Edible Art: Easy Pancake Shapes and Letters

While making our delicious Vanilla and Cinnamon Pancakes, we decided to turn our meal into adorable and easy pancake shapes! We love 100% edible crafts and this seemed like the perfect way for my kindergartener to practice her emerging reading and writing skills!

Easy Pancake Shapes for the Whole Family!

We used our recipe for Easy Vanilla and Cinnamon Pancakes to turn our dinner into craft-time. It took a couple of tries, but we discovered that forming pancake letters and shapes out of batter is quite easy. The trick is to form the numbers or letters backwards on the griddle, so that when you flip them over, they have a nice, brown finish.

Making the pancake batter for these pancake letters and shapes is super simple. Kids can take ownership of the measuring, pouring and mixing. Adults might want to step in when it comes to cooking/flipping the letter pancakes, but older kids can also take the lead with some supervision.

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How to Make Easy Pancake Shapes

The funnest part of this easy pancake letters and shapes craft is forming the shapes on the griddle. The trickiest part is successfully flipping the shapes over. Here are a few tips for having success:

Use a Squeeze Bottle to Make Easy Pancake Shapes

Using a squeeze bottle to pour your batter into shapes gives you the most control over the batter. We used an empty and cleaned honey squeeze jar, but a Ketchup bottle would also work! If you don't have a squeeze bottle, you can also use a Pyrex Measuring Cup to gently pour the batter in its desired shape.

Write letters and numbers BACKWARDS on the griddle

That way, when they are flipped over, your numbers will have a nice brown surface and face the right direction.

Use TWO spatulas simultaneously to flip shapes

Depending on the size of your shapes, a single spatula might not be big enough to lift the full letter.

Special Occasions for Easy Pancake Shapes

There are plenty of special occasions to make festive and easy pancake shapes! Below are a few ideas.

Birthdays!

Celebrate the birthday boy or girl by turning their pancake into their age!

Holidays!

Hearts for Valentine's Day, candy canes for Christmas, eggs for Easter...the possibilities are endless! We spelled out "2020" in honor of New Years Day last January.

Mother's Day and Father's Day

Kids will love spelling out "Mom" or "Dad" in honor of their parents on their special days.

Graduations, Anniversaries and More!

Celebrate the GRAD, wedding dates or any other special occasion with pancake shapes!

💡Overview💡

Ingredients: See Easy Vanilla and Cinnamon Pancakes Recipe!

Skills supported: Fine motor (pouring, flipping), writing, following instructions

✂supplies✂

Ingredients from Easy Vanilla and Cinnamon Pancakes!
Medium-large griddle
Measuring cup with lip/spout like a Pyrex Measuring Cup OR a squeeze bottle
Spatula(s)

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📝instructions for Easy Pancake Shapes📝

Consider setting up the craft before cooking so that your kids can get to work right away.

Make the pancake batter. We used the batter from our amazing pancakes recipe: Easy Vanilla and Cinnamon Pancakes!
Heat butter on a medium-large griddle pan at medium heat. Use a spouted measuring cup to pour batter onto heated griddle in shape of desired letter, number or shape.* For more control over your batter, use some sort of squeeze bottle. We used an empty and cleaned honey container! NOTE: Consider writing letters and numbers BACKWARDS on the griddle so that when they are flipped over, your numbers will have a nice brown surface.
After 1-2 minutes (or until bubbles form and start to pop), flip letter over and cook another minute or until browned.* Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy your creative treat!