March 1, 2022
March 1, 2022
Cooking is one thing you can do with your kids that will create memories to last a lifetime. There’s no doubt they’ll look back on those times in the kitchen and the food you made together fondly, perhaps doing the same with their own children one day.
On special occasions such as Shrove Tuesday, these small things become even more significant. So how do you make Easter fun? If you’re looking for educational Easter activities, there’s nothing better than making a few classic pancake recipes with your kids! Here are some easy pancake recipes for kids on Shrove Tuesday.
What is Shrove Tuesday?
Shrove Tuesday is the day that comes before Ash Wednesday. It’s a day marked by celebration and feasting, which is where the pancakes come in. The idea is that right before you give up something for the Lenten fast, you’ll eat and be merry. Making pancakes together is a great answer to the question “How can I make my kids’ Easter special?” The only thing your kids need to make something special is you – and a plan for fun. And who doesn’t love a good pancake?
Why Make Pancakes on Shrove Tuesday?
Shrove Tuesday isn’t simply a day to celebrate a classic breakfast item; it also serves as the last chance to indulge before you start on a 40-day fasting endeavor. The idea is that people would use up the ingredients that they couldn’t eat during Lent, such as milk, eggs, and fats like butter. Pancakes include all these things people often give up during Lent, so it serves a practical purpose of not wasting ingredients along with offering a bit of indulgence before a fast.
Sharing this type of information with your kids is a great way to start a conversation about traditions, too, especially those surrounding holidays like Easter. Use the experience of making pancakes together to talk about the history and how these traditions came about. It’s a teachable moment!
Easy Pancake Recipe for Kids
Pancakes, whether you make them for Shrove Tuesday or not, all start out with the same basic base recipe. From there you can add your own special ingredients, particularly some that revolve around Easter fun ideas – but more on that later.
Pancakes are a great food to make with kids because they’re easy, and kids can mix up the ingredients themselves – even really young ones. Of course, adults should always oversee the process of cooking with a hot griddle, but most of this process is a kid’s DIY dream.
Here is what you need to create some memorable pancakes together:
Once you have all your ingredients together, combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Pour the melted butter into the well along with the eggs, milk, and vanilla.
It’s best to use an electric mixer to really get everything mixed together completely, so supervise your child as they use it on low speed to combine the ingredients. Make sure to scrape the bowl as you mix to get all the dry ingredients incorporated well.
Next, coat the griddle or the frying pan with cooking spray. If you’re using a griddle, make sure to preheat it to 300 degrees Fahrenheit, which is equivalent to medium-high on the stovetop.
Scoop about half a ladleful of batter onto the griddle. Make sure to leave space between the pancakes so they don’t stick together when you flip them! You’ll start to see small bubbles forming on the top. Once there are many small bubbles, flip the pancakes so the other side can cook. It shouldn’t take more than 45 seconds or so for the other side to be done – be sure to remove them from the griddle at that point.
Now comes the fun part: serving! You can add all kinds of things to pancakes to make them delicious. Try using fruit such as bananas or strawberries, whipped cream, nuts, chocolate sauce, or stick with the classic butter and maple syrup. You can go a little pancake avant-garde by incorporating nut butters such as almond or peanut butter, adding some chocolate hazelnut spread or cookie butter, or using honey or fresh fruit preserves. The world is your stack of pancakes!
You can even create a pancake toppings bar for your kids to get really creative and try their own combinations.
Pancake Variations
The recipe above is just the base. If you want to add a little pizazz to your pancakes, you can add chocolate chips or nuts to them as they cook. You can even add fruit like blueberries or bananas to the batter. If you’re super creative, you can make pancakes in different shapes, too, and really impress the kids with your cooking prowess!
Pancakes are fun on Shrove Tuesday or any time of the year, so gather your kids and create some memories that will last a lifetime.
Featured image by Kelsey Curtis on Unsplash