How to Make Homemade Pancakes – Who doesn’t love waking up to the sweet smell of homemade pancakes, especially when you can eat them in your pajamas? Plus, making pancakes is really easy. Try this basic foolproof recipe and feel free to jazz it up with flavorful add-ins like fruit, cinnamon or chocolate.
Table of Contents
Fluffy Homemade Pancakes Recipe
Pancake Ingredients
We love simple, no-fail recipes and this pancake recipe is just that. It’s quick to make, and we’re willing to bet you’ve got everything you need to make them right now. We call for eggs in this recipe. If you are looking for egg-free pancakes, here is our recipe for vegan pancakes. Here’s a quick breakdown of what you will need (the full recipe with ingredient amounts is shared in the recipe below).
Flour: Use all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, or a combination of the two. For gluten-free pancakes, use your favorite gluten-free flour blend or try buckwheat flour. Here is our buckwheat pancake recipe for reference.
Sugar: We use granulated sugar, but other sugars like coconut sugar, raw sugar, or brown sugar will work in the recipe.
Baking Powder: It is the baking powder that makes these pancakes light and fluffy. If you’d like to make pancakes without baking powder, I have shared tips for using baking soda in the frequently asked questions below.
Salt: We like to use 1/2 teaspoon of fine salt. It balances the sugar nicely and brings out lots of flavor in the pancakes. If you are using salted butter, consider reducing the salt to 1/4 teaspoon.
Milk: Whole milk, reduced-fat, and even skim milk will work in this recipe. For dairy-free pancakes, substitute non-dairy milk (like unsweetened almond milk or homemade oat milk). I’ve also used orange juice in place of the milk before and it worked nicely. If you’d like to use buttermilk, take a look at our recipe for Buttermilk Pancakes.
Melted Butter: You can’t beat the taste of butter for this, but if you need a plant-based option, melted coconut oil or melted plant-based butter work, too. We use unsalted butter, but salted butter will work as a substitute. If you do use salted butter, reduce the amount of salt by 1/4 teaspoon.
One Egg: The egg adds structure, flavor, and fluffiness. I’ve shared tips in the frequently asked questions below for making pancakes without eggs. We use a flax egg. You might also enjoy our recipe for vegan pancakes.
Vanilla Extract: Vanilla adds sweetness and depth of flavor. You could try other extracts, too. Almond extract would be pretty delicious.
We have lots of pancake recipes on the blog. If you love blueberries, you must take a look at this recipe and if you like to swap regular flour for whole wheat, try these fluffy whole wheat pancakes. We have also recently added a vegan pancake recipe to the blog, which we both love!
Our Step-by-Step Method for the Fluffiest Pancakes
These simple pancakes come together fast! They are perfect for kids (if you scroll through the reviews so many our of readers makes these with their kids and sometimes the kids even make them!) To make them follow these easy steps:
- Whisk dry ingredients together
- Melt butter and warm milk (we use the microwave)
- Whisk wet ingredients together
- Combine the dry and wet ingredients
- Cook on a hot buttered skillet
- Enjoy!
Here’s the secret to the fluffiest pancakes: Mix dry and wet ingredients separately at first then combine just before cooking. You can mix the dry ingredients as much as you want and do the same for the wet ingredients, but when the two mixtures come together, use a light touch. Over-mixing the batter is a common mistake — it makes them heavy and flat, not fluffy.
By the way, these tips apply to waffles and muffins, too. We use this same strategy when making our favorite blueberry muffins as well as our favorite waffles.
When we are ready to cook, we combine the two mixes with a fork or whisk. I like to stir until I no longer see dry clumps of flour. There can be some small lumps, though.
The recipe makes 8 pancakes, so depending on how many you eat at one sitting, this recipe could serve 2 to 4 people. If you have some pancakes leftover, you can freeze them! I love this trick for when just one of us wants pancakes in the morning. Check the frequently asked questions below for how we freeze them.
Variations
This is our basic pancake recipe. We use it often as is, but have used it as a base for other recipes. Add what you love. Here are a few suggestions:
- Sprinkle a handful of berries, nuts or chocolate chips into the batter. (We love adding fresh blueberries or mashed and sliced banana)
- Layer a few thin slices of strawberry or banana onto the wet batter once added to the skillet. Then, flip. (We added a banana to these spiced banana pancakes)
- Add lemon zest or spices, such as cinnamon, nutmeg or allspice (see our cinnamon-spiced fluffy pancakes with a cinnamon roll glaze)
- Try replacing some of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour (see our easy fluffy whole wheat pancakes).
- Add a few spoonfuls of flax seeds, oats, or reduce the sugar.
Easy Basic Pancakes
Ingredients
Ingredient Checklist
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, or vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- Assorted toppings, such as butter, maple syrup, confectioners’ sugar, honey, jams, preserves, sweetened whipped cream, or chocolate syrup
Directions
Instructions Checklist
- Step 1Preheat oven to 200 degrees; have a baking sheet or heatproof platter ready to keep cooked pancakes warm in the oven. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside.ADVERTISEMENT
- Step 2In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, butter (or oil), and egg. Add dry ingredients to milk mixture; whisk until just moistened (do not overmix; a few small lumps are fine).
- Step 3Heat a large skillet (nonstick or cast-iron) or griddle over medium. Fold a sheet of paper towel in half, and moisten with oil; carefully rub skillet with oiled paper towel.
- Step 4For each pancake, spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons of batter onto skillet, using the back of the spoon to spread batter into a round (you should be able to fit 2 to 3 in a large skillet).
- Step 5Cook until surface of pancakes have some bubbles and a few have burst, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip carefully with a thin spatula, and cook until browned on the underside, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer to a baking sheet or platter; cover loosely with aluminum foil, and keep warm in oven. Continue with more oil and remaining batter. (You’ll have 12 to 15 pancakes.) Serve warm, with desired toppings.
Pancake Variations
- Step 6BUTTERMILK: In step 1, add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda to dry mixture. In step 2, replace the milk with low-fat buttermilk.
- Step 7YOGURT: In step 1, add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda to dry mixture. In step 2, replace the milk with 2/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt and 1/3 cup milk.
- Step 8WHOLE-GRAIN WITH YOGURT: In step 1, replace the all-purpose flour with 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour, 1/4 cup each cornmeal and wheat germ, and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. In step 2, replace the milk with 2/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt and 1/3 cup milk.
Conclusion
If you wanted to make these pancakes even easier to make, you could combine the dry ingredients ahead of time and have it in your pantry as a pancake mix. You’ll want to put it in an airtight container. It should keep well, as long as the flour and baking powder you use is fresh.