I’m so excited to bring you fluffy, cozy, perfectly spiced gingerbread pancakes for your holiday morning brunch. During this busy time, I love to take a moment to connect, get creative and create something enjoyable (and delicious!). These fluffy gingerbread pancakes made me so ridiculously happy, especially when drizzled with pure maple syrup and paired with a cup of coffee.
So here’s what I want you to do: make yourself a fun brunch including these pancakes (maybe with a side of these turkey breakfast patties + crispy breakfast potatoes), throw on Home Alone, The Grinch, or Santa Claus, and sip something warm while you’re wrapped in a blanket. Enjoy your day. You deserve to!
Now let’s get to the deliciousness…
What you’ll need to make gingerbread pancakes
These healthier gingerbread pancakes are packed with delicious, cozy flavors without using any refined sugars. We’re keeping them whole wheat yet still oh so perfectly fluffy! Here’s what you need to make them:
- Flour: I used whole wheat pastry flour to give these pancakes a healthy dose of whole grains.
- Baking staples: you’ll want to add baking powder (not soda) to keep these pancakes fluffy, and a bit of salt & vanilla extract for flavor.
- Cozy spices: we’re using cinnamon, ground ginger and allspice to give these gingerbread pancakes that warm cozy taste.
- Eggs: you’ll need one egg in this pancake recipe.
- Sweeteners: we’re using some organic molasses and coconut sugar to naturally sweeten these gingerbread pancakes. Just a few tablespoons to get them perfectly flavored.
- Milk: feel free to use any milk you’d like (I usually use dairy free) to add moisture to the batter.
- Toppings & mix-ins: these fluffy gingerbread pancakes are delicious topped with pure maple syrup, whipped cream and even candied nuts! Feel free to mix in some nuts or even chocolate chips.
The magic + health benefit of molasses
If you’ve never baked with molasses before you are in for a TREAT because it’s:
- Naturally packed with iron, vitamin B6, potassium, calcium and magnesium. In fact, did you know that 1 tablespoon of molasses has 20% of your daily iron needs?
- Amazing in baked goods and even savory marinades, BBQ sauces and chilis!
- Perfect for making ginger cookies, gingerbread and always a holiday baking staple in my cupboard.
Tips for making gingerbread pancakes
Be sure to get all of my tips & tricks for making the best pancakes (plus a video) here! For the basics, remember these:
- Once you’ve melted your coconut oil make sure it’s cool to the touch (not hot) before mixing it in with the other ingredients, otherwise it will coagulate the egg. You can also feel free to use melted butter!
- Do not overmix your batter! This will result in a gummy pancake texture.
- Cook your pancakes over medium heat so that they cook evenly. If you flip your pancakes and they appear to be cooking too fast, feel free to reduce the temp to medium-low so that they don’t burn.
How to keep pancakes warm
If you’re serving these for Christmas morning or a winter brunch, you can actually make these gingerbread pancakes ahead of time and keep them warm in the oven! Simply place your oven at 200 degrees F, add your pancakes to a baking sheet or oven-safe plate, and place them in the oven until you’re ready to serve.
How to freeze pancakes
If you want to make these healthier gingerbread pancakes ahead of time and serve them at a later date, you can place the pancakes on a baking sheet so they aren’t touching and place them in the freezer for 30 minutes (this is called a flash freeze), then place them in freezer safe bags or containers and freeze for up to 3 months. Once ready to reheat, simply add pancakes to a plate and microwave for 30-60 seconds or until warm.
More delicious pancake recipes
- Healthy Apple Pancakes (made right in the blender!)
- Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Pancakes
- Whole Wheat Banana Bread Pancakes
- Change Your Life Salted Brown Butter Pancakes
- Outrageously Fluffy Vegan Pancakes
- Fluffy Yogurt Pancakes (high protein, gluten free)
Get all of our amazing waffle & pancake recipes here!
I hope you love these easy, healthy gingerbread pancakes! If you make them be sure to leave a comment & a rating so I know how you liked them. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Fluffy Gingerbread Pancakes
Ingredients
- Dry ingredients:
- 1 cup (113g) whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour (or use all purpose flour*)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Wet ingredients:
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons molasses
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240g) non dairy milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)
- 2 tablespoons melted & cooled coconut oil or melted butter
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the egg, molasses, coconut sugar, vanilla extract and milk. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix with a spoon until just combined. Gently stir in melted coconut oil or melted butter. Do not overmix the batter.
