Fluffy Pancakes – quick and easy, no fail

Simple, soft, fluffy pancakes, an essential that everyone should know. You’ve been good all week. Go on. You deserve freshly made homemade pancakes for breakfast tomorrow!

Pancakes recipe

Homemade pancakes shouldn’t be complicated. It doesn’t matter if they come out wonky or with a splotchy surface instead of being a beautiful, even golden brown – after all, they’ll get smothered in toppings.

But they should be soft and fluffy. And in my world, not too sweet. Because….you know. Toppings. Load up on toppings!

Any day starting with homemade pancakes is a GREAT day!

What goes in homemade pancakes

This is what you need:

• flour

• baking powder

• sugar

• egg

• milk

• vanilla extract – optional

No buttermilk, no baking soda / bi carb, no yoghurt. You only need baking soda for an extra fluff boost when you have add ins in pancakes, like Blueberry Pancakes, because it weighs the batter down.

And of course TOPPINGS! Why limit yourself to just butter and maple syrup? See below for all sorts of ideas!

Pancakes Toppings – what to put on pancakes

• Butter and maple syrup – the classic!

• Maple syrup alternatives – honey, golden syrup and other sweet syrups suitable for eating raw

• Lemon and sugar – one of my favourites! Light sprinkle of sugar and a squeeze of lemon

• Strawberries and cream! Pictured below – layer it up like a cake, sandwiching the pancakes with whipped cream and sliced strawberries, then finish with a dusting of icing sugar / powdered sugar;

• Sinfully rich sauces – like caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, butterscotch sauce, peanut sauce, anything!

• Lemon curd, fruit compotes and sauces – like blueberry sauce (try the one in this Blueberry Cheesecake), Strawberry Sauce (use the one in this Strawberry Cheesecake) or try the warm apple topping in this Apple French Toast

• BACON and maple syrup – YES!

• Sprinkle of nuts

• Fresh fruit – chop it, pile over pancakes with cream!

• Ice cream – add a scoop onto a stack and drizzle with maple syrup, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce. Don’t forget the whipped cream!

• Dusting of cinnamon and sugar

Pro tip: Keep a STANDBY PANCAKE MIX!

Homemade pancakes aren’t complicated to make, but sometimes it’s that much more appealing if there’s a ready made mix in the cupboard, just like the ones you can buy at the store!

Just measure out the dry ingredients and pop them in a ziplock bag, jar or airtight container, then when you want to make fresh pancakes, just add the wet ingredients!

To make a handy shake ‘n pour bottle like pictured above, you’ll need a 1.5L/1.5Qt+ bottle to leave enough headroom for the required liquids + shaking. I mix the wet ingredients in a jug then pour it in then shake away!

Now, go forth and elevate your morning by making a big stack of these soft, fluffy, golden pancakes! TELL ME what you top YOURS with! – Nagi xx

WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT

Simple Fluffy Pancakes recipe video!

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Simple, Fluffy Pancakes

Author: Nagi

Prep: 5 mins

Cook: 15 mins

Total: 20 mins

4.99 from 55 votes

Servings13 pancakes

Tap or hover to scale

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Recipe video above. Simple, fluffy pancakes made from scratch, an essential that everyone should know! These are soft and fluffy, easy to make, and not too sweet so you can go wild with toppings. The key is getting the batter consistency right so it is easy to spread but doesn't spread too thinly so you get nice fluffy pancakes.

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 cups / 300g plain / all purpose flour (Note 1)
• ▢ 4 tsp baking powder (Note 1)
• ▢ 1/4 cup / 55g white sugar (caster / super fine is best but not essential)
• ▢ Pinch of salt
• ▢ 1 egg
• ▢ 1 3/4 cups / 435 ml cups milk (any type, any fat %)
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla extract or essence
• ▢ 4 tsp butter , for cooking

Instructions

• Place flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl, whisk to combine.
• Add egg, milk and vanilla. Whisk until lump free - no longer than 30 seconds.
• Heat a non stick skillet - use medium heat if you have a strong stove, medium high if you have a weak one. Add a tiny bit of butter (about 1/2 tsp) and swirl to melt. Use paper towel to mostly wipe the butter off (this is the trick to avoid a dodgy 1st pancake).
• Pour 1/4 cup batter into the middle of the fry pan (I use a slightly heaped ice cream scoop with lever, standard is 1/4 cup).
• Swirl pan lightly to spread or use the ice cream scoop edge to spread into 11cm / 4.5" circle (ruler is a must) (joking!).
• When bubbles rise to the surface (see video), flip and cook the other side until golden.
• Remove and keep warm in a low oven.
• Use more butter every 2 to 3 pancakes - depends how good your non stick coating is.
• Serve with toppings of choice!

Recipe Notes:

1. Flour: The flour and baking powder can be replaced with 2 cups + 1 tbsp self raising flour. The flour can also be substituted with whole wheat flour.

2. STOVE TEMP: The trick with pancakes is getting the stove temp perfect - it should take 30 seconds for the bubbles to appear then 30 - 45 seconds on the other side until golden, 1 minute per pancake. So adjust as you cook, and if you're impatient like me, get 2 pans going at the same time!

3. Some TOPPINGS: Butter, maple syrup, fruit sauces, jam, cream, lemon juice + sugar (this is terrific), bacon + maple syrup (heart attack risk is worth it), yoghurt, macerated strawberries (1 cup chopped strawberries tossed with 1 tbsp white sugar, leave for 10 minutes = strawberries in red juice, see photo in post).

4. PRE-MADE PANCAKE MIX: Place the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar in a ziplock bag, large jar or bottle. Then add the egg, vanilla and milk when you want to  make up a batch of pancakes! If you want to be able to add the liquids into the jar or bottle then pour the batter straight into the pan, it will need to be 1.5L/1.5Qt or greater. The bottled pictured in post is a 2 litre milk carton (only dry ingredients are in it). 

Click here for printable instruction labels (nothing fancy but does the job!).

5. Nutrition per pancake assuming only half the butter is consumed (because most is wiped off), excluding toppings because I cannot be held responsible for how much you load up your pancakes! And yes, this recipe makes 13 pancakes. Because it's just how my recipes seem to go - always a weird number.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 62gCalories: 108cal (5%)

Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

More pancake recipes

• Extra Fluffy Blueberry Pancakes

• Nutella Stuffed Pancakes

• Fluffy Ricotta Pancakes

• Giant Pancakes – to share!

• Pikelets – mini pancakes!

LIFE OF DOZER

I’m surprised there isn’t a massive drool hanging from his mouth.

Oh wait. I don’t want to gross you out, but after I wrote this post, I almost slipped on a puddle of drool when I was cleaning that area. Ewwwwww!