Take your pancake game up a few notches with pancake art. This is SUCH an easy technique with great results. Because we aren't all Picasso. Or Banksy. Or Mr. Dressup. Check this out ...
IT'S A FRIGGIN PANCAKE.
Not an overcooked fried egg. A pancake.
Because I made the world's easiest pancake art. The pancake egg. I made this design up, but I'm guessing I'm not the first to do it. I just don't want to Google it and find out I'm not as smart as I think I am.
There are two ways you can go about making artistic little pancakes. You can either use a box of pancake batter, which is perfectly fine, or you can use a homemade pancake recipe. I've put my pancake recipe at the bottom of this post but if you have your own favourite, just use that.
The one thing you'll have to do regardless of which you use, is thin out some or all of the batter. It needs to be quite runny for intricate designs or using in a squeeze bottle.
These types of pancakes are often done by people far more skilled than you or I so I wanted to come up with a few designs that the average person could actually do and get great results.
I'll give instructions on how to do each individually.
Table of Contents
Easy Pancake Art (examples)
From easiest (and I think best) to most difficult, left to right:
Egg shaped pancakes, pancakes using no food colouring, pancakes made with outlines.
Materials
For "painting" with the pancake batter you'll need one or more of the following, with squeeze bottles being the best choice.
- Squeeze bottles
- Food colouring (optional)
- Pancake batter
- Liquid to thin batter (if your recipe uses milk, thin with milk if it uses water then thin with water)
- Non stick pan or griddle
If you want to try this but don't have a squeeze bottle you can also make decent pancake art with:
- a piping bag
- a plastic baggie
- a teaspoon
Your results will be a lot more precise with a squeeze bottle but unless you plan on starting a TikTok account that showcases clips from your new Food Network show "I'm the World's Best Pancake Artist" then I don't think it matters that much.
But if your plan is to do that, why are you reading a how-to blog about how to make beginner pancake art??
The Egg
Instructions
- Mix your pancake batter together. It needs to be runnier than ketchup. If it isn't, add more milk or water (whichever the recipe uses)
- Ladle ½ cup of your pancake batter into a bowl. Add enough yellow or orange food colouring to the batter to make it "yolk" coloured. Mix until well combined.
- Add any flavourless oil to a non stick pan and heat over very low heat.
- Using a teaspoon drop enough yellow batter onto the pan to make a yolk.
- For thin pancakes spoon a circle of uncoloured batter around the "yolk".
- For thicker pancakes you can ladle batter right over the yolk instead of spooning it around.
- When the batter just starts to bubble up, flip the pancakes over and cook until done.
Are these as good as regular pancakes? They taste just as good as a regular pancakes, but because pancake art is made with thin batter, they aren't nice and thick and fluffy like the kind you'd get in a restaurant that has bench seating and whipped cream listed as a condiment.
The reason they aren't as big and fluffy is because a) the batter has to be thin to flow through the tip of a squeeze bottle and b) Even if you aren't using a squeeze bottle, like these teaspoon dropped eggs, you still have to add food colouring and mix it up until the batter is smooth, which thins it out.
Easy Art Designs - Emojis, initials, simple shapes
Everyone can draw a smiley emoji type face. These pancakes are particularly easy because you don't use food colouring to get a design. The colour difference shows up because the design portion cooks a little bit longer - therefore it gets darker.
Pancakes with faces smiling up at you. Good morning indeed.
Instructional video
Pancake Faces for Shrove Tuesday
EASY way to make pancakes way more fun. Pancake faces!
Instructions
- Mix together the pancake batter.
- Add a few small scoops (around ½ cup) of the batter to a small mixing bowl and whisk until smooth. It needs to be the consistency of runny ketchup. If it isn't add more liquid and mix.
- Pour this smooth mixture into a plastic squeeze bottle.
- Lightly butter or oil a non stick pan and heat over low to medium/low.
- Squeeze your face design onto the pan. (monograms work well too)
- Once the design starts to bubble, ladle the regular pancake mix over the face.
- Cook until bubbles form, then flip.
- Cook a minute or so longer then remove from pan.
- Keep pancakes warm in 210 f degree oven.
That, by the way, is a stack of face pancakes dripping with maple syrup that I made from my own maple tree and yes, you too can make your own maple syrup. It's not hard it just takes a lot of time.
If happy faces aren't your thing you can do all kinds of other stuff with this basic technique.
Or if you aren't into the intricate portraiture of a smiley face, you might want to go with monogrammed pancakes. Or a nice motivational message like you see above.
Pancake art can really be as elaborate or simple as you want and that's what's so fantastic about it.
You can get extra fancy if you want and do shapes.
Finally, something a bit more fancy but realistic.
Line drawing pancakes
If you head to your pal Google and search for an image of something you'll be able to find either clipart or easy line drawings of almost anything. They make perfect reference patterns.
