Soft and fluffy gingerbread pancakes, drizzled with home made warm lemon sauce. Perfect for a lazy Sunday morning breakfast.
If you live in the UK, tomorrow is Pancake Day. Yep, we have a whole day set aside just to eat pancakes. One of the main problems we face as a nation is that our ‘pancakes’ are sort of horrible flat chewy things that I cannot stand. I have spent many Pancake Days throughout my 28 years on this planet forcing down British pancakes, dripping in as much lemon and sugar as will fit on my plate just to hide the taste. But those days are over now, thanks to this recipe for Gingerbread pancakes I’ve been working on.
They are soft and fluffy. They taste divine. They are absolutely perfect for Pancake Day.
Another problem faced by people like me, is the inability to go to our local supermarket and buy molasses. It’s just not something you can buy here (along with graham crackers, corn syrup, and cinnamon flavoured toothpaste). And all gingerbread pancake recipes ever created involve molasses. Except for this one!
This recipe uses my favourite substitute for molasses – black treacle. From my limited understanding of molasses, it is basically the more intense American cousin of British black treacle. Therefore, to add a bit more flavour to the pancakes, I also used light brown sugar instead of white.
The process for developing this recipe has been a very long one. I first tried Gingerbread Pancakes in 2010, when I was in the US. Whilst staying at an adorable B&B near Seattle*, I was served gingerbread pancakes drizzled with warm lemon sauce for breakfast. It is still one of the things that sticks out in my mind from that holiday, and I am so happy that after many many attempts, I have finally found the perfect replica.
*When I say ‘near Seattle’, what I really mean is in Forks, home of Twilight. But let’s pretend I’m cooler than that.
The lemon sauce is really easy to make, and definitely makes these pancakes go from great to amazing in one drizzle. It’s basically the lemon and sugar from my pancake past, turned into the perfect pancake accompaniment. It is best served straight from the saucepan when it is still hot, although if you spend too long taking photos and it gets cold it can be warmed back up in the microwave for 30 seconds.
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- 50g (¼ cup) light brown sugar
- 2 heaped tablespoons black treacle or molasses
- 2 large eggs
- 50g (¼ cup) unsalted butter, melted
- 175ml (¾ cup) whole milk
- 160g (1¼ cups) plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 75g (1/3 cup) golden caster sugar
- ½ tablespoon cornflour
- ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 235ml (1 cup) water
- 15g (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Add the sugar, treacle, eggs, butter, and milk to a large bowl. Beat using a fork or hand-whisk until fully mixed together. Make sure there is no treacle sitting at the bottom.
- Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and nutmeg to the bowl. Fold together until well combined. Set aside.
- Melt some butter in a frying pan, and then cook the pancakes one at a time on a medium-high heat. They will take 1-2 minutes per side - be careful not to burn them.
- Add all the ingredients to a small saucepan, and heat on a medium heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar has completely melted. Taste, and add more lemon juice if necessary. Serve warm over the pancakes. The sauce can be reheated in the microwave or on the hob if it cools whilst you are making the pancakes.
- This is a great recipe for UK bakers, as no molasses is needed. However, US bakers can substitute molasses for the black treacle.
Those pancakes were such a good Saturday morning treat. Perfect for breakfast in bed! Can’t wait to munch another batch tomorrow… *hint hint*
They also taste nearly as delicious the next day if you pop them in the oven. The lemon sauce is so good but it went a bit gelatinous overnight.
Too much cornflour! I’ve reduced it for the recipe though 🙂
Those look amazing, we had regular pancakes with sugar and lemon this morning (my children’s favourite) but I would love to try these too!
Sweet. I think there will be regular pancakes for dessert tonight, there’s just no getting away from them! Thanks for your lovely comment 🙂
I’m just gonna say yummy 🙂 Pancakes looks so amazing. I love gingerbread spice mix. It reminds me of Christmas, and Christmas is my favorite time of year. Those pancakes are like Christmas morning in a middle of February 😉
Yes, you are so right! These would be so perfect for Christmas morning breakfast. Thanks for your lovely comment 🙂
I didn’t realized molasses was so tricky to track down in the UK! Here in the US, I hoard Lyle’s golden syrup, though it’s becoming easier to find. Melissa Clark has an amazing cranberry gingerbread cake that’s made with both that and molasses (a little bit of UK and a little bit of US flavor).
You can get it on the interwebs, but it is really expensive. And I’ve never really baked with it so it scares me a little… But maybe I should track some down and give it a go? That Cranberry Gingerbread cake sounds amazing! I am going to go off and google it right now 🙂