I suppose the phrase “new tradition” is something of a contradiction in terms, what with tradition being all about the past and what’s come before. Nevertheless, my husband and I started a new holiday tradition last year and it’s one we hope to continue for many years to come. It’s certainly a big hit with our children. Now that the older two are capable of helping to decorate the tree, we have a little tree trimming party. And to get us all in the holiday spirit, we have pancakes for dinner. I’ve never been a huge pancake person, but my kids adore them and they think it’s a special treat to have them for dinner.
This year, I made two separate batches of pancakes so that I could fully participate in our newfound tradition. My pancakes were made with coconut flour, while the rest of the family had the regular kind (albeit somewhat healthified with whole wheat and flax seed meal). I also thought I would up the ante and go with a holiday flavour like Gingerbread and toss in some chocolate chips for fun. I figured I could pull this off even with the low carb ones, if I used my homemade chocolate chunks.
The Results: I figured wrong! Hoooo boy. My lovely sugar-free chocolate chunks were not made for a hot skillet and they quickly melted and ran all over the place. This is not to say that the low carb pancakes were a total disaster, as they tasted quite good. But they didn’t look all that great and I was a little worried that the chocolate in the pan would burn. So I scooped out all the chocolate chunks out of the remaining batter and finished up with plain gingerbread pancakes. They were delicious, especially topped with some of my sugar free cranberry sauce.
The pancakes for my husband and kids, however, worked out perfectly. They smelled temptingly of all the spices, and the chocolate chips made them an extra special holiday treat. I resisted tasting them myself, but they got rave reviews from all family members, including my very picky 14 month old. You really can’t ask for more than that!
So whether you’re low carb, gluten free, or have no dietary restrictions whatsoever, I have a holiday pancake recipe for you! Enjoy!
Coconut Flour Gingerbread Pancakes – adapted from Tiana Coconut
2 tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs
2 tbsp coconut oil or melted butter (plus more for pan)
2 tbsp almond milk, coconut milk or whole milk
1 tsp granulated erythritol (or sugar or equivalent sweetener)
1/4 tsp salt
Optional: 1/3 cup sugarfree chocolate chips (of the storebought variety!)
In a small bowl, whisk together coconut flour, spices and baking powder. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, blend together eggs, oil or butter, milk, sweetener and salt. Mix in coconut flour mixture and stir vigorously until well combined. Batter will be thick.
Heat 1 tbsp of coconut oil or butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Spoon batter into skillet and spread with back of spoon to form 4-inch (or larger) rounds. Cook until edges are set and slightly browned, and spatula can be inserted underneath to flip over. Cook other side until golden brown.
Serves 2. Each serving has a total of 12g of carbs, and 5g of fiber, but only 5g of carbs per serving if you subtract erythritol and fiber.
Gingerbread Chocolate Chip Pancakes – adapted from The America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book.
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup flax seed meal
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups buttermilk or whole milk
3 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg
1/2 cup chocolate chips
oil or butter for pan
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, flax seed meal, sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a medium bowl, combine milk, butter and egg and whisk to combine.
Add milk mixture to flour mixture and stir gently until just incorporated and a few lumps remain. Do not overmix.
Heat oil or butter in a large skillet over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Swirl to coat bottom of skillet. Spoon 1/4 cup of batter per pancake into skillet (3 or so pancakes will fit at a time). Sprinkle each pancake with 1-2 tsp of chocolate chips. Cook until edges are set and bubbles appear in top of pancake.
Flip and continue to cook until golden brown on both sides. Keep warm in 200F oven until ready to serve.
Love the idea of GB pancakes! And ith choc chips!
Well, we love pancakes at my house, breakfast, lunch or dinner! 🙂 I always try to add new flavours, but haven't tried the gingerbread yet. I'll have to give that a try, thanks!
We love pancakes here, whether for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Love the idea of gingerbread flavoured, I've never tried that before! Definitely on the "next time" list. 😉
Hey, all traditions had to be new at one time, right?
