1 cup flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 egg, at room temperature
Directions:
Whisk together the egg, molasses, butter, sugar and buttermilk in a small bowl or measuring cup until smooth. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the spices, flour, baking soda and baking powder. Slowly whisk in the egg/milk mixture. There should be no pockets of unmixed flour or large lumps. Batter will be rather thick. Allow the batter to sit while you spray a frying pan or griddle with nonstick spray or melt 1 tablespoon of butter to coat. Heat the pan so that it feels warm when you hover your hand over it. Add about 1/4 cup of the batter into the middle. Cook until bubbles begin to appear and pop. Flip. Cook for about 2 minutes. Both sides should be golden brown.
Yield: about 5-6 mid-sized pancakes.
Spring this recipe!My thoughts:
This morning I had the yen for gingerbread pancakes. Not that I had ever had them before, but they sounded tasty and seasonal. I didn’t think I’d have to make up my own recipe for them, but after seeing what was out there I thought it was best to start from scratch. I wonder if the recipes I found for gingerbread pancakes derive from one source* because the vast majority of them call for somewhat odd-in-a-pancake-recipe ingredients like water and coffee. This frankly doesn’t seem to make much sense to me because, well, water is just water-thin and tasteless and coffee, except when used in tiny amounts with chocolate, has a tendency to make everything taste like coffee. I wanted the pancakes to have a rich, full gingerbread flavor with the texture of a traditional American pancake. It made more sense to me to use buttermilk as the sole liquid, it added some depth of flavor and its reaction to the baking soda make the pancakes light and fluffy. I kept the molasses (which strangely, most recipes didn’t call for, isn’t molasses one of the key flavors of gingerbread in cake or cookie form?) to a minimum because I don’t really care for it, but I thought the pancakes needed that background of flavor to really taste gingerbread-y. Not to mention the fact that too much molasses would result in a very sticky batter that might caramelize on the pan. I added some gingerbread spices to the flour and I was done. The result: light fluffy pancakes with the authentic flavor of gingerbread.
*Perhaps the Magnolia Cafe in Austin? They seem quite renown for their gingerbread pancakes, even my husband has had and enjoyed them there.
These would be great for Christmas morning.
Rachael Ray was making gingerbread waffles on the food network yesterday and I was so into it that I almost bought a waffle iron when I was at Crate & Barrel later in the day (before I came to my senses and realized I probably didn’t need to spend $60 on something I’d use twice a year). But pancakes require no special contraptions so I’m extremely grateful to you for creating this recipe.
There used to be a restaurant in my college town that served totally delicious gingerbread pancakes – they were one of my favorite dishes. Sadly, the restaurant closed. I’ll have to do breakfast-for-dinner one night and give these a try!
wow what a great idea!!gingerbread pancake!!i will definitely try this one of these days!!:-)
I agree with Peabody, what a perfect Christmas morning dish!
They are delicious at the Magnolia Cafe and also at Kerbey Lane in Austin as well! I enjoy your site – thanks for the lovely pictures and recipes.
I’ve never had gingerbread pancakes either but you’ve got me craving them now too!
These sound great! I followed the link over her from Flickr because I loved the photo! I was planning on making sourdough pancakes for my family when I go home for Christmas but I might have to make some of these, too!
I believe Kerby Lane is the home of gingerbread pancakes here in Austin and all other restaurants now make them, including Magnolia, Austin Diner, East Side Cafe, etc. They’re the National Pancake of Austin. Super delicious, and for extra decadence, a gingerbread-chocolate-chip pancake really hits the spot.
We made these for my six year old son’s breakfast on gingerbread man day at school. They were delicious!
Kerbey Lane now sells gingerbread pancake mix in HEB stores in Austin.
I made these pancakes last weekend and had some pepper bacon fron Broadbents and realy maple syrup. Best breakfast I’ve had in a long time and beat most restaurant breakfasts too. I’m trying to get anyone who will listen to me to try this recipe. I’ve been lurking for 6 months now because I’m at work (no PC at home) but will be trying some of your other creations….very nice ! thanks
We made these pancakes this morning hoping they would taste like Kerbey Lane's gingerbread pancakes (Austin, TX). They were great! The closest thing to the real deal…Made approximately 10 pancakes with recipe above.