Valentine’s Day Pancakes
Love is in the air and you’ll definitely love these Valentine’s Day Pancakes! Topped with cherries, whipped cream, chocolate shavings, or sprinkles, these special heart-shaped pancakes are sure to surprise the ones you love.
Chocolates, conversation hearts, treats, flowers, and little gifts are classic on Valentine’s Day.
These Valentine’s Day Pancakes are a fun way to incorporate elements of classic gifts and show someone you care!
You can make your pancakes into conversation hearts with gel writers, top them with sugar rosettes or chocolate, or serve these heart-shaped pancakes up plain and simple with butter and warm maple syrup.
Your loved ones are sure to feel extra special when they receive these pancakes. Be sure to take a look at these mini heart pancake, too!
About this recipe
Everyone loves Valentine’s pancakes! These pancakes are a great way to let your loved ones know that you’re thinking about them! You can surprise your kids with heart pancakes in their lunches, or serve them to your spouse on a tray as breakfast-in-bed with fresh juice, steaming hot coffee, and fresh flowers.
These homemade pancakes are thick and fluffy with a hint of vanilla flavor. Made fresh with real ingredients from your home pantry, Valentine pancakes are an easy way to spoil someone special with a delicious meal made from scratch.
These pancakes look amazing with just a sprinkle of powdered sugar, and you can also add a few large slices of fresh strawberries or strawberry sauce. The berries will mimic the heart shape of the pancakes. If you have a chocolate lover to treat, add a few shavings of chocolate, a sprinkle of chocolate chips, chocolate syrup, or serve with a salted caramel hot chocolate.
You can also serve a special Valentine pancake brunch to your family. Serve these heart-shaped pancakes with plenty of sauces for dipping and drizzling and a side of sliced red berries. Don’t forget the whipped cream!
Making a Valentine’s Day to remember doesn’t have to cost a fortune or create extra holiday stress in your life. This simple recipe is easy to follow, and everyone will be delighted that you made this thoughtful meal.
What you need
These pancakes are very straightforward. If fact, you might even be surprised to know that you likely have all the ingredients you need to make these special occasion pancakes already! As always, scroll down for a printable version of the recipe.
- Dry Ingredients – For this recipe, you’ll need all purpose flour, baking powder, and granulated sugar.
- Wet Ingredients – Grab some melted butter, milk, an egg, and vanilla extract.
- To make them Valentine’s Themed: You’ll need red gel coloring and a small heart shaped cookie cutter. Sprinkles are fun, but not required!
How to make them
Mix all of the dry ingredients into a medium sized mixing bowl.
Add milk, egg, butter, and vanilla extract, whisking to combine all ingredients.
Remove about 3/4 cup of batter and place into a separate bowl. Add red food coloring to this bowl, and stir until there are no streaks.
Cook pancakes over medium-low heat.
Flip when the edges start to dry and you see little bubbles, about 60-90 seconds.
To create a beautiful Valentine dish like the one pictured:
- Take a red pancake and a traditional pancake and cut out a hearts from each one.
- Take pancake hearts and add the opposite color to each of the pancakes.
How to make them your own
- Creative variations: By coloring only a portion of the batter, you can create many Valentine’s designs with your pancakes! After the pancakes are cooked, you can cut hearts from each color and layer with the other. Or, after cooking, cut one heart from the middle of each color and swap, gently pressing the red heart into the white pancake, and the white heart into the red pancake. There are so many fun possibilities! (Note: the recipe yields about 8-10 pancakes)
- Create an ombre effect. You can easily adjust the amount of gel coloring to make pink pancakes but why not create an ombre effect by gradually adding more red coloring to the batter as you cook. Start with a traditional pancake, then add a small amount of red coloring. Pour 1 to 2 pancakes onto your griddle, then add more coloring to the batter. Make 1 or 2 additional pancakes, then add more coloring to the batter until you have used all of the batter.
- Make emoji pancakes.If you are making fun Valentine pancakes for kids, consider using a small heart-shaped cookie cutter to create two heart-shaped eyes, so your pancake will look like an emoji. You can create a smile with berries, whipped cream, gel writers, or syrup.
- Lunchbox surprise: These pancakes pack along great in lunches. Surprise your loved ones by sending a valentine’s day treat to work or school with them. You can include fresh fruit for a topping, or maple syrup for dipping.
- Healthy swaps: It’s super simple to trade out the all purpose flour in this recipe for a 1:1 gluten-free flour, or whole wheat flour.
Storage Suggestions
Store remaining pancakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Reheating Tips
Reheat for 15 to 20 seconds in the microwave to serve warm.
More lovely pancakes
Are pancakes the way to your love’s heart? Try these:
Get the Recipe: Valentine’s Day Pancakes
Equipment
- small heart shaped cookie cutter
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon of red gel coloring used for 3/4 cup of the prepared pancake batter
- sprinkles optional
Instructions
- Mix all of the dry ingredients into a medium sized mixing bowl.
- Add milk, egg, butter, and vanilla extract and whisk the ingredients together until fully combined, but do not overmix.
- Remove about 3/4 cup of batter from the bowl and place it into a separate bowl, and add 1/8 teaspoon of red gel food coloring. Stir until the color is combined and there are no streaks.
- Preheat griddle to medium heat or 350°F. Pour 1/3 cup of pancake batter onto the preheated griddle. Flip the pancake when the edges start to dry and you see little bubbles, about 60-90 seconds. Repeat for both bowls pancake batters until they are finished.
- Take a red pancake and a traditional pancake and cut a heart from each one. Take the other pancake hearts and add the opposite color to the pancakes. For additional styles, you could cut out more hearts and top whole pancakes with small hearts. Top with sprinkles if desired and serve with syrup or whipped topping.
Notes
- Makes about 8-10 pancakes
- Store remaining pancakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
- Reheat for 15-20 seconds in the microwave to serve warm.