Christmas Themed Pancakes

For many families, making pancakes on Christmas morning is one of their traditions. Often it is dad who is in charge of this meal and he may have a special recipe which only comes out this one day of the year. If you haven’t adopted this tradition in the past, why not start with these Christmas pancake ideas.

Making pancake batter from scratch is really quite easy with only a few ingredients but if that seems like too much to deal with on Christmas morning, there is always pre-made pancake mix. A gourmet one, perhaps buttermilk is a good option. You can find them at a food specialty store or online. I look for them during my travels. 

If I don't have a gourmet one, Stonewall Kitchen is a  good pre-packaged mix or I whip out my Betty Crocker cookbook and use her basic pancake recipe.

1 large egg
1 cup all -purpose or whole wheat flour
3/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon granulated or packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

or if you want it even simpler:

2 cups Original Bisquick® mix
1 cup milk
2 eggs

These two recipes will produce between 10 and 12 average size pancakes. It is quite easy to make a double or triple batch is everyone is very hungry.

Because it is Christmas, you will want to do something extra special with them. But what makes a pancake Christmasie?

You may want to use food coloring to turn the batter red or green, or divide the batter and make both. The juice of some red berries may also be used to turn the batter light red.

Depending on how much Christmas theme you want in your pancakes, you can cook them and then use a large cookie cutter to turn them into Christmas stockings, Christmas trees, bells, Santa, wreaths or any other Christmas themed cutter that you have.

For those who are cooking challenged, buy frozen pancakes and cut them into shapes and decorate with tubes of red and green decorative frosting. Get the kids involved with the decorating.

To make a Christmas-themed pancake you can also use flavor. Candy canes are a Christmas favorite add a few drops of peppermint extract to the batter to imitate a candy cane. You can go a step further and make whipped cream with crushed candy cane to place on top.

Peppermint also goes very well with chocolate, so adding chocolate chips to your batter with a little peppermint flavoring will make for a delicious Christmas tradition.

Dried fruits are traditional at Christmas time. Adding finely chopped dried cherries or cranberries to the pancake batter will give them a Christmas theme. Nuts go well with dried fruit and of course, chocolate goes well with just about anything.

Eggnog is another Christmas favorite. Eggnog is flavored with nutmeg. Why not replace the milk in your pancakes with eggnog and give the family a real treat.

Christmas themed pancakes can be created in many ways. Let your family traditions or tastes dictate what you choose. You can translate it into this universally loved breakfast that will become a new tradition.