. I have a very strong left arm, ha ha! These pancakes look amazing, and I bet your house smells amazing 🙂
Nora says
Ha, that’s the first thing my mom told me – you’re going to get very good at one-handed tasks 😀 Thanks for stopping by Denise!