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Christmas Gingerbread Pancakes

    Christmas pancakes for kids - 4 gingerbread men

    Rather than decorating just a gingerbread house this year, why not decorate gingerbread pancakes? This Christmas pancake recipe for kids is perfect to get the whole household involved in holiday cheer.

    Pancakes suffused with warm spices and molasses flavors are a surprisingly delicious twist on a breakfast standard. Using the same cookie cutter you use to make cookies, these gingerbread people are then decorated with cream cheese icing and fruit. These pancakes are so cute and so delicious that they may become a regular holiday breakfast tradition in your household. 

    Christmas gingerbread pancakes have all the flavors of the Christmas holiday season. Make your kids a hot chocolate or banana cinnamon smoothie to have with this pancake recipe, and whip up a batch of pumpkin spice eggnog for the adults.

    While you can decorate these pancakes with fruit or candies, I like to use berries. I will toss a bowl of extra fruit with a dusting of cinnamon sugar to serve on the side.

    Christmas pancakes for kids

    What You Need to Make Gingerbread Christmas Pancakes for Kids

    This recipe requires eggs, salt, brown sugar, all-purpose flour, milk, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, molasses, brown sugar, cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, baking powder, baking soda,  and fruit or candy decorations (I like to use berries).

    You can adjust the spices to be a bit spicier or a bit blander based on your tastes. These gingerbread pancakes are not too spicy, but your family might prefer something with a bit more zip. 

    ingredients needed to make Christmas pancakes for kids

    Ingredients:

    • All-purpose flour
    • Molasses
    • Table salt
    • Unsalted butter
    • Brown sugar 
    • Baking powder
    • Cream cheese
    • Fruit or Christmas candies (for decorating)
    • Ginger
    • Nutmeg
    • Cinnamon
    • Cloves
    • Milk
    • Powdered sugar

    Tools

    Christmas gingerbread pancakes require a bowl, a whisk, a frying pan, a cutting board, a paring knife and a gingerbread cookie cutter.

    How To Make Christmas Gingerbread Pancakes

    Make the batter: Place the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk them together. In a separate bowl, whisk together your eggs, milk, sugar, molasses, and melted butter. Add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and mix until smooth.

    mixing ingredients to make pancake batter

    Make the pancakes: In a non-stick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of butter. Once the butter has melted and is just starting to brown, use a ⅓ cup measure to spoon out the batter into the frying pan.

    Pour the batter into a greased cookie cutter or into an oblong shape. Wait for the first side of the pancake to finish cooking before flipping the pancake and cooking it on the other side.

    Remove from the heat. Finished pancakes can be kept on a baking sheet warmed in a 300 ºF oven until they are ready to be served, or plated so that they can be decorated. 

    pouring pancake batter into gingerbread cookie cutter

    Make the cream cheese icing: In a bowl, whisk together milk, cream cheese, and powdered sugar until it is a thick consistency. Place into bowls with spoons or into small sandwich bags to use for decorating. 

    Make the fruit decorations: Cut up little pieces of banana, strawberries, and other fruits to create eyes, buttons, and other decorations. Wash and dry raspberries and blueberries that may also be on hand for decorations.

    cutting Christmas pancakes for kids

    Decorate: Using a gingerbread cookie cutter, cut gingerbread shapes out of the center of the pancake, if you’re preparing them that way. (See recipe notes below for more details.)

    Give your kids the fruit decorations and cream cheese icing, and let them have fun! They can add eyes, hats, and buttons with the fruit, and draw faces and scarves with the icing, or whatever else their imaginations dream up!

    gingerbread Christmas pancakes

    Recipe FAQs

    I don’t have a gingerbread cookie cutter. What can I do? 

    You can use any Christmas-shaped cookie cutter you have. I like to make and decorate gingerbread during the holidays, so this is what seems the most fun for me and my family. If you don’t have any cookie cutters, you can still decorate regular pancakes into Christmas ornaments! I would recommend using silver-dollar-sized pancakes, or mini pancakes if you plan to do this. You also don’t have to just cut out gingerbread—make a few ornaments, and a few stars! Have fun with the recipe.

    Christmas pancakes for kids - 4 gingerbread men

    Christmas Pancakes for Kids

    Arielle Hess
    This holiday season, try decorating these Christmas pancakes for kids! A surprise of warm spices and molasses flavors, these pancakes are a delicious twist on a classic breakfast meal. Perfect for getting the whole family involved, decorate these pancakes with a little cream cheese icing and fruit for a new cute, fun, and festive holiday breakfast tradition. A recipe that doubles and triples easily, you can make this recipe fun for a big family gathering.
    No ratings yet
    Prep Time 5 mins
    Cook Time 25 mins
    Total Time 30 mins
    Course Breakfast
    Cuisine American
    Servings 8
    Calories 304 kcal

    Equipment

    • Bowl
    • Whisk
    • Frying pan
    • Cutting Board
    • Paring knife
    • Gingerbread cookie cutter

    Ingredients
      

    • 2 cups of all-purpose flour
    • 2 tablespoons molasses
    • ½ teaspoon table salt
    • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
    • ¼ cup brown sugar
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • ½ teaspoon baking soda
    • 2 large eggs
    • 4 oz cream cheese
    • Fruit or Christmas candies for decorating
    • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
    • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
    • 1 ⅓ cups + 2 teaspoons 2% or whole milk
    • ½ cup powdered sugar

    Instructions
     

    • In a bowl, whisk 2 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon table salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, and two teaspoons cinnamon.
    • In a separate bowl whisk together 2 large eggs, 1 ⅓ cups milk, 2 tablespoons molasses, ¼ cup dark brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons melted butter. Add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and mix until smooth.
    • In a non-stick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of butter.
    • Spoon out the batter into the frying pan, either in an oblong shape or into a cookie cutter.
    • Once the first side has cooked after 3-4 minutes, flip it to the other side and cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat. Finished pancakes can be kept on a baking sheet warmed in a 300 ºF oven until they are ready to be served, or plated so that they can be decorated.
    • Whisk together 2 tablespoons milk, 4 oz cream cheese, and ½ cup powdered sugar, until it is a thick consistency.
    • Prepare fruit decorations by cutting up berries and/or bananas.
    • Using a gingerbread cookie cutter, cut gingerbread out of the center of the pancake, if preparing that way.
    • Decorate the pancakes with frosting and fruit.

    Notes

    When you make the pancakes, make sure your pan is hot enough before you start cooking. This helps give your pancakes a nice exterior that is easy to flip. To know when to flip your pancake, wait for the little bubbles that emerge on the surface of your pancake to pop (it’s ok if a few haven’t yet popped when you flip them).
    Make sure you scoop enough batter into your pan so that your pancake will be large enough to cut a shape out of. My suggested size is based on the size of my cookie cutter, but you should adjust the amount of batter you put in the pan for each pancake based on the size of your own.
    As an alternative method to shaping the pancakes, I also will spray the interior of the cookie cutter and pour the batter inside. You can remove the cookie cutter right before you want to flip the pancake, but it can get hot, so use tongs to help shake the cutter loose.
    You can adjust the spices to be a bit spicier or a bit blander based on your tastes. These gingerbread pancakes are not too spicy, but your family might prefer something with a bit more zip.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 304kcalCarbohydrates: 46.88gProtein: 7.36gFat: 9.79gSaturated Fat: 5.6gFiber: 1.4gSugar: 19.22g
    Keyword christmas, kids, pancakes
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    Arielle is a food and drink photographer based in Washington, D.C. She was previously a social science researcher before she fell in love with photography.

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