🍪 Christmas morning pancakes kids can help make
Prep: 10 min · Cook: 20 min · Makes: about 12 pancakes (4 people)
Christmas morning moves fast. One minute everyone's admiring their stockings, the next it's mid-morning and nobody has eaten a thing. These pancakes are the answer: quick, fluffy, lightly spiced with cinnamon, and fun enough that kids will happily put down their new things for ten minutes.
The trick is the pancake kit. Mix the dry ingredients on Christmas Eve and leave the jar on the counter. In the morning, you just whisk in the wet stuff and go.
For little helpers
- Kids can measure and whisk the pancake kit the night before. It's a nice calm job after setting out the plate for Santa.
- In the morning they can whisk the batter and build the snowman, tree and Santa faces.
- Let everyone design their own plate. Whipped cream beards are a crowd favorite.
Tips for fluffy pancakes
- Don't overmix. Stir just until the flour disappears. Lumps are good.
- Medium heat. Too hot and the outside burns before the middle cooks.
- Fresh baking powder. If yours has been open for more than 6 months, it may have lost its lift.
Variations
- Gingerbread pancakes: add 1 tsp ground ginger, a pinch of cloves and 2 tbsp molasses to the wet ingredients.
- Chocolate chip: sprinkle a few chocolate chips onto each pancake right after pouring.
- Eggnog pancakes: swap 1/2 cup of the milk for alcohol-free eggnog.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 3 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 1 large egg
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for the pan
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- to decorate: strawberries, bananas, blueberries, whipped cream, maple syrup
Method
- On Christmas Eve (optional): whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a bowl or jar, cover, and leave it on the counter. That's your pancake kit.
- In the morning, whisk the milk, egg, melted butter and vanilla in a pitcher or bowl.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stir gently just until combined. A few lumps are fine. Let the batter rest while the pan heats.
- Heat a griddle or large nonstick skillet over medium heat (about 350°F (175°C) for an electric griddle) and brush with a little butter.
- Pour about 1/4 cup of batter per pancake. Cook until bubbles appear on top and the edges look dry, about 2 minutes, then flip and cook 1 to 2 minutes more until golden.
- Snowman: cook a large, a medium and a small pancake and line them up on a plate. Add blueberry eyes and buttons and a banana-slice scarf.
- Christmas tree: stack pancakes from biggest to smallest, add strawberry baubles and a star cut from a banana slice on top.
- Santa face: a round pancake, a strawberry hat with a dab of whipped cream bobble, whipped cream beard, and blueberry eyes.
- Keep finished pancakes warm in a 200°F (95°C) oven on a baking sheet while you cook the rest.
Questions
Can I make the pancakes ahead?
Yes. Cook them a day ahead, cool, and refrigerate between sheets of parchment. Warm in the toaster or a 300°F (150°C) oven for about 8 minutes.
Can I freeze leftover pancakes?
They freeze well for up to 2 months. Freeze flat on a sheet, then move to a freezer bag and reheat straight from frozen in the toaster.
Can kids help at the stove?
Older kids can pour batter and flip with a grown-up right next to them. Younger ones can whisk, measure, and decorate the finished pancakes.