15 Pancake Recipes For The Tastiest Fat Tuesday Treats

Fat Tuesday, otherwise known as Mardi Gras, is the celebratory kick-off before the Christian season of Lent. However, very few people will know this event by its other name: Pancake Day. Historically, the holiday was created with the need to use up perishable staples like eggs, butter, and milk — which are all conveniently essential ingredients in most pancake recipes. Moreover, these ingredients symbolized critical elements of the Christian faith, including creation (eggs), flour ("the staff of life"), salt (wholesomeness), and milk (purity), per Historic UK.

Although some of our favorite pancake recipes don't always use these four ingredients (after all, how would the gluten-free and vegan folks indulge?), they are all bound to excite your tastebuds and make the most of your pre-Lent celebrations. So fire up your griddles and dig out your favorite trusty spatula because it's time to whip up some of the best flapjacks to enjoy for breakfast, brunch, and more.

Vanilla and pancakes are a match made in heaven. This recipe not only utilizes vanilla in the extract to flavor the flapjacks but also vanilla paste and scraped vanilla pods.

When infused with the nutty almond flour, the vanilla shines and elevates this recipe to lofty, sophisticated heights. We also love that this short stack is covered in vanilla-infused maple syrup to really round out the flower's delicate flavor.

Recipe: Triple Vanilla Almond Flour Pancakes

Your sheet pan is the special tool you need to make pancakes for a crowd. Once your buttermilk pancake batter has been transferred to a greased sheet pan, you can dollop and swirl with jam for a fruity flavor.

Plus, after the pancakes have been adequately cooled, you can transfer them to a freezer bag and eat them throughout the week. It's so much more family-friendly than patiently standing over a griddle, and the pancakes are pretty darn good, too.

Recipe: Sheet Pan Buttermilk Jammy Pancakes

While adding fruit to your pancakes is good, adding roasted berries is even better. Roasting strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries ahead of time will concentrate the sweetness of the fruit and elevate your flapjacks.

Moreover, the buttermilk in these pancakes gives them a very nostalgic, diner-like flavor and helps balance out the sugary notes of the fruit. After they're done cooking, top them with fresh or macerated berries and a drizzle of maple syrup, or pop them into a freezer bag to enjoy them throughout the week.

Recipe: Roasted Berry and Buttermilk Pancakes

Although most people think of cooking pancakes on a griddle, we recommend trying a cast iron skillet, instead. The iron gets super hot and will easily crisp up the bottom of your pancakes. But if you don't have this tool, you can also use an oven-safe frying pan or a baking dish instead.

Once the batter is poured into the vessel, it should be baked for about 20 minutes until golden brown. We recommend topping these pancakes with lemon zest since it will bring out the flavors of the blueberries more. You can also toss a pat of butter or fresh berries, as well.

Recipe: Oven-Baked Blueberry Pancakes

You may have tried the traditional Southern hummingbird cake with bananas, pecans, and pineapple, but we doubt you've ever tried it in pancake form. These nutty pancakes are infused with browned butter, buttermilk, and brown sugar for a soft, toasty flavor accented with mashed banana and canned pineapple.

After the pancakes are cooked, they're topped with crunchy pecans, sliced banana and pineapple, and a hefty drizzle of maple syrup. It's the decadent pancake recipe brimming with Southern hospitality.

Recipe: Hummingbird Pancakes

It may not still be Christmas morning, but you can still take advantage of these festive cinnamon bun pancakes all year round. The secret to getting the iconic swirl is to reserve some of the batter for mixing with cinnamon and molasses.

Then, once the base of your pancake is on the griddle, you can add a swirl of the flavored batter on top via a pastry bag or squeeze bottle. It's easy to tweak this recipe to substitute in whole-wheat or gluten-free flour, too.

Recipe: Cinnamon Bun Christmas Pancakes

Everyone should have a solid pancake recipe in their back pocket. This one is made with simple ingredients, like eggs, flour, leavening agents, and oil, but it can be easily dressed up with chocolate chips, fresh berries, or peanut butter.

