Easy Fluffy Pancakes from Scratch

How we make the best homemade fluffy pancakes. This easy recipe makes pancakes that are light and fluffy. You only need a few simple ingredients that you probably have in your kitchen right now. Jump to the Easy Fluffy Pancakes Recipe

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How to Make Fluffy Pancakes

Say goodbye to the boxed pancake mix. Everything you need to make delicious pancakes is probably sitting in your kitchen right now. This recipe is easy! The pancakes aren’t too sweet and are lightly scented with vanilla. They are delicious and they are easily adapted to what you have in your kitchen. Let’s do this!

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:

1. Whisk dry ingredients together
2. Melt butter and warm milk (we use the microwave)
3. Whisk wet ingredients together
4. Combine the dry and wet ingredients
5. Cook on a hot buttered skillet
6. 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.

What Our Readers are Saying

There are lots of things you can do to make these your own. If you’d like, come back and share what worked for you. We’d love to read about it. In fact, here’s what our readers have been saying about the recipe:

“Best pancakes we’ve made so far. Delicious!” – Leigh

“This was an amazing recipe! I make homemade pancakes with my kids and they always come out flat and rubbery, these are fluffy and my kids keep asking for more!” – Ebony

“Pancakes from heaven! So light and fluffy. I had to make a second batch, no one could stop eating them!” – Kimberly

“These are by far the BEST pancakes I have ever eaten!” – Kayla

Frequently Asked Questions

Since posting this recipe, we’ve had some frequently asked questions. Here are the most common:

Can I make pancakes without baking powder? Yes, absolutely. To use baking soda instead of baking powder, you will need to swap the milk for sour milk or buttermilk and use 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda. If you do not have buttermilk, you can make homemade buttermilk or “sour milk” by stirring 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar into the 1 ¼ cups of milk called for in the recipe and setting it aside for 10 minutes. The addition of sour milk is required because, unlike baking powder, baking soda needs acid to work in the recipe. If you go with the baking soda/sour milk combination, they will be just as fluffy as the original recipe.

How to make pancakes without eggs? For pancakes without eggs, we use a flax egg. To make a flax egg, mix one tablespoon flaxseed meal (ground raw flaxseed) with 3 tablespoons water. Set it aside for about 15 minutes in the refrigerator to thicken, and then use to replace the egg in the recipe. We also recommend that you look at our Vegan Pancakes Recipe.

Can I make the pancakes ahead of time? Can I freeze the pancakes? Yes! These are perfect for freezing and reheat nicely. This way, you can have pancakes for one, two, or more any day of the week. To freeze them, cook the pancakes, and then lay them out in one layer on a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet into the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes (or until they are hard). Then divide them between freezer bags with a sheet of parchment or wax paper between them (so they don’t stick to one another). To reheat, use the microwave or oven. To microwave, place them onto a plate and microwave for 20 seconds for one pancake or longer for multiple pancakes. To reheat in the oven, package them in foil then place them into a 350°F oven for about 10 minutes.

What to Serve with Pancakes

• We love serving pancakes with fruit! Try this easy fruit salad.
• Bacon or sausage is classic, here’s our favorite way to cook bacon.
• I love scrambled eggs for breakfast, here’s how we make them.

Recipe updated, originally posted September 2013. Since posting this in 2013, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear and added a quick recipe video. Since sharing the first video, we have updated it. To watch the old recipe video, watch it on YouTube.– Adam and Joanne