Easy Gingerbread Pancakes
These easy gingerbread pancakes turn your favorite Christmas spices into a fluffy holiday breakfast, made with just ripe bananas, eggs, flour and a warm blend of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice. They come together in one bowl, cook up in minutes, and fill the whole house with that cozy gingerbread smell while they sizzle on the pan. If you want a festive breakfast that feels special but takes almost no effort, this is the one to make.
This time I made the vegetarian version, with eggs and bananas, and I used a metal ring to give them a perfect, round shape. I also filmed a video for this easy refined-sugar-free gingerbread pancakes recipe, so you can see exactly how I made them. You can watch it below, and if you like my videos, don’t forget to give them a Thumbs Up and Subscribe to my YouTube channel!
What you’ll need to make them
The base of these pancakes is simple, and each ingredient earns its place. Very ripe bananas do a lot of the work here: they add natural sweetness and a soft texture, so you need no sugar in the batter at all. Pick bananas that are heavily speckled or almost fully brown, because the riper they are, the sweeter and more fragrant your pancakes will be.
The gingerbread flavor comes from a warm spice mix of ginger powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves and allspice. That combination is what gives the pancakes their unmistakable Christmas-cookie character. I use plain flour, but you can swap in a gluten-free blend if you prefer, and I go with dairy-free milk (almond milk works beautifully) to keep them light. A little baking powder gives them lift, and a drizzle of honey at the end brings everything together.
How to make gingerbread pancakes
Start by mashing the bananas well with a fork, then whisk in the eggs until smooth. Add the flour, baking powder, dairy-free milk and all the gingerbread spices, and mix until you have an even batter. Grease a non-stick pan with a little oil and heat it gently. Using a ladle filled about halfway, pour the batter into the pan and let it cook on low heat.
The key is patience with the heat. Low and slow lets the inside cook through before the outside browns, which matters with a banana-based batter that can catch quickly. Wait until bubbles start to form across the surface, then flip and cook the second side for another 30 to 60 seconds. Repeat until all the batter is used up.
Tips for perfect fluffy pancakes
- Use the ripest bananas you can find. They mash more easily and give the best natural sweetness, so the batter needs no added sugar.
- Keep the heat low. A banana batter browns fast, and low heat gives the centers time to set without the outside burning.
- Wait for the bubbles. Flipping too early tears the pancake; those surface bubbles are your signal that the underside has set.
- Don’t over-grease the pan. A thin film of oil is enough for a clean release and even color.
- For neat, round pancakes, use a metal ring the way I do in the video. Pour the batter inside it and lift it off once the pancake holds its shape.
Vegan swap and variations
As written, this recipe is vegetarian because of the eggs and the honey drizzle. To make it vegan, replace the two eggs with 2 tablespoons of psyllium husks, which help bind the batter, and swap the honey for maple syrup or another plant-based sweetener. The dairy-free milk already keeps the rest of the recipe plant-friendly.
If you love pancakes as much as I do, there are plenty of ways to keep experimenting. For a naturally egg-free option, try my banana pancakes without eggs or these gluten-free vegan pancakes. If you want to stay in the cozy cinnamon lane, my cinnamon pancakes are a lovely everyday choice.
How to serve and store them
Serve these gingerbread pancakes warm, drizzled with honey and a dusting of cinnamon, and add a few orange slices on the side. That combination of warm spice and bright citrus is my favorite way to eat them, and it feels right at home on a Christmas morning table. They also make a wonderful sweet finish, so if you’re building a festive spread you can pair them with my vegan sponge cake or a vegan chocolate-cherry cake for the full holiday dessert lineup.
These pancakes are best fresh off the pan, but any leftovers keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two days. Reheat them briefly in a dry pan or the toaster to bring back a little of that just-cooked texture. You can also freeze them in a single layer, then stack once solid, so you have a quick festive breakfast ready to warm through on busy mornings.
If you make these gingerbread pancakes this holiday season, I’d love to know how they turned out. Leave a star rating and drop a comment below to tell me whether you kept the honey and orange combo or tried your own topping. Happy cooking, and enjoy that gingerbread-scented kitchen!
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Easy Gingerbread Pancakes
Ingredients
- 2 bananas very ripe
- 2 eggs medium
- 1 cup flour you can use gluten-free flour if you want
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 cup dairy-free milk I used almond milk by Joya
- ¼ tsp nutmeg ground
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- ¼ tsp cloves round
- ¼ tsp allspice
- 1 tsp ginger powder
- honey for drizzling
- oil for frying
Instructions
- Mash bananas with a fork.
- Add the eggs and whisk together by hand, or using a mixer.
- Add flour, baking powder, milk and gingerbread spices. Mix well.
- Grease a non-stick pan with some oil.
- Using a ladle, fill it by half with the gingerbread pancakes mixture and pour it into the pan.
- Let it cook on low heat until bubbles start to appear. Then is the moment to flip the pancake on the other side and let it cook for 30-60 seconds.
- Repeat the process until all the pancakes batter is used.
- Serve these gingerbread pancakes with some honey and cinnamon as well as some orange slices. This combo is delicious!
Frequently Asked Questions
As written, they are vegetarian, not vegan, because the batter uses eggs and the pancakes are drizzled with honey. To make them vegan, replace the 2 eggs with 2 tablespoons of psyllium husks and swap the honey for maple syrup or another plant-based sweetener. The dairy-free milk keeps the rest of the recipe plant-based already.
Yes. The recipe uses 1 cup of flour, and you can substitute a gluten-free flour blend without changing anything else. The bananas, eggs and baking powder still give the pancakes structure and lift, so the texture stays soft and fluffy.
The gingerbread taste comes from a warm mix of 1 teaspoon ginger powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, a quarter teaspoon nutmeg, a quarter teaspoon ground cloves and a quarter teaspoon allspice. This blend is what gives the pancakes their classic Christmas-cookie character, so you can adjust the amounts slightly to suit how spiced you like them.
Banana-based batters are delicate and need patience. Cook them on low heat and wait until bubbles form across the whole surface before flipping, which is the sign the underside has set. Flipping too early, or using heat that is too high, is the most common reason they tear.
No. Very ripe bananas provide all the natural sweetness the batter needs, which is why this recipe is refined-sugar-free. A drizzle of honey (or maple syrup for a vegan version) on top adds just enough extra sweetness to serve.
Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two days, and reheat them briefly in a dry pan or the toaster to restore some texture. You can also freeze them in a single layer, then stack once solid, and warm them straight from frozen for a quick holiday breakfast.
Love gingerbread spices! Made these this morning and they were so good!
Glad you liked them!