Lemon Pancakes

These Lemon Pancakes are thin and delicate yet bursting with fresh lemon flavor. They’re made with everyday pantry ingredients and can be garnished any way you want!

I find it a little weird that Mother’s Day is generally associated with a brunch buffet, while Father’s Day is associated with grilling and ribs and such. My husband loves waffles just as much as I enjoy a good steak once in awhile.

But you know what? I’m a mom and I do love brunch, so I’m really not complaining.

My husband and daughter usually spoil me with a brunch that includes my favorite things – champagne and smoked salmon, along with vegetarian quiche or savory oatmeal, heart jam cookies and usually something lemon-y, of course. Sometimes bloodies with epic bloody mary skewers.

If the mom in your life also loves a lemon moment, I recommend that you make her these lemon pancakes. They’re thin and delicate yet bursting with fresh lemon flavor (just like my lemon smoothie and lemon curd cake), and you can garnish them with just about anything you want.

What you’ll need for this lemon pancakes recipe:

• flour – nothing fancy, you’ll just need all-purpose flour for these lemon pancakes.
• sugar – you’ll need a little bit of granulated sugar to sweeten these pancakes.
• baking powder – this gives the pancakes their light, delicate texture.
• salt – a little bit of salt balances the sweetness in this lemon pancakes recipe.
• egg – you will need one egg to help bind and leaven the pancake batter.
• lemon – you will need both zest and juice from 1 large lemon. Be sure to zest it before juicing! Buy a few extra lemons to make a batch of agave lemonade to enjoy this week.
• milk – just like with baked goods, whole milk is best for pancakes. It lends the best texture and flavor to the pancakes.
• butter – this adds fat and flavor to the pancake batter.
• vanilla extract – a dash of vanilla really balances and enhances the lemon flavor.

Make these into lemon blueberry pancakes:

Do you love the combination of lemon and blueberry? Honestly, who doesn’t? It’s a flavor match made in heaven, as evidenced by my buttermilk blueberry muffins.

It’s easy to add blueberries to this lemon pancakes recipe! I recommend making the batter as written, and after you spoon the batter onto the griddle, add a few blueberries to each pancake.

Do this as soon as the batter hits the griddle so that the blueberries get “stuck” in the batter.

You can use frozen or fresh blueberries to make lemon blueberry pancakes. We usually have berries in the freezer for lemon blueberry smoothies, so we typically use frozen.

Make these into lemon poppy seed pancakes:

Poppy seeds are another classic pairing for lemon (see also: lemon cornbread), and adding them to this lemon pancake batter is a really fun twist.

To make lemon poppy seed pancakes, add 2 teaspoons of poppy seeds in Step 3 where you add the lemon juice and flour to the milk mixture (before stirring).

If you wait to stir the poppy seeds into the batter at the end, you run the risk of over-mixing the batter and ending up with tough pancakes.

My favorite garnishes and toppings:

There are so many fun ways to garnish this lemon pancakes recipe. Of course, you can keep it very classic and simply drizzle them with maple syrup (buy the good stuff for mom, she deserves it!).

But for a special Mother’s Day brunch, you can garnish these pancakes with so many other beautiful and delicious ingredients.

I love homemade whipped cream. It’s so quick and easy to make, and tastes worlds better than store-bought. It’s also excellent on top of caramel coffee.

A scoop of ice cream like my blueberry cheesecake ice cream makes brunch an over-the-top decadent affair.

Fresh berries are a classic garnish, of course. Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries or blackberries would all be great garnishes here. Any extra berries can be muddled into my Moscow mule recipe for an afternoon cocktail!

The kiddos might also love strawberry syrup, which can be saved for Halloween cupcakes, too!

A sprinkle of grated lemon zest or even lemon zest curls really enhance the lemon theme and make these pancakes so beautiful.

If you have some handy, a sprig of fresh mint always adds a fresh, pretty touch.

Whatever you do, don’t forget a side of salty, crispy bacon. See my culinary school-inspired guide on how to cook bacon in the oven to make it perfectly, every time.