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Hello! I’m Anjali. I’m a board certified health coach, author, wife, mom and food lover from the SF Bay area (now living in Seattle, WA!); with a passion for delicious food and a desire to make healthy eating easy, tasty and fun! Learn more about me here and stay for a while!

Anjali Shah

Santa Pancakes: A Healthy Vegan Holiday Breakfast

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These cute and healthy Santa Pancakes are the perfect breakfast treat on Christmas morning. With a red strawberry hat, and white banana beard, these pancakes are deliciously fun!

santa pancakes - christmas and holiday breakfast - made with bananas for a beard, strawberries for a hat, and candy eyes on top of a homemade pancake

Christmas morning is always one of my favorite times of the year!

The kids are always awake before dawn, and everyone sleepily makes their way to the tree to begin the festivities.

Somewhere between the gift opening, we have to stop to have some breakfast!

These Santa Pancakes are always a huge hit! They’re easy, cute, fun, and healthy too.

Latest Recipe Video!

All you need is a simple pancake batter, some fresh fruit, and candy eyes. They come together quickly, and everyone enjoys them, adults included!

For a simple, festive, and fun holiday breakfast, you can’t go wrong with these adorable Santa Pancakes!

Tools and Equipment

Recipe Ingredients and Notes

  • White Whole Wheat Flour: For a fluffy whole grains pancake, use white whole wheat flour. It has the added fiber of whole wheat flour, but a lighter texture.
  • Strawberries and Bananas: Thinly slice the strawberries and bananas to create the Santa hat and beard. I recommend using organic produce.

How to Make Santa Pancakes – Step by Step

Step 1: Preheat a griddle or skillet over medium high heat. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Set aside.

pancake flour in a mixing bowl

Step 2: In a separate bowl, beat together the oil, milk, and vanilla.

wet ingredients in a mixing bowl

Step 3: Add the oil mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Step 4: Use a ¼ cup measuring cup to scoop batter on to the hot griddle. Cook until the pancakes begin to bubble, then flip the pancake and cook the other side for two to three minutes. Continue cooking the batter until all the batter has been cooked.

pancakes fresh off the griddle

Step 7: Allow the pancakes to cool slightly, then use the banana slices to create a beard on the bottom half of the pancake. Use the strawberry slices to make a hat on the top of the pancake. Decorate the top of the hat with a banana end and add a row of banana slices along the bottom of the hat. Use a strawberry end as Santa’s nose and add two candy eyes above the nose.

santa pancakes - christmas and holiday breakfast - made with bananas for a beard, strawberries for a hat, and candy eyes on top of a homemade pancake

Will Kids Like These Christmas Pancakes?

These santa pancakes are made for kids or the kid at heart in all of us! They are delicious, cute, and fun to make! Get the kiddos involved, and have them assemble their own Santa hat and beard on their pancakes. It’s a fun morning activity to do with the kids throughout the holiday season.

What Makes These Santa Pancakes Healthy?

  • Whole Grains: These pancakes are made with whole grains. Unlike pancake mixes you find at the store, that are made with refined flour, and other processed ingredients, these pancakes use whole food ingredients!
  • Naturally Sweet: Other Santa pancakes you may find use lots of whipped cream, and sometimes chocolate, or pie filling to create the hat and beard. This recipe uses natural ingredients in the form of fresh fruit to create an adorable Santa, without the need to add extra sugar!
  • Low in Fat and Calories: Since these pancakes use whole grains, and fresh fruit, they are naturally lower in fat and calories. One serving has 131 calories, and 3 grams of fat.
santa pancakes - christmas and holiday breakfast - made with bananas for a beard, strawberries for a hat, and candy eyes on top of a homemade pancake

Recipe FAQS

How to Store and Keep

If you have extra pancakes and fruit, store them in separate containers. Allow the pancakes to cool completely before transferring to an airtight container. The pancakes will keep in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.

If you have extra fruit, store both the strawberries and bananas in separate containers. It’s best not to store bananas that have already been peeled, as they will brown more quickly.

When you’re ready to serve, warm the pancake, and assemble the hat and beard using the extra fruit.

How to Serve

You can serve these pancakes as is, however here are a few other ideas.

  1. Instead of candy eyes, use blueberries or chocolate chips!
  2. For added sweetness add a touch of whipped cream at the top of the Santa hat, or a little added whipped cream with bananas for the beard.
  3. Serve with a side of pure maple syrup, your favorite fruit preserves, or agave.

