Perfectly Fluffy Pancakes

Pancakes are surely one of the ultimate breakfast foods! They’re comforting, flexible enough to add whatever fruits or fun additions you have on hand, and of course they’re a great excuse to down copious amounts of butter and maple syrup!

Why do we need another pancake recipe?

The problem is that if you use the wrong recipe your pancakes can come out chewy, thin, and rubbery, and that’s just not a very appetizing set of adjectives. I went through at least a year of tweaking the recipe every weekend to arrive at this foolproof recipe for perfectly fluffy pancakes, so you don’t have to!

I really enjoyed the process of trying recipes from other chefs (thank you Alton Brown and Matty Matheson), then combining and adjusting them, cooking pancakes, eating pancakes, and doing it again. My wife also enjoyed eating the pancakes, but she made a rule that I couldn’t critique the pancakes until we finished breakfast. I guess hearing about the issues with what you’re eating isn’t fun for everybody.

Keys to Success

The trick to fluffy, luxurious pancakes is getting as much air as possible in the batter, and keeping it in there. We get air into our pancakes by separating our eggs, whipping the whites to stiff peaks, and gently folding them back into the finished batter. We can also get air in with the chemical reaction of baking soda and a mild acid like buttermilk (if you don’t have buttermilk there are good alternatives in the recipe below).

Make sure to sift your dry ingredients together to remove any flour clumps and evenly distribute the other ingredients into the flour.

Recommended Tools

• Cast iron skillet (affiliate link): A 12″ cast iron is a kitchen staple because it’s naturally non-stick and holds heat incredibly well – both great traits for cooking pancakes. If you have a cast iron griddle that’s even better because you can fit more pancakes at once, but you’ll need to melt your butter separately.
• Egg beater (affiliate link)
• Spatula (affiliate link)

Ingredients

• Flour: All purpose flour is perfect for this recipe.
• Baking soda: There’s no substitute to baking soda in a pancake – that’s where the distinctive pancake flavor comes from!
• Butter: Regular butter is great for the recipe, but for an extra treat try topping the cooked pancakes with a dollop of whipped butter.
• Eggs: This recipe uses large eggs, so if you’re using small or jumbo eggs adjust accordingly.
• Optional fruit: When I feel like adding more flavor to my pancakes I’ll add some fruit. Great fruits to use are banana, apple, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, peaches, and more. Get creative with it! Chocolate chips or peanut butter chips can be a good addition too.
• Buttermilk: Buttermilk is the best acidic ingredient because it’s rich and flavorful, but if you don’t have it there are easy substitutions to make.

Buttermilk substitutes

1. Milk + vinegar: Add 1.75 tbsp of white vinegar to 1.75 cups of milk. Stir to combine and let it sit for 5-10 minutes before using. White vinegar is a neutral flavor so it’s a better choice than other acids like lemon or other vinegars.
2. Milk + yogurt: Add 0.5 cup of yogurt to 1.25 cups of milk, stir to combine. Yogurt is a good alternative because it adds some tangy flavor, but if you add too much yogurt that’s what your pancakes will taste like!