This generic pancake recipe is also easy to scale up and make in bulk. This way, you can have pancakes stored in your freezer when you don't feel like pulling out your skillet and whipping up a fresh batch.

Recipe: Easy Pancakes

Airy, soft, and delicate is what we think of when we see a plate of these soufflé pancakes. The breakfast food gets its impressive height from egg whites whipped with cream of tartar, which are gently folded in the battery to preserve their structure.

Unlike other pancake recipes, it's also important that this variety is cooked with a lid covering the pan to prevent deflation. These pancakes are best served with light toppings, such as a garnish of powdered sugar or fresh berries.

Recipe: Soufflé Pancakes

Even gluten-free folks should be able to enjoy a delicious plate of flapjacks in the morning. This recipe is made with a measure-for-measure gluten-free flour blend that will produce a similar texture to that of standard flour.

These pancakes are also cooked in melted butter, which gives the outside the perfect caramelization and toasty notes. Like any standard batter, you can top these pancakes with fruit, nuts, or spreads of your choice. You might not even be able to tell they're gluten-free.

Recipe: Gluten-Free Pancakes

If any recipe walks the thin line between breakfast and dessert, it's this one. These Italian-inspired flapjacks are made with a basic pancake batter and topped with delicious ricotta, mascarpone cheese, and chocolate chip frosting.

If you want to better distribute the cheese topping, you can alternate it between the pancakes rather than just piling it on top. Before serving, don't forget to add an extra bit of whipped cream and sprinkle of chocolate chips.

Recipe: Cannoli Pancakes

Not all pancakes have to be sweet. These scallion pancakes are made with a very basic mixture of flour, salt, and water that has been refrigerated overnight.

After the dough is rolled out, it's sprinkled with an oily mixture of fresh scallions and spicy Sichuan peppercorns before being coiled into a cinnamon roll shape and sliced. Once your pancakes have been pan-fried, they should be served as an appetizer with a side of soy or hoisin sauce for dipping.

Recipe: Flaky Scallion Pancakes

Although its name doesn't directly imply that it's a food, a Dutch baby is indeed something you can eat for breakfast. It shares qualities with pancakes, crepes, and popovers, but some may argue that it's actually much simpler to make than any one of these dishes.

This recipe is enriched with ricotta cheese to give it a mild, soft flavor before it's baked in a vat of melted butter. It's critical to leave the pancake alone in the oven as it bakes to prevent it from deflating — although it will inevitably deflate when it's removed from the oven. Although sweet toppings are common with Dutch babies, many folks will also stick to savory spreads like arugula, onions, and peppers.

Recipe: Fluffy Dutch Baby

When you hear the name of this recipe, your mind probably flashes back to the Jack Johnson song. After all, the music is almost as wonderful as diving into a plate of these pancakes.

The batter is flavored with mashed bananas, which gives it a fruity flavor and also keeps it super moist. Although the fruit is an integral ingredient in the recipe, the pancakes have a relatively neutral, slightly sweet flavor that can be complemented easily with a schmear of peanut butter, a drizzle of maple syrup, or a handful of chopped walnuts.

Recipe: Fluffy Banana Pancakes

This recipe combines the filling qualities of oatmeal with the classic pancake experience. It's made with homemade cashew milk, but you can also substitute it with a dairy-free milk of choice, as well as oat flour, ground flax seed (as an egg substitute), and coconut sugar for a subtle sweetness.

The oat flour in these pancakes makes the recipe rather dense, so you likely won't need many to fill you up for the long day ahead. Top your pancakes with a drizzle of maple syrup or chopped berries for the ultimate pancake experience.

Recipe: Vegan and Gluten-Free Cinnamon Oatmeal Pancakes

This pancake recipe reaches optimal flavor harmony between the vinegar reduction, sweetened with fresh strawberries and maple syrup, and the creamy texture of the whipped mascarpone cream. Besides these unconventional toppings, this recipe is made unique with the addition of mascarpone to the pancake batter itself to keep it soft and spongy. We would recommend serving these gourmet pancakes with a side of bacon or hash browns, along with a mimosa flight.

Recipe: Strawberry-Mascarpone Pancakes With Balsamic Syrup