Gingerbread Spiced Fluffy Pancakes (Printable Version)
Fluffy pancakes infused with warm gingerbread spices, perfect for cozy and festive mornings.
# What You'll Need:
→ Dry Ingredients
01 - 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
02 - 2 tbsp brown sugar
03 - 2 tsp baking powder
04 - 1/2 tsp baking soda
05 - 1/2 tsp salt
06 - 2 tsp ground ginger
07 - 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
08 - 1/4 tsp ground cloves
09 - 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
→ Wet Ingredients
10 - 2 large eggs
11 - 1 cup milk (dairy or plant-based)
12 - 1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk plus 1 tsp lemon juice)
13 - 1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
14 - 3 tbsp melted unsalted butter
15 - 1 tsp vanilla extract
→ Optional Toppings
16 - Maple syrup
17 - Whipped cream
18 - Powdered sugar
19 - Fresh berries
# How to Make It:
01 - In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.
02 - In a separate bowl, beat eggs, then add milk, buttermilk, molasses, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Mix thoroughly.
03 - Pour wet ingredients into dry mixture and stir gently until just combined, leaving some lumps for fluffiness.
04 - Preheat a non-stick skillet or griddle over medium heat and lightly grease with butter.
05 - Pour 1/4 cup batter per pancake onto skillet. Cook for approximately 2 minutes until bubbles appear and edges set, then flip and cook 1-2 minutes until golden and cooked through.
06 - Transfer cooked pancakes to a low oven to keep warm while cooking remaining batter.
07 - Serve warm with desired toppings such as maple syrup, whipped cream, powdered sugar, or fresh berries.
# Expert Insights:
01 -
- The warm spices do all the heavy lifting so you feel like you're baking but you're really just whisking and pouring.
- Buttermilk and molasses keep them impossibly fluffy, and they stay tender even when you forget about them in the oven.
- One batch feeds a small crowd without requiring you to stand at the stove the entire time.
02 -
- Don't overmix the batter once wet and dry meet—it's the single most common mistake and it turns pancakes tough and dense instead of fluffy.
- Buttermilk matters more than you'd think; if you don't have it, the milk-and-lemon-juice swap works but use fresh lemon juice, not bottled.
- Test your spices before you start; old spices fade, and you want these pancakes to taste intentional, not muted.
03 -
- Use a cookie scoop or small ice cream scoop to portion batter evenly—it sounds silly but it means every pancake cooks at the same rate and looks intentional on the plate.
- Don't flip too early; wait for the bubbles to fully form and some of them to pop, which means the bottom is set enough to handle the flip without tearing.
- A medium oven temperature keeps finished pancakes warm without slowly drying them out the way a hot oven does.