If you love fluffy and soft pancakes, this really is the Best Pancake Recipe! Made from pantry staples, these pancakes are the perfect breakfast recipe.
We love breakfast! This pancake recipe is made very often at our house, but we also love these Cinnamon Muffins or a good Breakfast Casserole!
I’ve been blogging here for almost 13 years. That’s a lot of recipes.
But somehow, I’ve avoided sharing my favorite pancake recipe – the one that we make on a weekly basis in our house. I guess that’s technically a lie, since I did use it for some Yogurt Pancake Bites several years ago, but these pancakes needed a spot of their own.
These are the pancakes I ate as a kid. And that I hope my kids make for their kids one day. They are easy, and they are so, so good.
The biggest reason I love these pancakes so much is that they are made from pantry staples. Sure, I love a good buttermilk pancake. But I don’t always have buttermilk on hand. This pancake recipe has saved me many times when I didn’t have a plan for dinner and it had been much too long since I had been to the grocery store. Even when I can’t make many other things, I can almost always make pancakes.
The Secret to the Best Pancakes
There is one trick that sets these pancakes apart from other pancakes. I use the same trick for my waffle recipe, and believe me – it makes all the difference!
The secret? Whipping your egg whites. Instead of just mixing in the whole egg, you separate the yolks and the whites. The yolks get mixed in, but the egg whites get beaten until they have stiff peaks. This means that when you take the beater out, the egg whites will stand up on their own. You can do this by hand, but it will take a lot of muscle. I usually just use a hand mixer and it only takes a minute or two.
Once you have your egg whites whipped, you can gently mix them into the batter. It’s the secret to these fluffy, soft pancakes.
To mix the whites in, I like to take some of the egg whites, about 1/3 of them, and stir them into your batter. You don’t have to be super gentle – this first step with lighten up the batter and make it so that you can easily fold in the remaining whites without being heavy handed. Once those are mixed in, then gently fold in the remaining whites.
Can you skip this egg white step and just mix in the whole egg with the liquid ingredients? Definitely! But trust me – you will notice a difference. And you’ll realize the extra 3 minutes it takes to whip the egg whites is totally worth it.
How to Make Homemade Pancakes (Video)
Tips and Tricks
- Pancake batter doesn’t have to be completely smooth. I like to have everything mixed together before I whip the egg whites, that way the batter can sit for a couple minutes and any lumps will soften.
- Make the batter before heating up your skillet or griddle. The time that the batter has to sit while the griddle is heating is needed for the batter to rest and for the baking powder to have it’s first activation.
- Make sure your griddle or skillet is pretty hot. The heat activates the baking powder quickly, so if your pan is not hot enough, the pancakes won’t be a fluffy.
- Flip your pancakes gently so that the bubbles are not all popped while flipping.
- Serve these up with some Homemade Buttermilk Syrup, Strawberry Syrup or Lemon Sauce for an extra special treat!
Pancake Storage
These pancakes can be made ahead of time and then stored in the refrigerator. I prefer reheating in the microwave or toaster over the stovetop, although all will work. I do think the pancakes get tougher with a second turn on the stove, though.
To freeze the pancakes, lay them on a baking sheet in a single layer and transfer to the freezer just until frozen. Then you can stack them and store them in a freezer safe container of your choice.
To reheat frozen pancakes, I like to use the toaster.
More Pancake Recipes
Funfetti Pancakes
Lemon Pancakes
Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pancakes
IHOP Corn Cake Pancakes
Whole Wheat Blender Pankcakes
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The Best Pancake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour*
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 eggs, separated
Instructions
- Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to a large bowl. Whisk to combine.
- In another bowl (or I use a large liquid measuring cup) combine the milk and vegetable oil. Add the egg yolks to the milk and whisk to break up the yolks.
- Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and mix to combine. There will still be small lumps.
- Place the egg whites in another bowl and beat until they have stiff peaks.
- Add about 1/3 of the stiff egg whites to the pancake batter and stir it in to combine and lighten the batter. Add the remaining egg whites and gently fold until no white streaks appear.
