Gingerbread pancakes are a warm and spicy treat to serve for a Christmas brunch or Santa breakfast. Each fluffy pancake has a sweet and caramelized pear in the center. They are wonderful with maple syrup, cranberry compote, a side of Greek yogurt, or all three!
2tablespoonsbuttermelted and cooled to room temperature, plus more for skillet
¾cupwater
2medium size ripe Anjou pearssliced ¼-1/8'' thick, you need 12 slices total
1tablespoonsall purpose flour
1tablespoonsgranulated sugar
2tablespoonsbrown sugar
1teaspooncinnamon
Maple syrupfor serving
Instructions
In a large bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices, and espresso powder. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, eggs, molasses, butter, and water until smooth.
Gradually the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just combined. Batter may be slightly lumpy; avoid overmixing.
Use a paring knife to cut a small teardrop shape out of the center of each pear slice. Combine the flour, sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Dip each side of the pear slices in this mixture and shake to remove any excess mixture. Lay the pear slices flat on a plate within reach of your stovetop.
Heat oven to 250 and place a baking sheet on the center rack.
Heat a nonstick skillet or griddle over medium heat. Place 1-2 teaspoons of butter in the skillet/griddle with each batch of pancakes that you cook. Place 2 pear slices per pancake in the skillet, with the slices slightly overlapping each other. Let them cook for about 60 seconds before covering them completely with a heaping ¼ cup of the pancake batter. Cook for 4-5 minutes until the edges of the pancake look dry and bubbles have formed on the surface of the batter. Carefully flip the pancake and cook 1 minute more. Transfer pancake to baking sheet in the oven to keep warm until you are ready to serve.
Continue this process with the remainder of the batter and pear slices - you should be able to get a total of six 6'' pancakes with 2 slices of pear in each cake.