Top Tips for Making Santa Pancakes

  • Adding a touch of sugar to the batter adds a subtle sweetness that compliments the other ingredients.
  • When mixing the dry and wet ingredients, create a well. This prevents you from over-mixing the batter which results in a tough dense pancake.
  • Allow the pancake batter to rest for 10-15 minutes before cooking. This allows the batter to create those little fluffy bubbles we all love.
  • Use an ice cream scoop or measuring cup to dispense the batter. This results in even pancakes.
  • Make sure your skillet is greased well.
  • Flip the pancakes when you notice the batter starts to bubble.
santa pancakes - christmas and holiday breakfast - made with bananas for a beard, strawberries for a hat, and candy eyes on top of a homemade pancake

Check Out These Other Holiday Recipes!

If you have tried these Santa Pancakes or any other recipe on my blog, then please rate it and let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOKTWITTERINSTAGRAM, and PINTEREST to see more delicious, healthy, family friendly food!

🎥 Watch How to Make It

https://youtu.be/i9lfDgh6Au0
santa pancakes - christmas and holiday breakfast - made with bananas for a beard, strawberries for a hat, and candy eyes on top of a homemade pancake
Print Recipe
5 from 4 votes

Santa Pancakes

These cute and healthy Santa Pancakes are the perfect breakfast treat on Christmas morning. With a red strawberry hat, and white banana beard, these pancakes are deliciously fun!
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time25 minutes
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Servings: 10 pancakes
Calories: 131.3kcal
Author: Anjali Shah

Ingredients

  • 1 cup white whole wheat flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp coconut sugar
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 cup unsweetened almond milk or your favorite plant based milk
  • tsp vanilla extract
  • 16 oz strawberries thinly sliced
  • 4 bananas thinly sliced
  • candy eyes

Instructions

  • Preheat a griddle or skillet over medium high heat.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Set aside.
  • In a separate bowl, beat together the oil, milk, and vanilla.
  • Add the oil mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
  • Use a ¼ cup measuring cup to scoop batter on to the hot griddle. Cook until the pancakes begin to bubble, then flip the pancake and cook the other side for two to three minutes.
  • Continue cooking the batter until all the batter has been cooked.
  • Allow the pancakes to cool slightly, then use the banana slices to create a beard on the bottom half of the pancake. Use the strawberry slices to make a hat on the top of the pancake. Decorate the top of the hat with a banana end and add a row of banana slices along the bottom of the hat. Use a strawberry end as Santa’s nose and add two candy eyes above the nose.

Notes

How to Serve
You can serve these pancakes as is, however here are a few other ideas.
  1. Instead of candy eyes, use blueberries or chocolate chips!
  2. For added sweetness add a touch of whipped cream at the top of the Santa hat, or a little added whipped cream with bananas for the beard.
  3. Serve with a side of pure maple syrup, your favorite fruit preserves, or agave.
Top Tips for Making Santa Pancakes
  • Adding a touch of sugar to the batter adds a subtle sweetness that compliments the other ingredients.
  • When mixing the dry and wet ingredients, create a well. This prevents you from over-mixing the batter which results in a tough dense pancake.
  • Allow the pancake batter to rest for 10-15 minutes before cooking. This allows the batter to create those little fluffy bubbles we all love.
  • Use an ice cream scoop or measuring cup to dispense the batter. This results in even pancakes.
  • Make sure your skillet is greased well.
  • Flip the pancakes when you notice the batter starts to bubble.

Nutrition

Serving: 1santa pancake | Calories: 131.3kcal | Carbohydrates: 23.6g | Protein: 2.5g | Fat: 3.6g | Saturated Fat: 0.5g | Sodium: 76.2mg | Potassium: 254.4mg | Fiber: 3.5g | Sugar: 10g

Posted In…

Plant Based Breakfast Recipes ·

These healthy, plant based breakfast recipes are delicious, filling, and so easy to make!

Whether you want a quick smoothie or a more indulgent breakfast spread, we’ve got you covered.

Try some of our favorites like this blueberry pineapple smoothie, these vegan protein waffles, our silken tofu scramble, this avocado toast with honey, or our lightened up oat milk pancakes!

10 responses to “Santa Pancakes: A Healthy Vegan Holiday Breakfast”

  1. These are not only adorable but they are also super delicious. I can’t wait to make these again on Christmas morning for the kiddos!5 stars

  2. The kids loved these santa pancakes! They turned out perfectly fluffy and the decorated toppings were the cherry on top.5 stars

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