Santa Pancakes

Pancake on a white plate decorated like Santa with fruit and whipped cream.

5 from 3 votes

These fun and festive Santa pancakes will delight kids of all ages this holiday season! This easy homemade pancake recipe includes step-by-step instructions for cooking and decorating the pancakes plus instructions for decorating snowman pancakes and reindeer pancakes, too.

Prep Time15

Cook Time6

Decorating Time20

Total Time55

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 298kcal

Author: Allison Ferraro

Equipment

Skillet or griddle
Piping bag and small star piping tip (if using homemade whipped cream)

Ingredients

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk, room temperature
1 large egg, room temperature
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Toppings:

4 cups raspberries (or sliced strawberries)
16 blueberries (or chocolate chips)
6-8 bananas
1 cup whipped cream (homemade or store-bought)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the pancake batter.

In a large bowl, add flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine, then set aside.
In a measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together milk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and stir using a wooden spoon or spatula just until the batter is blended. Let the batter rest for 10 to 30 minutes while you heat your skillet or griddle.

Cook the pancakes.

While the batter rests, heat your skillet or griddle over medium heat.
Once the pan is heated, carefully scoop or ladle about ¼ cup of batter onto the pan, being sure to leave enough space between the pancakes so they have room to expand as they cook. Cook the pancakes for 2-4 minutes before flipping and cooking for 2-4 minutes on the other side. Both sides of the pancake should be golden with a puffed center that's cooked all the way through. Transfer the cooked pancakes to a cooling rack to cool slightly before decorating.

Decorate the pancakes.

Place cooled pancakes in the center of a plate that's several inches larger than your pancake so you'll have room to decorate.
Add slices of banana in a triangular shape below the pancake and covering the lower third of the pancake to create the beard.
Place raspberries (or another small red fruit) in a smaller triangular shape above the pancake, covering just the very top of the pancake to create the hat. Add another raspberry in the center of the top most banana slice to make a nose.
Pipe two small dots of whipped cream onto the pancake between the raspberries and the bananas. Place a blueberry on top of each whipped cream dot to create eyes.
Pipe more dots of whipped cream along the lower edge of raspberries and atop the upper most raspberry to make the fur trim and pom pom for Santa's hat.

Notes

Storage: It's best to enjoy the decorated pancakes right away. Leftover pancakes can be stored (undecorated) in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Freezing: You can also freeze any leftover (undecorated) pancakes in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

Be careful not to over mix the pancake batter. You should mix the batter just until it's combined. It will be slightly lumpy, which is perfectly normal. Over mixing the batter will cause it to deflate, and your pancakes won't be as light and fluffy when cooked.

Reindeer Pancakes - To create Rudolph pancakes, cook a mixture of round pancakes and smaller, oval pancakes. Place a small, oval pancake over the bottom of a round pancake. Add two banana slices each topped with a blueberry to the round pancake for eyes. Add a raspberry to the oval pancake for the nose. Use kitchen scissors to cut teardrop shapes from another pancake and place them above the round pancake for ears. Add chocolate chips in two "Y" shapes above the round pancake and between the ears to create antlers.

Snowman Pancakes - To create snowman pancakes, cook smaller round pancakes. Place two small, round pancakes next to one another vertically on a plate. Dust confectioners' sugar over the pancakes. Place small, thin slices of strawberry in a horizontal line between the pancakes with a few more slices coming downward at an angle to create the scarf. Place two blueberries onto the upper pancake for eyes and three blueberries in a vertical line on the lower pancake for buttons. Add a mini chocolate chip smile onto the upper pancake, then use more mini chocolate chips to create arms on both sides of the pancakes.

Nutrition