These Toddler Pancakes only require five ingredients and freeze well – perfect for a busy parent! These pancakes are delicious as a baby’s first pancake, or for baby-led weaning. They are also fun to eat and nutritious for a growing toddler.
I haven’t shared many personal stories on The Worktop lately. I’ve been getting straight down to the nitty gritty of the breakfast and brunch recipes. But a lot has been happening in our lives (namely, we have a toddler running around causing havoc). This post for healthy Toddler Pancakes is developed for, tested by, and approved by our little toddler.
(My other half draws these amazing and funny parenting comics on his Instagram account (@jonajooey). You’ll find links to these illustrations peppered throughout this post.)
Since we had our baby a year and a half ago, I get asked the question “what does your toddler eat for breakfast?” all the time by other moms who know I write a breakfast and brunch blog. I always shy away since I don’t want to admit that my toddler often just “requests the tasting menu“.
These Toddler Pancakes are easy to make, healthy, and fun to eat
What does that mean? It’s our way of making ourselves feel like he has a refined palate, but in reality, he takes one bite out of everything on his plate, then asks for other things. Until he finally decides to eat, every item of food ends up on the floor, his hair (or the ceiling!).
But we have recently entered a pancake streak. Even though I have been feeding him these pancakes since he was a baby (this is a great recipe for baby-led weaning), our toddler only recently decided that he absolutely loves pancake and needs them all the time.
Making pancakes has become a fun morning activity that we do several times a week. Yes, these healthy Toddler Pancakes are so easy to make, you can even make them on weekdays!
These healthy pancakes are so easy to make that even a toddler can help
There’s so much that a toddler can help with – pulling the ingredients out of the cupboards, beating the egg, pouring in the milk, scooping in the flour, spooning in the baking powder, pouring in the melted butter and mixing everything together.
Because these pancakes are mini, they cook very quickly on the stovetop. On my round pancake pan, I can fit 12 pancakes at once. Two rows of three pancakes (top and bottom), and 2 rows of four pancakes (middle rows).
I stand the toddler in his kitchen helper, and he stays put the entire time since there’s always something going on to help with or watch.
We drop the pancake batter on the pan by the teaspoon (Yes, teaspoon – you read that right. It might sound tedious, but it goes by quickly) and count each number out loud.
These pancakes are so quick to make our toddler is entertained the entire time it takes to cook them!
By the time we drop all 12 teaspoons of pancake batter on the pan, the first pancake is ready to be flipped. We count again as we flip. And by the time the last pancake on the pan is flipped, the first pancake is ready to be removed from the pan (another chance to count to 12).
A batch of these toddler pancakes cooks in no time, and our little one starts eating the pancakes right away. Between the bites, he helps me finish cooking the rest of the batter.
Our toddler loves making these pancakes, but I also do too because they are so easy to make, healthy and nutritious, and freeze well. When we make this Toddler Pancake recipe, I end up with additional healthy breakfasts and snacks on hand.
These Toddler Pancakes only require five ingredients and freeze well – Perfect for a busy parent
You likely already have all the ingredients that you need for these Toddler Pancakes. This pancake recipe doesn’t require any special ingredients – just egg, flour, milk, butter and baking powder. If you have self-rising flour, you can cut it down to four ingredients (leave out the baking powder).
This recipe makes 5 dozen Toddler Pancakes. There is no way that my toddler can eat that many pancakes. No problem though! There are a couple ways to handle this.
You can make all five dozen pancakes, eat what you can, and freeze the rest. This is what I normally do, because that means our toddler can have pancakes any time. These mini pancakes take just a few seconds in the microwave to defrost.
Alternatively, you can make one dozen Toddler Pancakes, and cook the rest of the pancake batter into larger sized pancakes for the other family members (use about 2 tablespoons of pancake batter and cook the pancakes a bit longer).
These pancakes are healthy – made with whole grains, egg and milk. There are no added sugars.
These pancakes are the perfect grab ‘n go breakfast, lunch, or snack for a toddler. Pancakes are easy to pack up and bring with you out, and these healthy pancakes are great to eat in buggies (strollers). They don’t drop crumbs everywhere, and they don’t leave behind sticky fingers. The pancakes themselves are also easy (and clean) for baby-led weaning.
Healthy and Easy Pancakes for Toddlers
Ingredients
- 1 medium egg
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (or a mix of all-purpose, whole wheat, golden wheat, and/or spelt flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter - melted
OPTIONAL add-ins (mix 'n match)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds (optional)
- 1 tablespoon honey (optional*)
For serving
- Greek yogurt
- fresh fruit (strawberries, blueberries, bananas, others)
Instructions
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In a medium bowl, beat the egg. Mix in the whole milk.
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Mix in the flour and the baking powder, and If using, the optional add-ins.
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Mix in the butter.
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Heat a griddle to medium heat and lightly grease the pan. To make 1-inch pancakes (like in the photos), drop on the pancake batter using a teaspoon. To make 2-inch pancakes, drop on the pancake batter using a tablespoon.
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Cook, until the tops of the pancakes have bubbles on them, the batter is no longer shiny, and the bottom of the pancakes are a light golden brown, about 45 seconds to 1 minute. Flip and cook for an additional 45 seconds to 1 minute, until the bottoms are also golden brown. Remove from heat and set on a plate to cool.
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Serve with a dollop of plain greek yogurt and fresh berries.
Recipe Notes
*Note many pediatricians recommend waiting until your baby is at least 12 months before introducing honey because it may contain spores of bacteria that can cause botulism.
I want to make these tomorrow but I just checked and my baking powder expired in 2016 . What could I substitute for it instead???
These look great! Do you mind sharing what type of “pancake pan” you use? I’ve been looking to purchase a new one. Thanks!
Hi Stephanie – the pan in the photo is a Le Creuset cast iron crepe pan. Hope you find a pancake pan that you love!
How do you heat up the frozen pancakes?
Hi Shumin, I usually defrost the frozen pancakes in the microwave or toaster oven. If using the microwave, the pancakes heat very quickly, so I heat them at 10 second intervals. Once they are defrosted, I allow them to rest for a bit before serving, just to make sure there are no hot spots.
Do these freeze well? :)
They do – I freeze them on a tray in single layer, and then once they are frozen, put them in a ziplock bag.
These are adorable and any little kid would have a blast eating these,,,, heck I would like to eat these. They look great
These are absolutely adorable! I know a few mums who will be so glad for this recipe, I’m off to share now!
Thanks so much for sharing! My little one loves these, so I really wanted to share the recipe for them.
These pancakes are a brilliant idea, first time I’ve seen this small
Yes! They are really mini – the batter is poured on by the teaspoon! Super fun for the little ones to eat.
These pancakes are adorable—is it possible for pancakes to be adorable?? These would be such a great breakfast the morning after a sleepover; I know I would have loved them when I was little.
Thanks! These are mini mini pancakes – perfect for little fingers and hands! But of course, no one is stopping you from having them now too :)
These are so precious and what a great idea for packing for a lunch. Perfect!
Thank you! My little one loves it when he opens his yumbox and finds these pancakes in them :) It’s a fun and easy way to get him to eat healthy.
The little pan cake is cute. just right for my little grandson Milo to eat.