Gingerbread Pancakes

These Gingerbread Pancakes are the best sweet breakfast or brunch for the holiday season! They're full of warming gingerbread spices, they're soft, fluffy, and so easy to make! The batter is easy to double and the pancakes are freezer-friendly! Serve them at your Christmas Day brunch and add some homemade gingerbread syrup if you're feeling extra fancy! Your family will love these!

Jump to:

• Why You'll Love These Gingerbread Pancakes
• Ingredients
• Variations and Substitutions
• Step-by-Step Instructions
• Expert Tips
• Serving Suggestions
• Storing and Reheating
• FAQs
• More Gingerbread Breakfast Recipes
• 📖 Recipe

This pancake recipe was originally published on December 31st, 2015 but I've completely reworked the recipe to make it easier to follow, changed the ingredients, and included new, more helpful photos. Hope you love this updated recipe!

Why You'll Love These Gingerbread Pancakes

Perfect for Christmas - There's no flavor that says Christmas more than gingerbread for me. As soon as December starts, I want to make gingerbread-flavored everything! Gingerbread Waffles, Gingerbread Banana Bread, Gingerbread Baked Oatmeal, you name it. These pancakes are fancy enough for Christmas Day brunch but they're still easy and quick enough that you won't have to spend all morning in the kitchen!

Light and fluffy - Buttermilk makes these pancakes extra light and fluffy and it helps them rise better as well. They're cooked with butter and they have melted butter in the batter as well which really helps them crisp up on the outside. If you can't have dairy, you can also make your own vegan buttermilk at home (instructions are in the recipe card) and use vegan butter.

Easy to make - The batter comes together in just a few minutes and the pancakes are super easy to cook. If you make a double or a triple batch for a big brunch, I recommend cooking the pancakes in two pans to speed up the process. They're easy to flip and always come out delicious.

Great for meal prep and freezer-friendly - These pancakes store really well in both the fridge and the freezer and they're easy to reheat as well which makes them perfect for meal prep! Even if I'm not meal prepping, I like to make a double batch sometime and freeze the extra pancakes for busy mornings.

Ingredients

• All-purpose flour - You can use regular all-purpose flour or a gluten-free blend. I like using Bob's Red Mill 1:1 gluten-free flour in all my cooking and baking.
• Buttermilk - Using buttermilk instead of regular milk creates the softest and fluffiest pancakes and it helps them rise. I highly recommend giving it a try if you've never tried it in pancakes. You can also make your own buttermilk or vegan buttermilk. See the paragraph below or the recipe card for instructions.
• Butter - I like adding melted unsalted butter to the batter for more flavor and nice crispy exterior of the pancakes. You can also use vegan butter or cooking oil like avocado oil if you prefer.
• Eggs - Eggs are an important part of the recipe, they help bind everything together and make the pancakes fluffy. I haven't tried any vegan alternatives so I can't guarantee results.
• Honey - You can sweeten the pancakes with honey, maple syrup, or molasses. I went with raw honey because it's my go-to during the holidays. A mix of honey and molasses would also be great and a classic for anything gingerbread.
• Gingerbread spice - I highly recommend making your own Gingerbread Spice Mix but store-bought spice mix works as well. I usually make my own because it's easier to use than to measure individual spices each time. I actually most often use this Christmas Spice Blend instead. It's very similar to gingerbread but it has more spices and no ginger. It's so good! You have to try it if you never have!
• Cacao powder - Cacao or cocoa powder adds color and a little bit of chocolatey flavor. My family adds it to our gingerbread cookies so it only made sense to add a little bit to these pancakes as well.
• Vanilla extract - Vanilla balances all the flavors and can't be missing here. You can use either vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.
• Dark rum - This one is totally optional, I added it because that's what is in our traditional Czech Gingerbread Cookies. The alcohol is cooked off during cooking but if you prefer, you can skip it or add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract instead.

Variations and Substitutions

• Vegan buttermilk - Measure 2 cups of almond milk, remove 2 tablespoons of the milk, and add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. Gently stir and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. It's ready when it slightly thickens and curdles.
• Chocolate chips - You can add ½ cup of chocolate chips to the batter after you add the flour for extra chocolatey flavor. I recommend using smaller chocolate chips, they spread throughout the batter better than larger ones.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, gingerbread spice, and cacao powder. Set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, honey, melted butter, vanilla extract, and sea salt until well mixed.
3. Add buttermilk and whisk again.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in two batches and whisk just until the batter is combined. Don’t overmix it, it’s okay if there are a few lumps.

5. Set a large pan over medium heat and add about a teaspoon of butter or cooking oil.
6. Spoon the batter into the pan to form pancakes. Don’t overcrowd your pan, I make 3 pancakes at a time on a 12-inch pan.
7. Cook the pancakes for 2-3 minutes on each side. You’ll know they’re ready to flip when bubbles start to appear and the edges are set. The pancakes should be easy to flip.
8. Repeat with the rest of the batter adding more butter or oil as needed or wiping some of it off if it starts to burn. Be careful, the pan is very hot.
9. You can keep the pancakes warm on a baking sheet in the oven at 200F (90C) while you finish cooking the rest of the batter.
10. Serve them with toppings of your choice and enjoy!

Serving Suggestions

Aside from the classic maple syrup or butter, there are many toppings you can add to these pancakes. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Homemade syrup - We all love maple syrup on pancakes but did you know you can drizzle the same homemade simple syrup you make for your lattes on your pancakes too? Drizzle on some Gingerbread Syrup or Chestnut Praline Syrup to enhance those Christmas flavors even more!
• Yogurt - Add a dollop of some creamy full-fat Greek yogurt on top or mix it with some cocoa powder and maple syrup first to turn it into chocolate cream. If I have it, I like stirring some Homemade Chocolate Syrup into my yogurt!
• Fresh berries - No matter the time of the year, you can catch me adding fresh berries to my breakfast at least a few times a month. I love serving these pancakes with fresh raspberries, blueberries, or strawberries.
• Other fruits - Besides just fresh berries, you can add other fruit or sauteed and caramelized fruit like these Caramelized Apples or cook down some berries with a splash of maple syrup.
• Nut or seed butter - Add a drizzle of almond butter, sunflower seed butter, or any other nut butter. Some Homemade Chocolate Hazelnut Spread would also be delicious!

Storing and Reheating

Storing: Store the pancakes in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Freeze in a freezer-safe container or a freezer bag for up to 3-4 months.

Reheating: Reheat the pancakes on a pan, in the oven at 300F (150C), or in a toaster until warmed through. You can reheat them from frozen or defrost them in the fridge overnight first. I like heating them up in the oven the most, especially from frozen. It's the easiest and most hands-off option. If you defrost or heat them up in a toaster, keep an eye on them so they don't burn.

FAQs

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📖 Recipe