These Green Shamrock Pancakes are the perfect way to start off your St Patrick’s Day. They’re just as soft and fluffy as our regular buttermilk pancakes and surprisingly easy to make.
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Green Shamrock Pancakes for St Patrick’s Day
These adorable Green Shamrock Pancakes are a fun and festive St Patrick's Day tradition that is a huge hit in my family. They are soft, fluffy, and super easy to make by using a piping bag, squeeze bottle, or shamrock cookie cutters.
This recipe is based off of our Perfect Buttermilk Pancakes recipe, but in a pinch you could certainly use your favorite pancake mix. Serve with syrup, butter, whipped cream, or fresh berries.
While you’re at it, why not continue the fun with our Lucky Charms No-Bake Cookie Bars or Lucky Charms Cookies?
Ingredients in Shamrock Pancakes
- All-Purpose Flour - I use all-purpose flour for pancakes, but another acceptable type would be cake flour if you have it. Of course you could also skip right to the chase and use your favorite pancake mix!
- Sugar - you want to use white granulated sugar for this recipe.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda - these help the batter rise, and keep the pancakes nice and fluffy.
- Salt - salt balances all of the flavors.
- Eggs - any kind of large eggs will work great.
- Buttermilk - this adds a characteristic tangy flavor, helps the baking powder activate, and keeps your pancakes super fluffy. If you are out of buttermilk, you can make your own buttermilk by mixing together 3 cups of milk and 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice. Allow them to sit for about 10 minutes before using as directed.
- Butter - this should be melted. You can use salted or unsalted for this recipe.
- Vanilla Extract - pure vanilla extract is best.
- Green Food Coloring - if you’re using a liquid food coloring you’ll need about 10 drops to get a deep green color. You can also use gel - just add bit by bit until you get the color you want.
How to Make Shamrock Shaped Pancakes
- Make the pancake batter. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and whisk to combine. In a separate mixing bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla extract and whisk well to break up the eggs. Add the green food coloring and mix again. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently fold them together until well-combined. Do not overmix - the mixture should still be a little lumpy.
- Preheat a griddle. Heat a pan or non-stick griddle over medium heat, then add about a tablespoon of butter to grease the pan.
- Pipe shamrock pancakes. Transfer pancake batter to a piping bag and cut a small tip off of the end. Quickly pipe the outline of a four leaf clover onto the griddle and then fill in with pancake batter.
- Cook the pancakes. Allow the pancakes to cook until bubbles appear on the surface and the edges are beginning to look cooked, or about 2 minutes. Flip and cook the pancakes on the other side until golden and cooked through, or about 1 minute more. Repeat this process with remaining batter.
- Serve. Serve pancakes with butter, syrup, whipped cream, or your favorite toppings. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
There are a few easy ways to make shamrock shaped pancakes. First, you can try our method using a piping bag. You could also add the pancake batter to a squeeze bottle, cutting the tip slightly larger if necessary.
Another easy way to make shamrock (or any other) shaped pancakes is to place a shamrock cookie cutter onto the hot griddle. Make sure it has been lightly greased with nonstick cooking spray on the inside, then add the pancake batter. Leave the cutter for about 30 seconds, or until the pancake is set before removing it.
Yes! Once you have cooked all of your Shamrock Pancakes, let them cool completely and then transfer to a freezer bag. You can store them frozen for up to 1 month. When you are ready to eat them, you can pop them in the microwave or toaster.
Buttermilk is super acidic which helps to break down the gluten and create super soft and fluffy pancakes. It also adds a nice tangy flavor. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can easily make your own by adding 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice to 3 cups of milk. Allow the mixture to sit for 5-10 minutes before using.
Sure! You can either use a gluten-free pancake mix or substitute your favorite gluten-free flour in this recipe.
Storing and Reheating
- Refrigerator: store leftover pancakes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Freezer: store completely cooled pancakes in freezer bags for up to 1 month.
- To reheat: you can either microwave or reheat pancakes in the toaster.
Green Shamrock Pancakes Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 3 Tablespoons Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
- 1½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1½ teaspoon Salt
- 3 Eggs
- 3 cups Buttermilk
- ⅓ cup Butter melted, plus more for frying pancakes
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
- 10 drops Green Food Coloring
Instructions
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and whisk to combine.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla extract and whisk well to break up the eggs. Add the green food coloring and mix again.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently fold them together until well-combined. Do not overmix - the mixture should still be a little lumpy.
- Heat a pan or non-stick griddle over medium heat, then add about a tablespoon of butter to grease the pan.
- Transfer pancake batter to a piping bag and cut a small tip off of the end. Quickly pipe the outline of a four leaf clover onto the griddle and then fill in with pancake batter.
- Allow the pancakes to cook until bubbles appear on the surface and the edges are beginning to look cooked, or about 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes using a spatula and continue to cook the other side until golden and cooked through, or about 1 minute more. Repeat this process with remaining batter.
- Serve pancakes with butter, syrup, whipped cream, or your favorite toppings. Enjoy!
Nutrition
More Fun and Easy Breakfast Recipes
- Perfect Buttermilk Pancakes
- Spinach and Feta Quiche
- Homemade Belgian Waffles
- Smothered Hash Browns
- Lemon Sweet Rolls
- Mini Lemon Blueberry Bread
- Apple Cinnamon French Toast Bake
- Best German Pancakes
- Caramel Cinnamon Rolls
- More Best Breakfast Recipes
- More Amazing Sauce and Syrups
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These Green Shamrock Pancakes are soft, fluffy, and the perfect way to wake up on St Patrick's Day. Serve warm with your favorite pancake toppings.
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