Gingerbread Pancakes are soft, spiced buttermilk pancakes made with cinnamon, ground ginger, and molasses. They’re a warm holiday breakfast that comes together with pantry staples and works for Christmas morning, Christmas Eve, or any festive weekend.
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Gingerbread Pancakes
Gingerbread is one of those flavors that takes over the second December shows up and for good reason. It’s warm, spiced, and instantly festive… you smell it and suddenly you want twinkle lights everywhere and a mug of something hot to sip.
I love that gingerbread works for more than just cookies this time of year. These pancakes fit right into Christmas morning, Christmas Eve morning before things get busy, or any holiday breakfast or brunch.
They’re also a fun one to make on a day when the whole family (kids, big kids, kids at heart) is gathering to build gingerbread houses… or turning it into a full gingerbread house competition.
Why You’ll Love These Pancakes
- Warmly spiced without any fuss: cinnamon, ginger, and molasses do all the work, no extra spice blends to track down.
- Built for the holiday breakfast table: fits Christmas morning, Christmas Eve, or any festive weekend without extra planning.
- A fun tie-in for gingerbread house day: a natural breakfast pairing if the family’s building (or competing over) gingerbread houses later.
What You’ll Need
You need just a few ingredients to pull these pancakes together!
- all-purpose flour
- granulated sugar
- baking powder
- cinnamon
- ground ginger
- salt
- buttermilk
- egg
- unsalted butter
- molasses
Note: Always check the recipe card for a full list of ingredients, amounts, and steps.
How to Make Gingerbread Pancakes
This one’s mostly mixing and griddle work, so let’s get started.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ground ginger, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, melted butter, and molasses.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring until just combined (a few lumps are fine here).
- Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and spray with nonstick spray. Pour 1/3 cup of batter per pancake, being careful not to overcrowd the pan.
- Cook for 3-4 minutes, until the edges are firming up and bubbles start rising to the top. Flip and cook another 3-4 minutes.
- Serve with syrup or whipped cream. Gingerbread sprinkles are optional, but they’re a nice touch if you’re already in a festive mood.
Tips & Tricks – Gingerbread Pancakes
• Don’t over mix the batter once the dry and wet ingredients come together. A few lumps left in the batter is normal and over mixing is what leads to dense, tough pancakes instead of soft ones.
• If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, a common swap is regular milk with a splash of vinegar or lemon juice stirred in and left to sit for a few minutes. It won’t be quite as thick or tangy as real buttermilk, so the texture may come out slightly different.
• Keep the heat at medium-high rather than cranking it higher. Gingerbread pancakes have sugar and molasses in the batter, both of which can scorch if the pan runs too hot before the inside has a chance to cook through.
• Leftover pancakes can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days, or frozen with parchment paper between each one for longer storage.
• If you’re making these on a gingerbread house day, crumble a few mini gingerbread cookies over the top before serving. It ties the whole breakfast into the theme without any extra steps.
Want to Change it Up?
You can play around with the toppings and mix-ins here to match your holiday spread:
- Swap the sprinkles or topping: skip the gingerbread sprinkles and top with a dusting of cinnamon sugar, crushed gingersnaps, or a simple cream cheese drizzle instead.
- Add citrus: a little orange zest mixed into the batter pairs well with the molasses and ginger, if you want to brighten the spice a bit.
- Make them mini: pour smaller rounds of batter for silver-dollar-sized pancakes, which work well for a gingerbread-house-building breakfast spread where people are grazing rather than sitting down to a full stack.
More Christmas Recipes
Gingerbread Pancakes for a Happy Christmas Morning
Equipment
- gingerbread sprinkles optional
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 1 egg
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 3 Tbsp molasses
Instructions
- Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ground ginger, and salt in a medium mixing bowl.1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, 3 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- Whisk together buttermilk, egg, melted butter, and molasses in a separate bowl.1 1/3 cup buttermilk, 1 egg, 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, 3 Tbsp molasses
- Add the dry ingredients, stirring until just combined.
- Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Spray with nonstick spray.
- Pour 1/3 cup of batter per pancake, careful not to over crowd the pan.
- Cook 3-4 minutes, until the edges are firming and there are bubbles rising to the top of the pancakes.
- Flip and cook 3-4 minutes more.
- Serve with syrup or whipped cream, gingerbread sprinkles are fun but optional.
Nutrition
Nutritional information accuracy not guaranteed.
