I love Valentine’s Day!  I realize it’s a sort of a Hallmark holiday, but I just can’t help myself.  It’s a sweet day, and I’ve always enjoyed a little no-fuss, no-stress celebrating with my husband and kiddos.  My mom always gifted me a little special something growing up, so I’ve continued that tradition.  It’s nothing huge, think cute socks or some inexpensive sunglasses and something sugar-y.  The more gimmick-y the better, in my opinion.  I’ve also made it a tradition to put together a sweet Valentine breakfast every February 14th!
Simple Celebratory Pancakes

It looks like a lot of work, but I promise you this is the easiest “special breakfast” you could ever put together. Â We’re all big time pancake lovers over here. Â My gluten-free, egg-free recipe is a cinch to mix up, and my trick to weekday pancakes it to mix the batter up the night before. Â Then all you have to do in the morning is fire up the griddle. Â Let them cool for a minute and then use a cookie cutter to make heart shapes.

Another quick, easy and fun idea I like to bring into play for a special pancake breakfast is subbing frosting for syrup. Â My frosting recipe isn’t really a recipe. Â It’s just two ingredients, real butter and powdered sugar, and I mix it to texture and taste every time. Â Making it ahead makes it super simple. Â Snipping the corner of a ziplock bag makes it easy to pipe the frosting. Â It makes pancakes feel a little more special……..and the nice thing for a busy, carpooling mom is you can eat them like a piece of toast in the car on the way to school!

Frosting on pancakes makes breakfast feel like dessert!  It’s such a fun way to start the day!  You could easily do this with microwave pancakes too, and no judgements if you buy your frosting in a tube.  😉
*This inexpensive electric griddle is a pancake making game changer! Â I can’t believe I ever lived without one. Â Seriously, I can make dozens of pancakes in a matter of minutes!




I love the pancake and icing idea and will need to try it out! My mom always got us little gifts, too, and now my husband and I each claim a kid (I take our son and he gets our daughter) to buy a Valentine surprise and some sweets. It just makes the hallmark holiday a bit more fun!