How to Make Golden, Fluffy Pancakes – A Weekend Favorite

Hey, I’m Jenifer, and today on Preppy Kitchen we’re making some golden, fluffy, delicious pancakes. So let’s get started.

Step 1: Mix the Dry Ingredients

First off, we’re gonna get the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, starting with one and a third cups of all-purpose flour — that’s 160 grams. I have this recipe and my waffle recipe memorized by heart because they are my weekend go-tos with the kids. They’re so satisfying and delicious, and these pancakes really are tender, fluffy, and amazing.

They blow all the other ones that you could buy, including the pre-made mixes, out of the water. And it’s just beyond easy.

To puff things up, I want one tablespoon of baking powder — in you go. To give you some contrast to the sugar in here and in that wonderful syrup you’re gonna pour on top, I’d like half a teaspoon of salt. If you wanted to, you could up this to three-quarters of a teaspoon, even a full teaspoon if you love the bite of salt. But half a teaspoon is a really safe measurement. You’re gonna have that wonderful contrast, but it’s definitely not gonna be too salty.

Oh, tut, tut, tut. I have the recipe memorized. I forgot the sugar! Oh my gosh.

Don’t Forget the Sugar!

The sugar is really important in this recipe because it does two things. You’re gonna cover these in syrup, and yes, that’s sweet enough, but you’d like the cake itself to be a little sweet. So two tablespoons goes a long way.

More importantly, the sugar is gonna soften the batter, so it’ll give you a really tender melt-in-your-mouth crumb. They’re not gonna be dry and fluffy or bready and fluffy — no, no. It also caramelizes in the pan and gives you a really crisp, golden exterior.

Now our scale is done. Whisk, whisk, whisk until it’s all mixed up. If you’re not a morning person or you’re running late in the morning, but you still wanna make a delicious treat, just have the pre-made mix ready and pre-measured. Then you can have the wet ingredients in the fridge and microwave them till they’re warm and melted. Or just get the wet ingredients together and be halfway done.

Step 2: Prepare the Wet Ingredients

All mixed up — we’re gonna set that aside and get the wet ingredients together. Now in a medium bowl, I’m combining one cup of whole milk. This is actually not cold; I warmed it up in the microwave because it’s ice cold here today and this would cause problems. I’ll tell you that later, if it was cold. 240 ml.

Now we’re gonna add four tablespoons or a quarter cup (56 grams) of melted butter to our room temperature or warmed milk. In the morning, no one’s gonna measure the milk out and let it come to room temperature — you’re just gonna microwave it. It’s cold and you’re tired.

Add one large room temperature egg — this gives our pancakes some structure — and for flavor, two teaspoons of vanilla. One day I’ll measure it out, but not today.

Alright, give this a nice mix. You’re basically really wanting to break the egg up and kind of emulsify the butter into the milk. This smells exquisite, I could drink it up already.

Step 3: Combine Wet and Dry, Warm the Pan

Grab your flour and we’re gonna combine the dry ingredients. But first, let’s warm our pan up. So get a big skillet or a griddle, and we’re going to place it over medium-low heat.

The secret to an amazing fluffy pancake — besides using the right recipe — is cooking it over medium-low heat. If you go too hot, the sugar that you added to the pancake is gonna burn. The inside will be raw and it’s just not great. You wanna slowly heat it up.

The way to make it delicious is to cook it in butter. Even if you’re using a non-stick pan, you want to add some butter to your pan because that’s basically frying the edge of the pancake, and it’s gonna make it nice and crisp and golden.

Add the wet to the dry.

My favorite pancake recipe is just a plain, beautiful pancake. Right now I’m gonna use my spatula and just fold everything together. Do not over-mix.

But you could add chocolate chips, banana slices, blueberries — you can make this, like, it will take any kind of mix-in really well. I would say a third to a half a cup of any of the mix-ins will work just fine.

And this is where if you have kids at home and they each want a different kind of pancake, you could just kind of like add the batter in, sprinkle some mix-ins on top, and then it’ll get cooked into the pancake and everyone can have whatever they want. And people are happy in the morning.

Just want the flour to disappear. So scrape the bottom of the bowl down, look for any pockets of flour hanging hither or thither. You’ll have a couple nodules hanging around, but it shouldn’t be super lumpy.

This recipe makes about six medium-sized pancakes. If you wanna make more, just double the recipe or even triple it — it can make a really big batch of batter. You’ll just be at work at the griddle for a little bit longer.

Step 4: Cook the Pancakes

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In my recipe, I call for brushing with melted butter, but I don’t think people are actually doing that. This is what you’re doing in the morning: a little butter on the pan, get some coverage, and now you’re gonna add your batter in.

You can cook however many pancakes you want. They could be mini ones, they could be larger. I would think a third to a quarter cup of batter per pancake is a nice rule of thumb. I like my pancakes on the smaller side because they’re kind of just easier to manage and portion out.

Do they become hotcakes then? I don’t know. You can let me know in the comments.

I heated my pan on medium-low just to get it started. Right now, you can work your way up to medium or even medium-high — it depends on your cooktop. My induction cooktop and the propane burners run so hot that I always like to go on medium-low for my pancakes. But if you have an electric cooktop, you might want medium-high. It’s kind of up to you.

If you want, you can make these pancakes in advance, cook ’em up, and then just freeze them flat, transfer them to a freezer bag, maybe with parchment paper in between so they don’t stick. Then you can microwave as needed for on-demand delicious pancakes.

Step 5: Flip and Serve

After about a minute, you can take a little peek. What’s happening here? Those are basically ready to pop over and I see bubbles on top. That means the batter is starting to set, so let’s carefully give it a little flip.

Those got a little hot, so I’m gonna reduce my heat. And on the next batch, I’m adding more butter.

These pancakes are fluffed up. The other side cooks really quickly. But my main lesson — as I am apparently pancake rusty — is that I needed more butter and a lower heat. So reduce the heat. Actually, let that cool down for a second. We’re gonna reduce the heat and add more butter for the next batch.

Batch number two: less heat, more butter. Melt. And now you’re gonna add your batter in. Give it a little flip. Transfer your pancakes to a plate.

Enjoy Your Perfect Pancakes

Serve with lashings of butter and syrup, and just like that — you’re ready to enjoy.

“I love you, pancakes, you’re my best friend.”

So good. The edges are so crisp, but the inside just melts. It dissolves in a buttery vanilla maple syrup extravaganza. It’s so good.

I hope you get a chance to try this recipe. And if you like this video, check out my breakfast playlist.

Jenifer