How fun are these Halloween pancakes with their spooky spiderwebs? You can make these kid friendly spider web pancakes and feed a crowd without standing over the stove. These vanilla and chocolate pancakes bake up easily on a sheet pan!
Halloween treats aren't limited to trick-or-treat candy. You can treat the whole family to a Halloween breakfast that they'll remember with these chocolate and vanilla spider web pancakes. Serve them with Strawberry Simple Syrup for a little extra drama. You can also whip up this no bake Halloween snack mix in 5 minutes for an afternoon treat.
Sheet pan pancakes are a Sunday morning dream. Quick prep and a big batch done all at once means you get to sip some coffee and relax while they bake up for the whole family! Try these Sheet Pan Pecan Roll Pancakes next. You can also make these quick-prep Protein Pancakes with Cottage Cheese in a blender!
Jump to:
Ingredients
I include ingredient notes here when I think they’ll be helpful, including ways to source, any preparation tips, or why I've chosen a particular ingredient. Be sure to check out the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and their quantities!
There's nothing too scary about this ingredient list. Most of these items are found in a well-stocked pantry.
- All-Purpose Flour - This flour is perfect for pancakes that bake up tender with enough heft to take on a big pour of maple syrup.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda - These provide lift for fluffy pancakes.
- Granulated Sugar - Only a bit of sugar is needed to enhance and compliment the vanilla and chocolate flavors.
- Vegetable Oil - Choosing oil instead of butter ensures a very tender and light pancake.
- Vanilla Extract - Measure with your heart, but I use 1 ½ teaspoons.
- Eggs - I develop all of my recipes using large eggs, so adjust as needed if you use jumbo or small eggs.
- Greek Yogurt - This is my favorite way to add tang to batters and muffins and to create a tender crumb. Greek yogurt works in the same way as buttermilk, adding needed acidity to help the leaveners work. Plus, I am far more likely to have yogurt on hand than buttermilk.
- Milk - I use 2% milk in the recipe, but anything from skim to whole milk will work well.
- Dark Cocoa Powder - A Dutch process dark cocoa will give you good contrast against the vanilla batter. Feel free to use a regular cocoa powder if you don't have dark on hand.
Prepare the Pancake Batter
Start by preheating your oven to 450°F and you'll have your batch of Halloween pancakes in no time!
Line the sheet pan with parchment paper and spray the paper with cooking spray. Crumbling the parchment paper first and then spreading it out over the pan will help it stay in place. Set the prepared pan aside.
Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to a large bowl and whisk all of the dry ingredients together.
To a medium bowl add the sugar, oil, vanilla, eggs, yogurt, and milk. Whisk until the wet ingredients are well combined.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk to combine. It's important not to over mix the batter, a few lumps are fine.
Scoop out about ½ cup of the vanilla batter and add it to a small bowl (or use the same bowl you used to mix the wet ingredients). Add the cocoa powder and one tablespoon of water and whisk the batter to combine.
Create the Spider Webs and Bake
Spread the remainder of the vanilla batter over the parchment paper until it is in a smooth and even layer.
Transfer the chocolate batter to a piping bag or a zip top baggie that is placed in a glass for support.
Cut off the corner of the bag and pipe out bulls-eye shapes all over the surface of the vanilla batter. Let them overlap or stay separate, make them big or small.
Use a toothpick to drag through the batter from the center of the bulls-eye to the edge. Lift the toothpick and repeat around the whole circle, forming the spider web pancake pattern. This is a great step to let the kids help with!
Repeat across the whole sheet pan until all of the webs are formed.
Bake the pancakes for 12-15 minutes in the preheated oven. The edges will be golden and the surface of the pancakes will be dull and not shiny.
Remove the pan from the oven and slice the pancakes into 24 squares with a serrated knife. The pancakes should be light and fluffy with golden bottoms.
These Halloween pancakes are ready to feed your bunch. Kids can very much help with many of the steps in this process, so make it a family affair!
Top tip
Do not over mix the batter when adding the wet ingredients to the dry. This will result in tough pancakes.
Substitutions
Here are some substitutions that I have tested during recipe development. If you make a successful substitution for any other ingredient, let everyone know in the comments!
- Swap Buttermilk for Greek Yogurt - If you have buttermilk on hand in your refrigerator, swap it in equal volume with the Greek yogurt. The batter will be a bit more runny so you'll have to be quick with piping your circles but the pancakes will bake up perfectly.
