How to make Pancakes | Fluffy Pancake Recipe (2023)

FAQs

What are the ingredients for pancakes made from scratch? ›

You only need a few basic pantry staples: milk, butter, egg, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Plus I add a little vanilla extract for a little more depth of flavor. The batter only takes minutes to mix together, then you're on your way to a cozy homemade pancake breakfast.

Most boxed mixes call for water, but substituting milk for water will add richness. Milk will yield a thicker batter, so the amount may need to be adjusted to get the desired consistency. Or try half water, half milk. Add eggs.

“Brush the entire surface with butter,” Granger says, “then wipe away any excess with a bit of kitchen paper and add a touch more butter, just to be on the safe side.” When you now add the batter for that tricky first pancake, the pan ought to mimic the well-greased one you normally get when making subsequent ones.

So how exactly does just-add-water pancake mix even work? It varies according to brand, but some just-add water pancake mixes contain dehydrated fats like powdered butter, powdered milk or buttermilk, and egg powder. Others rely on additives like chemical emulsifiers and proteins.

With little gluten, pancakes rely on eggs to provide the additional structure necessary to hold the bubbles and allow the pancake to rise. The fat in the yolk also provides richness and flavor. Too much egg, however, will make the pancake dense and custard-like; not enough will make it drier and more biscuit-like.

Flour is the main ingredient to any pancake. It provides the structure. Different types of flours alter the structure because some flours absorb more moisture or create more gluten (which binds the structure together) than others.

Add an Egg

Even if your pancake mix doesn't call for an egg, mix one into the batter. The egg will add richness to the recipe and make the end result taste like homemade pancakes. If your pancake mix already calls for an egg, try adding an extra one.

Full fat milk pancakes taste better than skimmed. I'm a skimmed milk drinker generally, but in this case I found that using full-fat milk gave the pancakes a much better flavour.

Can I put milk in my pancake mix? ›

But one of my favorite secrets to making your store bought pancake mix taste homemade is to add some buttermilk or whole milk. The addition of milk or buttermilk will up the fat content of the pancake recipe and will yield more tender pancakes.

You should not flip when you see bubbles, but you should flip when those bubbles pop and form holes that stay open on the surface of the pancake. If a bubble comes to the surface, pops, but is filled in by more pancake batter, hold off on flipping.

Leave the pancake to cook for about 1 min or until it's just starting to pull away from the sides of the pan and is golden brown underneath. To cook the other side either flip it over or turn it with a fish slice or spatula and leave it for another 30 sec or so to finish cooking.

Before the pancakes hit the hot pan, run a cold stick of butter on the surface of the pan to grease it. This gives the pancakes a very thin, evenly distributed layer of fat to cook in, without overloading the pan with oil.

The ideal griddle temperature for pancakes is 375°F, or a medium setting for gas stovetop burners. Achieving the correct cooking temperature is key to making a perfect pancake. An overheated griddle will burn pancakes on the outside and undercook them on the inside.

The secret to fluffy restaurant-style pancakes? Buttermilk! The acid in the buttermilk reacts to the leavening agents in the pancake batter, creating air bubbles that make the pancakes tall and fluffy. It's a simple switch that makes all the difference.

The lactic acid reacts with the bicarbonate in the self-raising flour to produce carbon dioxide (CO₂) gas. Bubbles of gas are caught in the batter as it cooks and this is what makes the pancake fluffy. This also explains why you should make your batter fresh.

If you're really short on time, try to aim for at least 20min. But be warned, the batter will thicken during this time, and if it's too thick you'll end up with leathery, and not-so-nice pancakes.

To avoid that, you want to mix your pancake batter as little as possible. Just enough to incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry, but not long enough to break up all the little lumps. We like to say ten seconds as a maximum, but an extra second or two isn't going to make a huge difference.

What is this? One of the most important ingredients in baking pancakes and waffles is oil. Oil not only keeps these pancake types soft, moist, and fresh longer, but it also gives the baked good more flavor.

Is pancake batter just flour? ›

Is pancake mix just flour? No, pancake mix is not just flour. It contains some kind of sweetener, salt, and ingredients that help make the pancakes fluffy and helps them rise while they cook.

Mix flour and milk in a jug until you get a smooth batter. Heat a frying pan with oil. Gently pour the batter into the pan and cook for a couple of minutes on each side until golden. Repeat step three until you have used up all the batter.

Does milk or water make pancakes fluffier? Milk makes pancakes fluffier. It is a thicker liquid and you want that batter to be thick rather than thin. Thin batter would make pancakes that don't rise up like they should.

Milk adds both flavor and texture to pancake batter, so if you are looking to make pancakes without milk, a simple swap to water doesn't always do the trick. For pancakes made without milk, you'll want to add some flavor through melted butter and vanilla extract.

Cook Pancakes 90 seconds per side or until golden brown. Turn burners off and put down over easy eggs. Once whites are set (about 2 min) flip and cook for 20 more seconds. Slowly pour scrambled eggs on griddle while moving with spatula until they're cooked to desired consistency.

Oil is used in place of eggs for recipes where the egg is included as a Leavening Agent to make the baked goods rise. To make the replacement, mix 1-1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil mixed with 1-1/2 tablespoons water and 1 teaspoon baking powder per egg.

Remember – flour first, then egg, then crumbs…

The flour creates a dry surface on the wet or moist food and it's this dry surface that the egg will hold on to in the next step. If you didn't coat a chicken breast in flour, for instance, the egg would just slide right off the slippery chicken.

How Does IHOP Get Its Pancakes so Fluffy? IHOP Original Buttermilk Pancakes owe their fluffiness to both baking soda and baking powder in the recipe. Baking soda and baking powder are both rising agents that release C02; however, they do it slightly differently.

The reason pancakes taste so much better in restaurants than they do at home is that they are cooked on a professional griddle. This is how a restaurant can guarantee that the pancakes will cook evenly, which is important for keeping the flavor fresh.

If you're out of milk, or need a dairy-free option for making pancakes, you can replace the milk with an equal amount of just about any other liquid. In a pinch, water is the easiest swap, but we find pancakes made with water lack flavor and richness.

What is a common mistakes beginners make when cooking pancakes? ›

Yep, you heard us right, COVER THE PAN. You can even fling a few droplets of water around the pancakes, if you really want to amp up the steam. This will trap the heat and the steam generated by the wet dough hitting the hot surface of the pan.