- Heat a griddle or skillet over medium-high heat. Grease with butter or with nonstick cooking spray.
- Pour about 1/3 cup of batter onto the hot griddle. Let the pancakes cook until bubbles form, then flip and continue to cook until browned and cooked through.
- Continue with the remaining batter until all of the pancakes are cooked.
Q says
loved the recipe! wondering if I made the batter and left it in the fridge covered over night if it will still work just a well?
Deborah says
I’m so glad you loved it! I have not tried the batter in the refrigerator overnight – I’m afraid the egg whites might deflate after sitting so long, but it would be worth trying!
Christmas Elf says
I’m British – and we usually eat crepes in this house, but today in the depths of December I was fancying something a little more indulgent! I remembered the fluffy pancakes I’d been served on holiday in NYC diners and I wanted some!
I tweaked the recipe slightly (used less baking powder as I don’t like to taste it in things) and made them using kefir instead of milk – fried them in butter and served them with some festive cinnamon sugar (we didn’t have any maple syrup at home).
They were naughty, but delicious 😀
It really is worth separating and whisking the eggs.
Make them!!! You won’t regret it.
Deborah says
Thanks so much for your comment and rating! I’m so glad you were able to make these – and the cinnamon sugar sounds absolutely delicious!
Michelle says
Hands Down ✋🏾 The Best Pancakes I’ve ever had. Period. I added vanilla flavoring.
Wayne Lind says
Going to try this today. Can I use buttermilk? Sounds so good.
Wayne & Mona
Nakusp B.C.
Deborah says
Yes – buttermilk works great!
Beth says
Tried 2 times and both not getting the result described
Deborah says
I’m sorry they didn’t turn out how you’d like. Hopefully you can find a pancake recipe that gives you the results you are looking for.
YHBGHCHJBCUJH says
it gave what it was supposed to
Julie Truong says
My friends loved it! It’s perfect and easy to follow. Thank you!
Mr C says
Best pancake recipe so far! I’ve made this recipe half a dozen times and it’s always good. I did need to increase the flour to 1 3/4 cups and I added a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the wet ingredients. Thank you for sharing.
Bri says
The best pancakes I’ve ever had . Followed recipe exactly and they came out great ! My husband was so impressed!
Ziwe Ntshiba says
thank you. this is a great recipe. my family loves it. i actually added a bit of fresh cream to the batter and it works well.
Afra naibi says
Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipes I tried it and it came of wonderful
Tom says
I’ve cooked pancakes for my kids since they were little, this recipe is the best one yet! I took the advice listed and added 1 tsp. of vanilla and an extra 1/4 cup of flour, turned out perfect! Thanks for the recipe, I highly recommend it!
Doug K says
GREAT recipe but 16 pancakes in one swell swoop is too many for DW & I.
Would have liked to see if there was a feature to reduce serving size.
Joey says
These were super tasty and easy! Even with the added part of egg separating. It definitely made a difference and was worth it. I usually just pick recipes that have a lot of reviews and this one only has the 1, but I’m so glad i picked it anyways! Thanks for sharing.
Marilyn Hofmeister says
I made this recipe today. The egg white tip is excellent. I also put in a table spoon lemon juice into the milk and set it aside to thicken the milk. It also added a nice flavor. I added the egg yolks and vanilla extract and gave it a quick mix with my hand mixer before I added it to the dry ingredients.. It came out super fluffy. Thanks for sharing your recipe. Was outstanding.
Lucy says
I loved this recipe so much!! The pancakes are so fluffy and the sugar gives it a yummy taste! I make this recipe once a week. At least!!
Jen says
I came across your recipe at the perfect time – I was looking for a dairy free pancake recipe that was still fluffy. They were PERFECT! I used almond milk (only 1 1/8 cup since we prefer our batter on the thicker side) and we added an extra 1/4 cup of flour, like you suggested. These were for a birthday treat so we topped them with caramelized pineapple, coconut cream and toasted coconut 🙂
Deborah says
Yay! I’m so glad you loved it, and that you were able to make it work to your preferences!