Even if your ancestors weren’t Irish, it’s always nice to have an excuse to celebrate a holiday. Especially one where you can celebrate it with a special breakfast! I’m all about holiday breakfasts!
This is the first time I’ve attempted to make Rainbow Pancakes, and it was actually easier than I thought it would be. Pair a cold glass of green milk with a stack of Rainbow Pancakes, and you’ve got a festive way to kick off your family’s St. Patrick’s Day!
Start by whipping up a batch of your favorite pancake mix. I used the recipe for Buttermilk Pancakes that I featured in a previous post, 12 Ways to Use Up Leftover Buttermilk. It’s definitely been my go-to pancake recipe recently!
Once your batter is done, use a ladle to split your batter into 6 different containers. You can use more or less containers depending on the number of colors you want to have in your rainbow. 🙂
When the batter is evenly divided between your containers, add your food coloring until you achieve the colors you want. I used gel food colors, which are more concentrated than regular food colorings, so it didn’t take much to get the colors I wanted. If you’re interested in making your own natural food colors, there’s a excellent post with tons of great information on Nourishing Joy.
Now that your colors are mixed, it’s time to make some pancakes! Since you’ll be stacking a number of pancakes to get the rainbow effect, you’ll want to make them pretty small. I made mine about 4 inches in diameter. Don’t worry about making them perfect, because they’re just going to be eaten, after all!
When the pancakes are done, stack them up on a plate and add any extra toppings you like. I thought it would be cute to add some “clouds” to my rainbow! I mixed up a batch of simple whipped cream, put it in a ziplock bag, and cut one of the corners off. Then I piped little round dots of cream on either side of the pancakes, so the cream resembled fluffy clouds. So fun and easy!
If your family likes a glass of milk with their pancakes, why not dress that up too? Put milk into a large jar, add several drops of green food coloring, and put the lid on. Shake the jar vigorously to distribute the coloring, then pour the milk into bottles or glasses.
All that’s left to do is dig in! Enjoy a festive (and magical!) St. Patrick’s Day breakfast!