- Use Lactose-Free Milk - We regularly use lactose-free milk in recipes for the family since one of my kids is lactose intolerant.
- Choose Another Neutral Oil - Canola oil, avocado oil, or sunflower oil have all worked well in this recipe.
Variations
Here are a couple ideas for fun swaps to change up this recipe for Halloween pancakes.
- Use Fruit Powders - Crush or process freeze dried blueberries or strawberries into a fine powder and add them in place of the cocoa powder. Fruity spider webs are delicious, too!
- Use Food Coloring - Make spider webs that are orange, purple, or bright green by tinting the ½ cup of batter with gel food coloring.
Equipment
A full size industrial sheet pan is likely bigger than any of our home ovens can accommodate. A half sheet pan measures 13" x 18" and is the size you need for this recipe. It is a fairly standard sheet pan size, but if your pan is slightly larger or smaller than this you'll need to adjust baking times. For a larger pan, the pancakes will be thinner and cook faster, for a smaller pan the pancakes will need more cooking time.
Serving Suggestions
Serve these spider web pancakes with maple syrup and butter, peanut butter and jelly (don't knock it until you try it), or use a pumpkin butter to bring in some fall flavor. For fun, bring out a platter of these Halloween pancakes with toy spiders!
Storage
The pancakes are good for 2-3 days when stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat them by toasting them for crisp pancakes or microwaving them for softer pancakes.
FAQ
Yes! Freeze them in a single layer in a gallon-sized bag. You can reheat them directly from the freezer in a toaster for crisp texture or in the microwave for a softer pancake. Store them for up to 2 months in the freezer.
Top your pancakes with a dusting of powdered sugar, whipped cream, fruit, yogurt, chopped nuts, chocolate chips, or even chocolate syrup.
Pairing
Pair these spider web pancakes with fluffy scrambled eggs, bacon, and a fruit salad for Halloween breakfast OR serve breakfast for dinner! That is sure to get my kids to the dinner table. Here are some other pairing suggestions if you want to add a savory dish to your breakfast spread:
Try It and Share
I hope you give these Sheet Pan Halloween Pancakes a try and that everyone loves them. I want to see your spooky results! Tag your photo with #planeatpostrepeat and mention me @planeatpostrepeat on Instagram or Facebook so that I can give you a virtual high five and thank you for cooking one of my recipes. Comment below with any questions and please leave a review so others can find this recipe more easily!
Recipe
Sheet Pan Halloween Pancakes with Spooky Spider Webs
Equipment
- 1 half sheet pan 13" x 18"
Ingredients
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup Greek yogurt (2% or full-fat)
- 1½ cups milk
- 2 tablespoon cocoa powder (Dutched cocoa, e.g. Hershey's Special Dark)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 450°F. Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper and then spray the paper with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt with a whisk.
- In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, oil, vanilla, eggs, Greek yogurt, and milk and whisk until smooth.
- Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk together until just combined. A few lumps in the batter are fine, you don't want to over mix.
- Remove about ½ cup of the vanilla batter and transfer it to the medium bowl that was used to combine the wet ingredients. Add the cocoa powder and one tablespoon of water and whisk to combine.
- Spread the remaining vanilla batter in the prepared sheet pan until it is smooth and even.
- Transfer the chocolate batter into a zip bag or piping bag that is supported by a glass or cup.
- Snip the corner of the bag off to form a small opening. Pipe bulls-eye shapes over the vanilla batter until you have used up all of the chocolate batter.
- Use a toothpick to drag through the batter from the center of each bulls-eye to the edge. Lift the toothpick out of the batter and repeat around the circle until you form a spider web pattern. Repeat with all of the bulls-eye shapes.
- Bake the pancakes for 12-15 minutes, until the top is no longer shiny and the edges are golden.
- Remove from the oven and use a serrated knife to slice the pancakes into 24 squares.
- Serve with butter or maple syrup, as desired.
Notes
Nutrition facts are sometimes provided below and are calculated using an online calculator. With specific brands of ingredients and additions, omissions, or substitutions the nutrition facts may change. We encourage you to use your own nutrition facts caculator to obtain the most accurate nutrition facts for your meal.
Cassie Waltman says
These are so fun, I'd love to hear what you serve your spooky spider web pancakes with!