I tried 4 viral Christmas pancake designs perfect for the festive season – Samantha Bartlett

It’s that time of year where all our usual habits go out the window and we end up eating our Advent Calendar for breakfast. However, if you want something just as fun but slightly more nourishing, Christmas-themed pancakes are definitely the way forward.

My toddler loves pancakes and has them most weekends and even in the week too if we have time, and there is nothing that puts a smile on his face more than a themed one. For example, around Halloween we had to have ghost pancakes, while at Easter, he won’t forgive me unless there is a bunny pancake on his plate.

Seeing as most of us celebrate Christmas for the whole of December these days, I prepared for my festive pancake-making shift by having a quick browse on Instagram for some fun, festive pancake designs that had gone viral online.

Luckily for me, I found four different designs that I could easily re-create in the kitchen that would keep my Christmas angel happy.

Santa pancake

First up had to be the big man himself, Santa. This one is also pretty easy to do as all you need is a pancake, blueberries, strawberries and raspberries, as well as some squirty cream.

I just used Scotch pancakes from the supermarket for these ones, which can be bought for under £1 and only take one minute in the toaster, however if you have more time on your hands, you can of course make your own (check out a recipe you can use below).

To assemble the pancake it’s very simple, just use two blueberries for the eyes, a raspberry or the end of a strawberry for his nose and use strawberries and raspberries to make his hat before squirting a dollop of cream for the hat’s bobble.

Santa will obviously need his squirty cream beard and hair too and then voilà, you’re done!

Snowman pancakes

Now if you’re going to try this one, I suggest you make your own pancakes so you can get different sized circles for the snowman’s head and body.

To create the different sizes, just place either more or less mixture in the pan and let it ease into a circle shape or you can used different sized circle food cutters if you have them available.

When the pancakes are done, place the smaller circle pancakes onto a larger one at the bottom and then you can use chocolate chips for the eyes, mouth and buttons and orange food gel for the nose.

I then used cut up strawberries for the scarf and simple cut up some banana circles that created some snowballs around the plate.

Reindeer pancake

I have to say, these ones are particularly cute when it comes to design so they’ll definitely impress any guests you have over or your kids will love them.

Again, I just used Scotch pancakes for these ones, but go ahead and make your own if you prefer that.

You’ll need strawberries, a bit of banana, blueberries and some squirty cream for this one, as well as a bit of black food gel.

Use two circles of banana first to create the eyes before placing two blueberries on them and then cut off the end of a strawberry to make the nose.

You can also cut a circle of banana in two to make the ears and draw some antlers with black food gel onto the plate (unless you have some pretzels and want to halve those to make the antlers).

Next, draw on the reindeer’s smile with some black food gel before alternating cut-up strawberries and squirty cream for the scarf. There you have it, you’re done!

Elf pancake

It was my first year trying out an elf pancake as I usually don’t do as many designs but my toddler is very keen to sample them all this year, so I got to work.

Again, this is super simple but effective and you only need just a few ingredients.

For this one, I bought some edible eyes from the shop, but you can just use your black food gel if you don’t want to splash out on those and it’ll still look as cute.

You can then use two ends of a strawberry for the rosy cheeks and draw on a smile with the food gel.

Cut out the elf some banana ears, again by half a banana circle and make the elf’s hat out of strawberries before adding the squirty cream bobble and trim.

Finally, add a squirty cream collar too and your elf is complete!

American-style pancake recipe you can use

If you want to make your own pancakes for the design, I’d recommend American-style pancakes as they’re a bit thicker and fluffier. The below recipe should serve 2-3 people.

Ingredients

• 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¾ cup (180 ml) milk
• 1 large egg
• 2 tbsp melted butter (plus extra for cooking)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Method

1. Mix dry ingredients – In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. Mix wet ingredients – In another bowl, whisk the milk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla.
3. Combine – Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently mix until just combined. Don’t overmix, a few lumps are perfect.
4. Cook – Heat a non-stick pan or griddle over medium heat and lightly butter it. Pour about ¼ cup of batter per pancake.
5. Flip – Cook until bubbles form on the surface (about 2–3 minutes), then flip and cook another 1–2 minutes until golden.
6. Serve hot – Stack them up and enjoy!