- Lightly coat a large nonstick skillet or griddle with coconut oil or butter and place over medium heat. Drop batter by 1/3 cup onto skillet and spread out a bit with a spoon if necessary. Cook until bubbles appear on top, about 2 minutes.
- Flip cakes and cook until golden brown on underside, 2 minutes. Wipe the skillet clean and repeat with more coconut oil (or butter) and remaining batter. You may need to reduce the heat to medium low or low after the first batch to prevent burning. Serves 4, 2 pancakes each. Top with butter and/or pure maple syrup.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published on December 13th, 2020, republished on December 22nd, 2021, republished on December 19th, 2023, and republished on December 12th, 2024.
59 comments
Delicious!
Glad you liked them!
I saw this on Instagram when I woke up today and basically ran downstairs to the kitchen to make them 😀 They turned out really well, lots of gingerbread-y flavor without being too sweet. I did make a couple of modifications:
– I used half whole wheat flour and half regular all purpose. I didn’t have pastry flour, but they weren’t tough or chewy.
– I used oat milk and ghee as my non dairy milk and oil, respectively
– When I make “regular” pancakes I always leave some lumps and streaks of flour, then let the batter rest for 10 mins before I cook it to let the rising agent (baking powder) do it’s thing. I did that here as well and I think that helped with making them extra fluffy.
I got 7 pancakes using about 1/3 cup each of batter. Two each was plenty for me & my partner for breakfast, so I’ve wrapped and frozen the rest for breakfast this week! Thank you, Ambitious Kitchen!
Great ideas! So glad you enjoyed!
Can you use Gluten Free 1 to 1 flour instead of Whole Wheat? Or should i use Oat or Almond flour? Thank you!
Following! I would love to make these gluten free as well!
You could try a gf 1:1 all purpose flour! Let me know how it goes.
These are exactly what we needed today! Super fluffy and great flavor. The house smells wonderful!
The perfect brunch! Glad you enjoyed!
Great gingerbread flavor! I used regular milk, melted butter, and brown sugar in place of coconut sugar.
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
I made these yesterday morning. I should’ve doubled the recipe because they are all gone and my 3 boys are asking for more! I added chocolate chips to some and frozen blueberries to others, they were all a hit!
So glad everyone loved them! Perfect brunch 🙂
These were so good! I did make quite a few substitutions as I did not have all ingredients available. I used half all purpose flour and the other half split evenly with whole wheat flour and quick oats. I subbed brown sugar for the coconut sugar. I also used safflower oil in place of the coconut. I let the batter stand for about 10 minutes before making them. Loved the spices and the molasses for a classic gingerbready taste.
I’m glad that worked out well! Perfect breakfast 🙂
Really nice flavor and light texture. Used spelt flour, almond milk, coconut oil and added collagen. Batter was super thin so added 2TBSP oat flour and 2 TBSP flax. It was still pretty thin but as long as I cooked / flipped quickly they didn’t burn.. Texture and thickness was like danish pancakes.
I’m glad that worked out! The texture is likely due to the ingredients swaps 🙂
These were a hit on Christmas morning!! I used all purpose flour and did have to add a bit more flour as per the note to get the right consistency. Great texture and flavour, not too sweet (the syrup does that part 🙂). Made 7 pancakes. Will make again for sure!!
Perfect! So glad they were a hit!
Fluffy and delicious! I used white whole wheat flour, oatmilk, vegetable oil instead of the coconut oil and added 1/4 tsp cloves. These were plenty sweet for me without any syrup so I just enjoyed them plain. Flat pancakes are so disappointing, so I was really glad these were fluffy!
Perfect! So glad you enjoyed 🙂
So fluffy and tasty! Been meaning to make these for a while now. Glad I finally did!
Nicole 🙂
So glad you loved them!
The best way to start the weekend and it makes the kitchen smell AMAZING! I love to top these with sautéed apples, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, and maple syrup compote. When I make this addition I forgo the coconut sugar in the batter.
