I’ve always loved gingerbread, and no, not the crunchy little cutouts, the ones that fight rat kings in your sleep. Those, to me, are an assault on the spiced and tender cake that gingerbread represents. Spiked with molasses and served entirely too infrequently in December. But it wasn’t until I visited Passau, Germany with my mother on a Viking River Cruise last year that I realized the full depth of my predilection. Having passed through an intense two-week obsession with Ancestry.com, coincidentally just long enough for my free trial to expire, I lobbied for us to stay in Passau when we docked, rather than driving to another German excursion. I recognized the town from my protracted family tree, insisting upon walking around imagining what great-great-great-great-grandfather Peter or Johann did during the floods and where they drank their beer and how they looked at the Danube from the top of the town. And naturally, I Googled. The highest rated place to eat was easily a little sweets shop, Café Simon, which wouldn’t do for lunch but would certainly suffice when we needed a quick little stop for sweets and bubbly after a bit of shopping for the men we left back in the States. On the trip, we’d heard often of the real German gingerbread, and, loving the heady sweet to start with, I absolutely had to hunt some down. Café Simon was impressive to put it mildly. In the middle of Passau, an otherwise low-key town whose tour included a couple churches and markers on a building where it flooded a few times, Café Simon reminded me of a chic sweet shop out of Paris. With what seemed like hundreds of eclectic varieties of truffles and gorgeous branding, I spent way too many euros making sure I could try everything, bring back everything, remember everything. But for my sweets and bubbly? It had to be the Passau gingerbread cake and the sparkling wine with literal gold flake in it. Literal gold flake! More spiced, denser, and more complex than I remember gingerbread back home being, I feel instantly in love with the flavors and vowed to honor them whenever I could upon my return. AKA…. paleo gingerbread pancakes, y’all. My German ancestors would be, like, so proud……?
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
These paleo gingerbread pancakes are obscenely delicious.
They taste just like a slice of gingerbread cake, but with no grains, no gluten, no refined sugar, nada. On top of that, they’re fluffy and filling, and no one would know they’re paleo. In other words? They’re perfect for the holidays, especially Christmas morning, when you need to start the day off with a bit of Christmas magic… But you want to save the gluten belly for later, right?
You’ll absolutely love these paleo gingerbread pancakes, because they taste like a Christmas indulgence but are a way healthier option. Spiced with gingerbread classics and sweetened with molasses, they’re fluffy and rich and I’d eat them every day if I could.
Other Holiday Recipes You’ll Love
The BEST Croissant French Toast Casserole Gluten Free Breakfast Casserole Peppermint Frosted Brownies (Paleo, Vegan) Keto Peppermint Layer Brownies Cookie Butter Creme Brulee Turtle Bars (Paleo, Vegan) Cranberry Margarita Paleo Peppermint Hot Chocolate Christmas Confetti Cookies Paleo Gluten-Free Crinkle Cookies Keto Hot Chocolate Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Caramel Sauce