I searched lion and came up with this easy lion drawing.
Does it look like a true artist did it? No. But it looks good and like something almost anyone could do, which is the goal here!
Instructions
- Make your pancake batter.
- Ladle ¼ cup of batter into a bowl and add 4 teaspoons of black cocoa.* Mix until colour is thoroughly dispersed and the mixture is smooth.
- Add the coloured batter to a piping bag with a #2 piping tip (or any fairly small tip).
- Heat your non stick pan and oil over low heat.
- Using your reference photo, pipe the line drawing/outline onto the warm pan.
- As soon as your outlines are done, spoon batter in between the lines or ladle batter over the whole thing.
- Cook until the batter just starts to bubble then flip.
- Cook for 1 minute or so more.
*Bulk barn also carries black cocoa
Food colouring
If you want colourful pancakes ladle ½ cup of the batter into a bowl and add your food colour. Mix the batter until it's smooth and the colour is mixed in.
I use Wilton gel paste food colour; their master set has 24 colours that include much more than your basic red, green and blue. It has ivory, peach, burgundy and 21 more nuanced colours.
The photo below shows a bit of this detailed colour chart from an Australian company for getting the nicest shades out of food colouring. These ratios are per 1 cup of icing. I know we're not dealing with icing here, I'm just letting you in on a good food colouring tip.
Black food colouring
You need to use SO much gel or liquid black food colouring that the resulting product always tastes like the plague to me. Food colouring isn't the best way to colour your food, pancakes or otherwise. There are two alternative ingredients I use for tinting things *very* black.
- Activated Charcoal
Activated charcoal is perfectly safe and it's what I add to savoury dishes I want to darken. Things like bread or pizza dough. I add a small amount and keep building until it's the black I want.
2. Black Cocoa Powder
Black cocoa powder is a type of dutch processed cocoa powder. The processing is what neutralizes the cocoa and makes it less bitter and strong. Black cocoa powder is very dark in colour and tastes like cocoa.
It works WONDERS as a black food colouring. It will turn whatever you're trying to colour into a true black, as opposed to a sickly grey. Plus it adds cocoa flavour to the pancakes!
These are made for Sunday mornings and that one night you don't have to worry about what to have for dinner - Pancake Tuesdays.
There's nothing worse than waking up Wednesday morning and realizing you forgot Pancake Tuesday. Nothing.
Pancake Art Tips
Here are a few tips on getting the pancakes right.
- Cook them on very low heat so they cook but don't darken too much.
- If doing words or letters you have to do a mirror image of them (do them backwards) so when you flip the pancake over it will be readable.
- Try to add allllll your filling batter at once and quickly. This way your pancake will have an even colour and not be splotchy.
- Once your pancakes are bubbling that means they're ready to flip.
- If the batter spreads out beyond your outline, just trim them with a knife before you serve them.
The Recipe
Easy Pancake Art
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or other light flavoured oil
Instructions
- Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- In another bowl mix together the egg, milk, cooking oil and vanilla.
- Add wet mixture to dry mixture, stirring just until combined. Your batter should be lumpy.
- Add a few small scoops of the batter to a small mixing bowl and whisk until smooth.
- Pour this smooth mixture into a plastic squeeze bottle.
- Lightly butter a non stick pan and heat over medium/low.
- Squeeze your face design onto the pan.
- Once the design starts to bubble, ladle the regular pancake mix over the face.
- Cook until bubbles form, then flip.
- Cook a minute or so longer then remove from pan.
- Keep pancakes warm in 210 f degree oven.
Nutrition
When is Pancake Tuesday?
2022 - Tuesday, March 1st
2023 - Tuesday, February 21st
2024 - Tuesday, February 13th
2025 - Tuesday, March 4th
2026 - Tuesday, February 17th
2027 - Tuesday, February 9th
Now be a good egg and try it this weekend.
Monique
Even if I don't make faces..have to make your pancakes..they are perfection!
Ok ok..I will try a design;)
Traci
We've seen the pancake designs before, but my 22 month old son loved your video. I think we will be having pancakes tomorrow for sure. He especially loved when you said Ohh! Grrr!-he said it right along with you.
In all seriousness, though, if you really want to up your pancake game what you really need to do is google cinnamon roll pancakes right this minute. I mean it. Do it. Your life will never be the same. Even if you aren't a pancake person like me.
Marilyn
Pampake Tuesday. That's what it was when our children were small and we still say it that way..my fave !!
Joslynne
Just love this!! Each pancake made me smile more!! And I love the opening photo - can I ask how you got the black background or is this just something everyone should already know?
Karen
No, there's no reason for you to know that Joslynne. Although when I tell you, you'll think OH!!!! Of course. It's just a large piece of black foam core board. A cheaper version would be a a few pieces of black bristol board taped together. When I didn't have any of those things I used to use a long black coat as a backdrop. Anything will do really. Fabric, paper ... the only thing that's important is that it's very black and very matte. Any shine and you'll get highlights and glare. ~ karen!