That sounds amazing!!
I made the batter with just a little less milk and made waffles instead! They turned out fluffy and flavorful!
Such a great idea! Glad that you enjoyed them 🙂
Made these last year and again this morning. They are delicious! Perfectly spiced and fluffy.
Has anyone successfully made these with almond flour or oatmeal yet? Looking to make these a toddler friendly breakfast 🙂
Great recipe! I made them this morning for breakfast and they turned out perfectly. I think I might increase the spices slightly next time but the recipe is still great as-is. Served with vanilla syrup.
These are fantastic! The best dairy free pancakes I have ever made by far. They are wonderfully fluffy and the warm spices make these the perfect cozy winter breakfast. I did sub brown sugar for the coconut sugar and rested the batter for 10 minutes before cooking. Thanks for this 10/10 recipe! 🙂
Amazing!! So happy to hear that, Makayla!
I made this using buckwheat flour, a banana instead of the egg, and almond milk (so gf/vegan), and they were sooo good! Best pancake recipes on Ambitious Kitchen – our other go to is the blender oatmeal pancakes and they are always a crowd pleaser.
These were so good! I even added some pumpkin purée (for ever trying to get veggies into my kids), and it was awesome!
Well now if these weren’t just the most delicious!! Christmas in a pancake! Thank you Monique for continuing to bring us the best recipes for every season!!
Omitted the sugar. It was perfect.
Glad to hear they still tasted amazing!
Amazing flavor! Could this be made as sheet pan pancakes as well?
I haven’t tried it but I believe so!
yummy recipe
I substituted a 50/50 mix of tapioca flour and brown rice flour for the wheat flour and used 1 cup + 2 tablespoons total. I used unsweetened oat milk. I substituted brown sugar for the coconut sugar. I baked “sheet pan” pancakes with the batter at 425F on a sheet pan lined with parchment. The results were fantastic!
Hi – I just made a GF version of these using 1 cup of Bobs 1×1 Baking flour and they came out great. The batter was a bit thin but they puffed up beautifully.
I’m glad that worked out well! Perfect holiday breakfast 🙂
Hi! Can this batter be made the night before?
Can these be made into waffles?
Can these be made into waffles?
This cake is so strange I have never tried it before. With this sharing I hope the cake will taste great.
Hi! These are actually pancakes, hope they turned out great for you!
An instant family favorite! Made a double batch for my family (husband and 3 kids under 7) and we devoured all but 1 pancake! They were not as fluffy as pictured but I also modified the recipe a bit (maybe my baking powder is old or it was the collagen protein I added to the dry ingredients 🤷♀️). Also made a tasty little icing drizzle for the top, SO GOOD!
These are so yummy!!!! I may have married this gingerbread pancake recipe with your pumpkin pancake recipe to make super healthy pumpkin gingerbread pancakes!!!! I even used blackstrap molasses since I really need the extra iron boost! For a super healthy topping I blended up a 16 oz. Tub of cottage cheese and an 8 oz brick of cream cheese, touch of vanilla and maple syrup to sweeten and enough milk to get it to desired consistency! It’s so amazing and high protein you should try it! Thanks for your fantastic recipes!!!!
Love that idea! Sounds delicious 🙂 so glad you enjoyed!
This reminds me of a recipe from when I was a child! Instead of topping with butter and maple syrup, we used cream cheese and a lemon sauce. So good!
Love that idea!!
These pancakes are soo delicious! Perfect amount of spice and sweetness. We’ve made them on Christmas Eve for the last 3 years – my toddler is a fan too. AK is my go-to for pancake recipes and this is a favorite!
Amazing! So happy to hear that 🙂
These pancakes were perfect! The spices and molasses were not overpowering, but definitely present. It was the perfect balance for my picky toddler. Thank you for the recipe!
So glad you both loved it! Perfect breakfast 🙂
My whole family LOVED these, including my 1- and 3-year-old! Adding these to our annual holiday recipe rotation. We usually do high protein, lower carb breakfasts, but this is a fun change around the holidays! So good!
So happy to hear that!!
Amazing recipe!! These pancakes turned out so delicious. Thank you!!