Gingerbread Pancakes with Cinnamon Coffee Whipped Cream

Wisconsin’s first snowstorm of the year arrived just in time for a white Christmas!

The blizzard on Thursday dropped over 18 inches of snow in 24 hours. All over Madison, tree branches snapped from strong winds and the weight of the snow.

Our power (and heat) went out several times, but luckily there was always the option of Sisyphean shoveling– as the snow fell all around us, slowly drenching our clothes– to warm us up.

It was all worth it for the glittering, sunny day after the storm.

I’m pretty sure that some of the winters of my childhood hid the sun behind slush-gray clouds for entire months in a row. This weekend, though, the sun had its own little winter solstice celebration.

The clouds cleared away to reveal bright blue skies and sunshine enough to light up all the trees, the way no Christmas lights could.

Of course there wasn’t enough sunshine to actually melt anything– not at 26 degrees Fahrenheit, anyway. All of the snow is frozen in place: piled on power lines, heaped on cars, and precariously stacked on the tiniest twigs and tree branches.

It’s awfully pretty out, when you don’t have to shovel.

I’m sharing these gingerbread pancakes today because I thought they seemed appropriately Christmas-y. The recipe is inspired by one in The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion, which I gave my girlfriend for Christmas before leaving for Wisconsin. (We have trouble holding on to presents until the official holidays in my house.)

Always a fan of adding crystallized ginger to things, I was nonetheless surprised to see a recipe where you add it to pancakes! But what a great innovation that was: the candied ginger bits become soft inside the pancakes, with a mellowed– almost fruity– ginger flavor.

And we dressed up the pancakes with a gingerbread-friendly whipped cream, spiced with hints of coffee and cinnamon.

The sunlight through the trees was only fleeting– today Madison is back to its gray and snowy skies. All the more reason, as I see it, to brighten up your Christmas morning breakfast with some festive, fancy pancakes.

Print this recipe. (PDF)

RECIPE:

Gingerbread Pancakes with
Cinnamon Coffee Whipped Cream
(Adapted from “The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion”)

(Makes 10-12 small pancakes; serves 2-3)

Pancake Ingredients:
~ 1 cup all-purpose flour
~ ¼ cup finely ground yellow cornmeal
~ 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
~ ¾ tsp. ground ginger
~ ¾ tsp. ground cinnamon
~ ⅛ tsp. ground cloves
~ ½ tsp. salt
~ 1 tsp. baking powder
~ ½ tsp. baking soda
~ ¼ cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped
~ 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
~ 2-3 Tbsp. molasses
~ 1 cup buttermilk (or milk with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, set aside for 10 minutes)
~ 1 large egg, beaten
~ several Tbsp. butter, for frying the pancakes

Whipped Cream Ingredients:
~ 8 oz. whipping cream
~ 2-3 Tbsp. brewed coffee, cooled
~ ½ tsp. sugar
~ dash of cinnamon

How to make it:

1. In large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Then mix in the crystallized ginger.

2. In a small bowl, mix together the egg, molasses, oil, and buttermilk. Add the liquids to the dry ingredients, and stir until just combined.

3. Preheat a griddle and lightly grease it with butter. Drop the batter, ¼ cup at a time, to make a small 3-4-inch pancake. Cook until the edges look dry, then flip the pancakes to finish cooking. Keep warm in the oven until serving.

4. Combine all whipped cream ingredients, then beat with an electric hand mixer until lightly fluffy. Serve pancakes warm with Cinnamon Coffee Whipped Cream and/or maple syrup.

Print this recipe! (PDF)

(Wild turkeys, in the UW Madison Arboretum)

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> Korean Cinnamon Sugar Stuffed Pancakes (Hotteok)
> Pumpkin Pancakes