Holidays yield A LOT of food, so why not clean out your fridge with these leftover cranberry sauce pancakes! Super fun, and they can be made using homemade or store-bought batter :)
Hello, readers! Kacey from The Cookie Writer back again to share another leftovers recipe. I’m big on cleaning out the fridge and not wasting food, so these leftover cranberry sauce pancakes just made sense :)
Pancakes are big in our house, mainly for my daughter that is. She could eat them every day for breakfast if I allowed it. Store-bought or homemade, they are a really simple breakfast. I also have no problem making them in advance and serving them over the course of two days. Reheated pancakes never hurt anyone :)
With the holiday season here and people panicking about everything, we want easy and relatable foods. I hated cranberry sauce growing up, but it wasn’t until I was much older that I realized our cranberry sauce was coming from a can. I eat canned stuff ALL THE TIME, so trust me, I am not bashing on it at all. Truth is, I didn’t even know homemade cranberry sauce existed (wow, kind of embarrassing to admit!)
It was my husband’s grandmother who introduced me to homemade cranberry sauce and gave me her secret: No matter what, she always added at least 1/4 cup extra sugar to her recipe. No surprise as she always had a homemade pie ready for her husband when he came home from working in the mines!
Nowadays I don’t go near the canned stuff, and I love coming up with new cranberry sauce recipes! And my love for cranberry juice is never diminishing, so let’s just say these leftover cranberry sauce pancakes were very hard to resist. (I couldn’t leave them all to my daughter!)
What I love most about this recipe is how versatile it is. You can use any filling you like: strawberries, compote, jams, etc. You can also decide if you want to make the batter from scratch or go with a store-bought brand. Either which way, you will surely love this spin on a classic!
Cranberry Pancakes with Leftover Cranberry Sauce
Double up on the cranberry sauce for these easy pancakes! Perfect breakfast recipe for the holidays, or you can use your favorite jelly any time of year!
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 10 1x
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup milk or buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon vinegar omit if using buttermilk
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons butter melted (plus more for cooking)
- 1/2 cup leftover cranberry sauce + more for topping
- red food coloring optional
Instructions
- If using plain milk, combine the milk and vinegar. Set aside for about 5 minutes to create homemade buttermilk.
- In a medium mixing bowl, add the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and sugar. Whisk to combine.
- Into the buttermilk, whisk in egg, melted butter, and vanilla until combined. Stir in cranberry sauce. Add some red food coloring if desired.
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture. Mix until combined.
- Heat a large frying pan over medium-low heat. Add in some butter or coconut oil (I prefer the coconut oil) and allow it to melt. Once the pan is nice and hot, add 1/4 cup portions of batter to the pan. Cook until the underneath side is nice and golden. Flip, and do the same for the remaining side. Cook until no batter remains.
- Stack the pancakes and serve with additional cranberry sauce if desired!
Notes
For a shortcut, use pancake mix instead of making the batter from scratch.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 15
Love these leftover cranberry sauce pancakes?! Try some of these recipes:
Annie says
YUM! It isn’t a holiday season unless homemade cranberry sauce is made. Luckily, I am one of the very few in my family that like it! Now, I must make these with my leftovers!
Andi Gleeson says
My youngest son and I like cranberry sauce, but my husband and oldest don’t. It definitely seems like a love it or hate it kind of thing! I bet everyone would like these pancakes though :) Thanks, Annie!