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35 Pancake Ideas That Put Basic Flapjacks to Shame

By Taryn Pire

| Mar. 30, 2022

Nothing springs us out of bed quite like the aroma of homemade pancakes. But we’re thinking it’s time we get more creative than a sprinkle of chocolate chips. Behold: 35 easy, creative pancake ideas that will spice up weekday mornings, Sunday brunch and heck, even breakfast-for-dinner night. They range from savory specialties (like a ham-and-egg Dutch baby) to sweet masterpieces (like cinnamon roll pancakes with vanilla icing) that your whole fam will be eager to scarf down—even before you’ve poured their coffee.

RELATED: The 11 Best Pancake Mix Brands You Can Buy at the Grocery Store

Matt Russell/Lazy Baking

1. One-Cup Pancakes

Time Commitment: 10 minutes
Why We Love It: <30 minutes, <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly, kid-friendly

This recipe is so easy that you’ll have it memorized after your first attempt. Make the simple stack a bit fancy with Greek yogurt, jam and lemon zest.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

2. Sheet Tray Pancakes with Peaches and Strawberries

Time Commitment: 55 minutes
Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, one pan

Alfresco brunch for a crowd, anyone? We can’t think of a better way to show off your first stone fruit haul of the season.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

3. Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Time Commitment: 45 minutes
Why We Love It: kid-friendly, special occasion-worthy

Sure, you could go the maple syrup route…but we’re partial to this three-ingredient vanilla glaze.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

4. Pancake Tacos with Cheese and Bacon

Time Commitment: 1 hour and 40 minutes
Why We Love It: high protein, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly

Complete with scrambled eggs for extra protein. Serve these handhelds with plenty of hot sauce and coffee.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

5. Swedish Pancakes

Time Commitment: 1 hour and 10 minutes
Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, special occasion-worthy

Think of these lighter pancakes as a cross between American flapjacks and French crepes. Here, they’re layered with raspberry jam and dusted with confectioners’ sugar.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

6. Croque Madame Dutch Baby

Time Commitment: 50 minutes
Why We Love It: special occasion-worthy, kid-friendly, high protein

Complete with buttery, nutmeg-laced béchamel sauce.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

7. Nutella Pancakes

Time Commitment: 2 hours and 15 minutes
Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, kid-friendly

The only thing better than slathering your pancakes in hazelnut-cocoa spread? Stuffing them with frozen discs of it instead, so each pancake has a molten chocolatey core once it’s cooked. Molten lava cake but make it breakfast.

8. Chrissy Teigen’s Blueberry Cream Cheese Pancakes

Time Commitment: 40 minutes
Why We Love It: special occasion-worthy

Each pancake is studded with what Chrissy calls “cream cheese bombs,” or frozen cubes of cream cheese that turn soft and creamy as the flapjacks warm through.

Christina Holmes/Alpine Cooking

9. Kaiserschmarrn (Austrian Shredded Pancakes)

Time Commitment: 40 minutes
Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, special occasion-worthy, one pan

Also referred to as Emperor’s Mess, this rustic dish of buttery shredded magic has been around since the 19th century.

10. Easy Red Velvet Pancakes

Time Commitment: 45 minutes
Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, kid-friendly, <10 ingredients

Bring on the cream cheese icing. Your guests will be so impressed that they’ll have no clue you started with red velvet cake mix.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

11. Gluten-Free Almond Flour Pancakes

Time Commitment: 30 minutes
Why We Love It: gluten free,

Gussy up these wheat-free wonders with cinnamon, chocolate fudge, peanut butter, whipped cream or any fruit your heart desires.

Sarah Copeland/Chronicle Books

12. Johnnycakes with Rhubarb and Sour Cherries

Time Commitment: 20 minutes
Why We Love It: <30 minutes, special occasion-worthy

Pucker up, friends. Not only is this stack crowned with tart-sweet rhubarb-cherry maple syrup, but it’s also finished with a dollop of tangy plain yogurt.

Photo: Tyler Mauk/Styling: Anne Mauk

13. Sheet Pan Pancakes with Chocolate Chips

Time Commitment: 25 minutes
Why We Love It: <30 minutes, <10 ingredients, kid-friendly, crowd-pleaser

Slice the one-pan gem into slabs or cut it into strips instead so the kids can dunk them into syrup like French toast sticks.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

14. Dutch Baby Pancake

Time Commitment: 35 minutes
Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly, special occasion-worthy

German pancake. Bismarck. Dutch puff. Whatever you call it, you’ll be shocked how easy it is to prepare. (You can even mix the batter in the blender if you’re feeling extra lazy.)

15. Sweet Crepes with Caramelized Pears and Mascarpone Cream

Time Commitment: 45 minutes
Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion-worthy

Crepes are basically just pancakes without leavening. Make the batter in advance and keep it in the fridge for up to two days ahead of Mother’s Day brunch.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

16. Gingerbread Pancakes

Time Commitment: 30 minutes
Why We Love It: special occasion-worthy, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly

Make these spiced cuties on Christmas morning once and they’ll become an annual tradition. Might we suggest washing ’em down with homemade eggnog?

Photo: Mike Grippi/Styling: Kaitlin Wayne

17. Baileys Red Velvet Pancakes with Whipped Cream

Time Commitment: 35 minutes
Why We Love It: special occasion-worthy

AKA our new favorite way to use Irish cream. Swap crushed freeze-dried raspberries in for red food coloring to turn the batter pink—their flavor will pair beautifully with the cocoa.