BethH
Could we have face waffles instead? And how would you change the batter recipe to make it a waffle batter recipe? My hubby makes pancakes or waffles every Sunday and I never realized how much cheaper it would be to make from scratch instead of with a box of baking mix! I'll have to mix up a big batch of the dry ingredients and put it in a baking mix box, because he thinks if you make something from scratch you have to dirty up everything in the kitchen.
Annie
Love it! Way less fuss than the rainbow pancakes.... And by fuss I mean bowls to clean! Although, truth be told, I love the rainbow pancakes and for the longest time kids thought they all had different flavours.
Maura
I don't like it ...I love it!?
coralcrue
that looks brilliant! great post
Grammy
TUSCONPATTY you sound like one of my sisters. She's an overachiever, and the other sister and I always feel like she only does that to make us look bad. It's not why she does it, it's just the way she is, but we still think it's why Mom always liked her best. I just thought you should know that if you have sisters, they won't give you extra points, but they will still love you.
TucsonPatty
Ha! I have 8 (yes!) sisters, and they did give me a little grief, but only because I asked if there was some kind of game on Sunday...what was everyone talking about...? I love to mess with them. I just simply am not a sports person and they know it and expect me to ask some wierd question ( "Now, which kind of ball do they use for that game?") and they know I'm spoofing them, but it is fun.
Different Mike
Ok, neat. Except I just always made the faces with a bottle of Hersheys choclate ice cream topping. Or, is that what you were doing? Guess I didn't read very well. Do I go down another grade point now? Sorry! I do like reading your posts, though. Well, maybe think I'm reading them.
Jenifer
Faces with chocolate ice cream topping? After they cooked? and it didn't run? I'm afraid it would just look like I used topping instead of syrup. I tried to make mickey mouse once...he transformed into Bugs Bunny.
:/
Cred
Yay, Pancake Tuesday! Because I don't like pancakes either, I'm excited for the reason you mentioned; I don't have to figure out what to make for dinner on Tuesday. And, agreed, I would never forget French toast Tuesday.
TucsonPatty
I ate pancakes for breakfasr this morning in case I forget to on Tuesday. In Kansas we had pancake races and pancake suppers! Fun times. But, today, Super Wok Day Sunday, my "handy-boy" and I moved the newly painted dresser into the house, put it togeather and put the knobs on ot, took apart my 24 year-old daughter's old wooden swing set in the side back yard, took apart the rotting backyard wooden glider, pruned a huge Pyracantha bush back to the trunk, removed Pyracantha thorns from thumbs, power washed the pool deck to get the Pyracantha gunk off of the cool decking and then fell into the mud from the power-washing while trying to break off at the roots some other big dead trunk of something else over by that evil Pyracantha. I didn't touch the darn baseboards or doorknobs because I forgot!!
But maybe this all counts as extra credit?? Because I went outside for recess almost all day? It was a good day and now I can't move!
Pamela Brown
Fun pancakes! I'm going to make some and impress my family! What kind of pan are you using? It looks like a plate and it looks nonstick. I want one. Where can I find it? Also I love your chickens!! Cuddles was my favorite too. I'm sorry about her.
Marna
Cute! I use to make faces for my kids, but not so fancy doing it. My dad made the best pancakes, they were sourdough pancakes. Every Saturday morning the whole time I was growing up, including when we had company, there was always pancakes. Yum! Thanks for the video! :)
Mark
Fun! (And I love your stove!)
Mike
These are very nice, but if you really want to set the bar high, take a look at http://saipancakes.com/ ... they guy is the absolute master of pancake art.
Mary W
WOW! I thought I was good when I added banana slices for eyes, but just amateur! I've made these all my life like my dad did for us before BUT using the squeeze bottle and trying new shapes? I always learn from Karen!
Kathleen
Quick & easy. I like it!
And I think I pass the pop quiz... the trick I used was to con my granddaughter into helping with the housework. I moved the heavy furniture, she crawled along behind the couches and beds and wiped the skirting boards. :) The rest was a breeze! Do I get 10 / 10?
Kath
10 out of 10? Nope-you get 11!
Bonus points are always awarded for Tom Sawyering a kid.
Karen
Like I said, you get a gold star just for not telling me to go screw myself. And yes, extra points for child labour. ~ karen!
Jennifer
I am going to find a squeeze bottle tomorrow, come hell or high water. Dollar store? Target? Grocery store? Someone's got to have it. Anything to make pancakes better.
cheryl
here in ontario, canada, dollorama has baking squeeze bottles for a buck, or fancy schmansy red, batter specific, squeeze bottles that look like a plastic bellows for a couple of bucks....i think that is about four cents in american....look in with the kitchen gagdets..
catt
So fun. Love your video.
Debbie from Illinois
Clever!