Gingerbread Pancakes

A friend dragged me to I-hop a couple of weeks ago for breakfast and I had the gingerbread pancakes they are featuring for the holidays. They were amazing! I don't usually use this term when discribing food from I-hop. I have been craving them since so I decided to try to make them myself. I scoured the internet looking for recipes -I was suprised to find there were so many! I finally decided to take a little from all of the recipes I had seen. They came out really good as I am not a fan of pancakes typically. Next time I will add a bit more of the spices. The pancakes were a nice light brown color but I was hoping for something darker. Maybe I will add a little cocoa powder next time for coloring.

Ingredients:

-2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-1 cup dark brown sugar (come to think of it I used brown sugar not dark brown sugar - is there a difference?)
-1 tablespoon baking powder
-1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
-1 teaspoon salt
-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
-1 and 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
-1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
-1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
-1/2 cup water
-1/2 cup brewed coffee
-4 eggs
-1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted (I used margarine)
-1/4 cup lemon juice

Mix the first 9 ingredients (all the dry stuff) together in one bowl and mix all the wet stuff: water, coffee, eggs, butter and lemon juice in another large bowl.

When ingredients in both bowls are combined add the dry ingredients to the large wet ingredient bowl. Mix everything together until smooth and let stand for 15 minutes. Heat griddle or skillet on high heat and brush with oil.

When 15 minutes are up take a 1/4 cup measure and scoop pancake mixture onto griddle. I could fit 4 in my skillet at a time. Wait until pancake is bubbling on top and browned at the edges to flip over. Once on side is cooked the second side cooks pretty quickly. Brush skillet with oil inbetween batches. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon when ready to serve.

Pancakes starting to bubble slightly.

First four pancakes!

The finished product covered in sugar and cinnamon!