Gingerbread Pancakes

1. Gather your ingredients.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and ginger together in a large bowl until they are completely combined.

3. Melt the butter in a liquid measuring cup, then add the molasses, milk, vanilla extract, and egg. Beat the ingredients in the measuring cup until everything is completely combined.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until there are only a few lumps. If the batter is too thick, thin it out by adding a tablespoon of milk at a time.

5. Heat your griddle on high heat and then turn it down to medium-low once the whole griddle has been preheated. Add a 1/3 cup of batter to the griddle for each pancake. Heat for about 1 minute per side or until golden brown and cooked through on both sides.

6. Keep the pancakes warm on a baking sheet in a 200 F oven while you prepare the molasses syrup.

7. Whisk together the molasses with the maple syrup in a small saucepan. Cook until just heated through.

8. Serve the syrup over the pancakes along with whipped cream and sprinkles. Finish with a dusting of confectioners' sugar if you wish.

To Make Gingerbread Man Pancakes

1. Grease a large gingerbread man cookie cutter with nonstick cooking spray. Place it on a hot griddle and allow it to heat up for a minute or two.

2. Add a small amount of batter and allow it to spread into the arms and legs. Add a little more to the appendages if you need to. You don't want the pancakes too thick though, because then they will pool out of the mold and won't be able to hold their shape.

3. Carefully remove the cookie cutter once the batter has set.

4. Flip the pancake and cook for another minute or until golden brown.

5. Decorate with royal icing or just add syrup and powdered sugar. (If the pancakes are very hot, the icing may run.)