Thank for posting such a delicious dish!!.. All the best. Luna
I have to say, pancakes for dinner are one of my favorite indulgences. Gingerbread chocolate chip sounds delicious! I woudl totally make them with coconut flour just for the hell of it. bet it gives a nice flavor.
Gingerbread pancakes sound wonderful, with or without chocolate chips. That might be a fun tradition for our family, too!
I have never had gingerbread pancakes. Growing up I wasn't a pancake fan but have grown to love them now. There are so many flavor combinations that I want to try and this is one of them now! My guys would love them. Now that our son is 2 1/2 years old and starting to understand more and more we have started adding to our list of family traditions. That's the best part of being a "new" family… you get to improvise and create new traditions.
Sooooooo we are big pancake fans in this house! Ginger bread pancakes? HELL yeah! Can not wait to try these!!!
What a amazing photos..and the recipe is great idea over the holidays!Nicely done Carolyn!
Gingerbread pancakes with cranberry sauce sounds delicious :).
My oldest daughter would absolutely love these.
This is indeed a wonderful new tradition! I could have pancakes for dinner every day 🙂
Wow, gingerbread pancakes?! I have never even thought to use gingerbread pancakes. Sounds delicious!
What a wonderful new tradition. I'm all for new or old tradition as long as it's tasty! The gingerbread is brilliant. But I may cheat and sneak in sugar-full choco chips. Hey, it's Christmas.
These look amazing. Gingerbread pancakes that are GF and DF! I'm not a big fan of chocolate chips, but I'll have to try these out.
Carolyn, that is a whole lot of YUM! I think i'll be trying out some of these on the weekend. If I can wait that long.
Cheers!
delicious breakfast flavours
Oh my these look and sound wonderful. Gingerbread with chocolate chips added…awesome idea. I'm sorry to hear the one batch gave you trouble though.
See, that was just more proof that life isn't supposed to include chocolate. I think the gingerbread pancakes WITHOUT it are perfect!
My boys love love love pancakes! They will love these for sure!
i am such a sucker for breakfast for dinner! these look amazing!
Is it breakfast time yet? I would love to wake up to a stack of these!
What a great tradition you've got going there! I know it will be something your children grow to cherish. Your pancakes look amazing too! Even if the chocolate didn't quite work out in yours, I think the cranberry sauce is a nice add. I would even like it with raspberries… do you think that would work with the gingerbread flavor? 🙂
gingerbread pancakes, wow, that's definitely a holiday breakfast treat. yours look so good, the photo of them with cranberry sauce makes me lick my laptop' screen.
have a great week
Gingerbread pancakes! Brilliant! Let me have 3 breakfast a day, PLEASE! Oh I love them even more with cranberry sauce.
Carolyn you've outdone yourself! I am gluten free and have started using coconut and almond flours more in the past year. I love the combination of all in the recipe and I'm sure it is delicious! Can't wait to have them. Perfect for this time of year!
These look great. I am always looking for fun new ideas for breakfast over the holidays when my husband's brother will most likely be staying with us. I always like to cook the "boys" up something yummy on Christmas morning.
OH MY GOODNESS! Gingerbread Pancakes?! You know I just love you for making these and posting the recipe. Those pancakes are calling my name (no pun intended). They look soooo good and I love the addition of the chocolate chips. YUM!
Carolyn-These pancakes look so amazing, and yummy. I would most certainly want to try to make them.
Thank you for sharing!
These look so amazing!!
I just made these! Wow they are great. Made a few subs- 3 drops stevia instead of sugar, plus a splash of almond extract. Didn't have ginger, so used a few pinches of vanilla powder and 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice instead. Of course, every time I haven't used coconut oil in a while I think it will magically liquify if I beat it hard enough.. should have melted that prior 😉 Regardless, they turned out great and I can't wait to make them again!
-Jen
Had these for breakfast today (coconut flour version) and they are so yummy! I left out the chocolate chips and the cloves as I didn’t have either in my pantry. I used butter and coconut milk in the batter and a bit of extra butter on top since you can’t have too much butter! Will try to make a bunch and freeze them so we can always have some on hand! Thanks!