Two Peas & Their Pod

18. Pumpkin Pancakes

Time Commitment: 20 minutes
Why We Love It: kid-friendly, beginner-friendly, <30 minutes

The ultimate way to fuel up ahead of trick-or-treating. Tangy buttermilk and warm spices like ginger, clove and nutmeg counteract the sweetness of the canned pumpkin purée.

Grandbaby Cakes

19. Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

Time Commitment: 15 minutes
Why We Love It: <30 minutes, beginner-friendly, special occasion-worthy

Ricotta cheese in the batter ensures fluffy, moist and unbelievably tender pancakes every damn time.

Half Baked Harvest

20. Sweet Cherry Buckwheat Pancakes with Bourbon Butter Syrup and Bacon

Time Commitment: 45 minutes
Why We Love It: special occasion-worthy, crowd-pleaser

Trading AP flour for buckwheat is an easy way to zhuzh up your usual stack. (Salty-sweet, bourbon-spiked syrup doesn’t hurt either.)

Spoon Fork Bacon

21. Coconut Banana Pancakes

Time Commitment: 35 minutes
Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, one bowl, kid-friendly

An edible tropical vacation that’s well worth getting out of bed for. Bonus points for toasting the shredded coconut before sprinkling it onto the pancakes.

22. Fluffiest Blueberry Pancakes

Time Commitment: 20 minutes
Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, kid-friendly, <30 minutes

Buttermilk isn’t exactly a pantry staple. Luckily, you can sub in milk and white vinegar.

Cookie and Kate

23. Whole Wheat Pancakes

Time Commitment: 30 minutes
Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, kid-friendly

You kids may be wise to you putting their sandwiches on whole-wheat bread instead of white, but we’re betting they’ll be less suspicious of a syrup-soaked short stack.

Half Baked Harvest

24. Browned Butter Cinnamon Peach Dutch Baby

Time Commitment: 30 minutes
Why We Love It: special occasion-worthy, crowd-pleaser, <10 ingredients

The peaches are baked in nutty, luscious brown butter before being mixed into the batter. Need we say more?

Grandbaby Cakes

25. Pineapple Upside-Down Pancakes

Time Commitment: 15 minutes
Why We Love It: special occasion-worthy, kid-friendly, <30 minutes

We don’t know about you, but we’re topping ours with vanilla ice cream *and* maple syrup, thank you very much.

I Am A Food Blog

26. Japanese Souffle Pancakes

Time Commitment: 30 minutes
Why We Love It: special occasion-worthy, <10 ingredients, kid-friendly

The key to these light-as-cloud delicacies is whipping the egg whites into meringue before adding them to the batter.

27. Low-Carb Keto Pancakes

Time Commitment: 20 minutes
Why We Love It: low carb, keto-friendly, <30 minutes, gluten free

Using almond flour, coconut flour and monk fruit allulose instead of AP flour and sugar keep the net carbs at a low 3 grams per serving.

A Cookie Named Desire

28. Chocolate Buckwheat Pancakes

Time Commitment: 45 minutes
Why We Love It: special occasion-worthy, beginner-friendly

Dessert for breakfast is always a good idea. Top the pancakes with chopped nuts, raspberries, strawberries or caramel sauce.

Half Baked Harvest

29. Rice Krispie Treat Pancakes with Browned Butter Syrup

Time Commitment: 35 minutes
Why We Love It: special occasion-worthy, kid-friendly

This breakfast is peak nostalgia. If your kids are thrown off by the idea of brown butter syrup, casually mention there’s a hefty scoop of melted marshmallows in the pancake batter and they’ll be sold.

Grandbaby Cakes

30. Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

Time Commitment: 45 minutes
Why We Love It: special occasion-worthy, kid-friendly

The pancakes are studded with old-fashioned oats, shredded apples and chopped pecans, so feel free to drench your plate in Honeycrisp-brown sugar topping.

31. Crepes with Meyer Lemon Curd and Berries

Time Commitment: 1 hour
Why We Love It: special occasion-worthy

If you can’t find Meyer lemons near you, substitute a 50/50 mix of lemon and orange juices instead. (We’d suggest cara cara oranges for extra sweetness.)

Half Baked Harvest

32. Buttermilk Pancakes with Chamomile Cream and Gingered Strawberries

Time Commitment: 30 minutes
Why We Love It: special occasion-worthy

Pro tip: Make a double (or um, triple) batch of the chamomile-honey whipped cream for galettes, tarts, pies, waffles, cakes and beyond.

Grandbaby Cakes

33. Ginger-Orange Pancakes

Time Commitment: 35 minutes
Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly

There’s OJ in the pancakes, but the recipe also calls for a touch of orange extract to drive the citrusy flavor home.

Ambitious Kitchen

34. Healthy Banana Oatmeal Pancakes

Time Commitment: 20 minutes
Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, <30 minutes, one bowl, gluten free

All you need to do to prepare the batter is plop all the ingredients in the blender and blitz until combined. In the words of Ina Garten, how easy is that?

35. Black-and-White Pancake Cake

Time Commitment: minutes
Why We Love It: kid-friendly, special occasion-worthy

Sure, you can reserve this uber-decadent behemoth for dessert…but we’re betting your kiddos wouldn’t mind having a slice for breakfast.

Victoria Bellafiore

Want more recipe inspo?

Check out our cookbook, Only the Good Stuff!

RELATED: 60 Sweet Breakfast Recipes to Treat Yourself to Before You Hit Snooze

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