These 40 Fluffy Pancake Recipes Are Worth Getting Up Early For (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret of fluffy pancakes? ›

The secret is in the egg whites!

To give your pancakes that fluffy text, beat only the egg whites for 3 minutes on medium speed. They'll start turning creamy, which means it's time to add them to the pancake mixture. Use a wooden spatula to incorporate everything. There you have it!

Pancakes and waffles typically both contain baking soda, which causes them to rise. As soon as the baking soda is combined with the wet ingredients (which contain an acidic ingredient, like often buttermilk), it starts producing carbon dioxide gas bubbles that cause the batter to rise.

Gordon Ramsay's recipe

Whisk the egg whites “*ntil foamy”. MiX all the other ingredients in a second bowl, then fold in the egg whites. Grease a pan with butter and use a medium heat, ladle in the batter to cook until bubbles form (around 5-6 minutes) and then flip and cook for around 2 minutes.

Using extra virgin olive oil in place of the melted butter in this recipe adds moisture in addition to flavor, resulting in a light and fluffy pancake that's perfectly tender and moist, not dry or doughy in the least.

Why are my pancakes rubbery and chewy? The most common cause for pancakes turning out dense is over mixing.

Top tips for fluffy pancakes

Don't be tempted to add more than the recipe suggests, as too much baking powder will make pancakes taste soapy. Alternatively, you could use self-raising flour, which will add to the amount of raising agent in the recipe and potentially make your pancakes fluffier.

Note that mayonnaise contains eggs and oil, so it can replace oil or butter as well. This trick may not work as an egg replacement for an allergy or egg-free diet (unless it's a vegan mayo) but it works for those who don't have eggs on hand in a pinch.

Baking soda is essential for baked goods, but baking powder is really what makes pancakes and biscuits rise and become so super fluffy. Double-acting baking powder, which is the kind that you'll find in the grocery store, produces bubbles in two ways: when it is mixed with wet ingredients and then when it gets heated.

The ideal temperature for cooking pancakes

Either way, it's obvious that delicious pancakes require an ideal griddle temperature (and a little bit of patience) to get that nice, fluffy texture. Simply put: the best temperature for cooking pancakes is 375°F on a griddle or medium to medium high heat on the stove.

Why do restaurant pancakes taste better? ›

Restaurants use better quality ingredients

There's no getting around the sheer simplicity of using a boxed mix for making pancakes in the comfort of your own kitchen on a weekend morning. However, along with that ease, you may be taking a hit in the overall taste department.

Can I Use Water Instead of Milk in Pancakes? 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.

How you handle the batter makes a difference. If you beat it until it is smooth, your pancakes won't be as fluffy. Pancake batter should be mixed until it still has a few lumps in it. Then it needs to stand for about 15 minutes, to ensure that the flour is fully hydrated.

The combination of homemade buttermilk (milk and vinegar) and two leaveners (baking powder and baking soda) create lots of air bubbles in the pancake batter, resulting in the lightest and fluffiest pancakes imaginable.

Adding lots more eggs would start to move you into custard or quiche-like territory, where the product would have a lot more egg flavor, and start to take on a more scrambled-egg type texture depending on how far you go. You will get less flavor but more textural change from using just whites.