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Kenya has been jonesing to make gingerbread for weeks, so I finally got out my baking pan and all of the ingredients when he said to me with most intense, focused voice, “Mommy, I wanted to make gingerbread COOKIES”. That entire time I had thought Kenya wanted to make gingerbread but in his mind it was all about the iconic shape of the gingerbread cookie. After all, what’s cuter or more fun than a cookie whose arms, head and feet you can eat right off before devouring the middle?
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After a lengthy conversation with Kenya about the difference between gingerbread and gingerbread cookies, I asked him if instead he wanted to make gingerbread pancakes. He immediately broke out into a huge smile. It doesn’t take much to persuade my kids to eat pancakes no matter what their flavor. As long as the word “pancake” is involved, they’re excited both to eat and make them (just for the record, Kenya got to make the cookies as well and had a blast doing both).
Packed with iron, potassium and calcium from the rich molasses, they also offer a sweet, raisin-like flavor that I find kids adore. If you haven’t ever tried gingerbread pancakes, this is definitely the time of year to do it. Festive and delicious, it’s the kind of dish that really makes this time of year feel special!
Gingerbread Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/4 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
Instructions
- Whisk the dry ingredients in a bowl.
- In a separate bowl whisk the liquid ingredients.
- Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture and whisk until just combined.
- Let the batter stand for 10-15 minutes to thicken.
- Place 2 tablespoons of the mixture in a large, greased sauté pan over medium heat and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side.
- Serve with maple syrup or honey.
I always use the ‘when they start to bubble on top, flip them’ timing method for pancakes and it works perfectly to keep them from burning!
Did you cook them over medium heat? It’s so tough to offer a time with pancakes as everyone’s flame and pan’s are so different! I hope you enjoyed them!
i kept scaling the cooking time back as i was making these (the 1st 2 came out burned.) i ended up cooking the for 2:20 – 1:55…
OH MY GOSH. I just made these, and my boys will be lucky if there are any left when they wake up! ha ha …
I wanted to ask, what kind of temperature did you cook these at? It was almost as if the molasses and brown sugar made the pancakes darken a little quicker than normal pancakes would, so I had to flip them earlier (and messier!)
M
I made this yesterday for dinner. I used coconut oil instead of the butter. I also didn’t have molasses so i used a bit more than the brown sugar. They were delicious and my son loved them!!!
Earth’s Balance is a great substitute!
Or you could use light olive oil.
You can use Earth Balance soy/dairy free “butter”. We use it all the time in place of butter.
What could you uses instead of the butter? My little one has a dairy/soy allergy. I would replace the milk with rice milk.
oooh, what a wonderful idea! Can’t wait to try these!
I used light brown since I was out of dark and the kids LOVED them.
Could you use light brown sugar without altering the pancake too much?
Those pancakes look delightful. Love the photo too!
Yes it is a man-shape! I poured the batter into a greased cookie cutter to make the shape. It took a little longer, but was so much fun to have this shape! You could definitely cut the shapes out post-cooking, and have the little scraps to munch on while preparing everyone else’s breakfast.
I’ve tried both – it’s a lot easier to cut them out after cooking. And I get to nibble the “scraps”!
Is that a man shaped pancake? Did you pour the batter in a cookie cutter or cut it after you finished cooking it?