We've survived this week's blizzard without a single snow day, but we almost wish we were stuck at home with a fresh batch of homemade pancakes right about now. We'll just have to wait for the weekend. For this recipe, we're keeping it simple – no unusual ingredients or fancy add-ins. Just the basics for a fool-proof stack of light and fluffy pancakes.
Last week, Faith reviewed Amanda Hesser's New York Times recipe for Heavenly Hots. These sour cream-filled pancakes with a thin, crepe-like batter were a departure from the fluffy buttermilk pancakes she and her husband usually make.
For me, it's sort of the opposite. I grew up eating very thin Swedish pancakes, which are also pretty similar to crepes. They're a great treat when my mom is manning the stove, but I don't quite have the patience for them myself. Instead, I've started to gravitate toward pancakes of the thicker, fluffier variety.
This recipe for Wayne’s Feather Pancakes is all about light and fluffy. Thanks, in part, to a generous addition of baking powder – 4 tablespoons! You can add in chocolate chips or berries if you like, but for this how to, we've kept it simple. The recipe serves 4.
What You Need
Ingredients
2 cups flour
4 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups milk
4 tablespoons cooking oil
2 tablespoons butter
Equipment
Mixing bowl
Measuring cups and spoons
Electric mixer OR whisk
Griddle OR skillet
Spatula or pancake turner
Oven-safe serving dish
Instructions
1. Assemble your ingredients and equipment. Preheat oven to 200.
2. In the mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix with a whisk or mixer attachment.
3. Add the eggs, milk and cooking oil to the dry ingredients.
4. Mix until the ingredients are just combined. It's OK if the batter is a little lumpy. You don't want to over mix.
5. Heat your griddle or skillet over medium heat. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter on the griddle.
6. Pour spoonfuls of batter onto the griddle. Try to keep the pancakes between 2 and 3 inches in width and leave at least 1 inch in between. This batter is quite thick, so it won't spread much once you pour it onto the griddle.
7. When you see bubbles begin to form on the top of the pancakes, it's time to flip them.
8. The second side always cooks faster than the first, so they'll probably only need a minute to finish cooking.
9. Place the finished pancakes on the oven-safe serving dish. Keep them warm in the oven while you cook the next batch.
10. Repeat the process until the batter is finished (adding the remaining butter to the griddle if necessary) and all the pancakes are cooked. Serve.
11. Top pancakes as desired and dig in. We like a little butter and some blueberry maple syrup (stay tuned for the recipe).
12. Repeat until pancakes are all eaten and bellies are full.
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(Images: Joanna Miller)
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my trick is separating the eggs and whisking the egg whites to soft peaks, then folding them into the rest of the batter. i never had pancake success until i started doing this!
A second vote for folding in whipped whites. It makes an amazingly fluffy pancake.
For me the success of pancakes depends entirely on the temperature of the pan. Get it right and they rise and brown at the perfect rate! The cakes in the picture are a little too dark on one side, and a little too light on the other.
Please don't hate me for saying this: I was making pancakes from scratch for years, trying both the whipped and unwhipped whites, but I've been using King Arthur Flour's buttermilk pancake mix for a while now and the pancakes are so good I just can't justify making them from scratch anymore.
Both from scratch and from mix I've found one variable surprisingly important - ingredient temperature. Having ingredients at room temperature (or slightly above) seems to really help the pancakes spring in their short cooking time.
BTW, in my experience when making a whole bunch it is better to hold them on a warming rack in a low oven so they don't get soggy in their own steam.
I concur on the whipped egg whites. I do that with my waffle batter also.
Some recipes advise letting the batter sit for 1 hours. Some do not. Does someone know why you should let some batters sit and use other batters right away?
I have made many, many different pancake recipes and this is the best fluffiest, tastiest one by far:
http://www.sacofoods.com/Recipe_Files/R00031.html
It uses buttermilk powder but is surprisingly good (not to mention convenient).
Another vote for whipped egg whites. It makes a huge difference.
I also agree with manjar on the importance of having your ingredients at room temperature BEFORE you make your batter. Some recipes call for letting your batter sit (to warm up to room temperature) but if your ingredients are already room temperature there's no need.
I can't wait to try this recipe and see if the extra baking powder makes that much of a difference.
This recipe is very similar to the recipe I've been using since I was 5 when I began being the official Sunday morning pancake maker. I can still make the recipe from my head. Its from an old Canadian cookbook published by Fives Roses flour company. I just bought the new version of the cookbook and they've changed the recipe--I still make the old one!
As a competitive athlete, I make pancakes before every game/race day. They are pretty much the only thing my stomach can tolerate that day. Plus they transport well, and don't need refrigeration for the day. And if there happen to be any leftovers, they are a great vehicle for PB&J.
Seeing this recipe and the other suggestions, I can't wait to try it out! Thank you!
I've heard adding seltzer water or club soda to pancake batter helps make them fluffy? Anyone else heard this or tried it?
A fifth vote for stiffly beaten egg whites!
Our recipe is out of the Recipes From Home cookbook (minus the cinnamon), and uses 2 cups of sour cream (or crème fraiche). Amazingly light and tender!
Whipped egg whites definitely do the trick, but it adds a step.
I've been making mine with buttermilk, and I really like the results better than with regular milk. You'd have to adjust the amount of baking powder down and add baking soda as well, though.
The recipe I make calls for 1 cup of flour, 1 tsp baking power and 1/2 tsp baking soda to 1 cup of buttermilk.
Letting the batter sit for awhile before baking allows the flour to absorb some of the liquid in the batter. The starch granules swell up and make a more moist product.
I don't like fluffy thick pancakes at all. They soak up the syrup and get all gloppy. I don't want them thin as crepes, either, but thin and brown. I'm embarrassed to say that Bisquick makes for the best pancakes of this type, although I would be willing to try the King Arthur mix that manjar mentioned (probably not the disgusting ingredients that BQ has...) I think I like the BQs though because they are the pancakes of my childhood, my mom made them every Sunday morning.
i made these the minute after i read the post!! they were delicious :D
The only thing was, they were too thick for my liking even after i put a tablespoon less of baking powder. Other then that, great recipe!!!
I second the votes on separating eggs and fold in stiffly-beaten egg whites at the end, for both pancakes and waffles. I learned this years ago from a Consumer Reports recipe. I also second MegP on the temperature of the pan -- that makes a difference in the fluffiness. Also, if you're making a lot of pancakes, make the batter in 2 or 3 batches because the longer it sits in the bowl, the less fluffy the pancakes will be. Our favorite pancake recipe is for Oatmeal pancakes -- overnight, soak 3/4 cup of old-fashioned rolled oats in 1 cup of milk. The next morning, add 2 beaten eggs, 2 Tbsp. melted butter, 1/2 cup flour, 2 Tbsp. sugar, 1 Tbsp. baking powder, and 1/2 tsp. salt. Makes fluffy, tender-but-deliciously-toothy pancakes. Every time I visit my mom, she requests that I make multiple batches to put in her freezer.
One trick I use for fluffiness is to go half milk and half club soda. Crazy but true...
I made these yesterday. I found them a little too flour-y for my taste - almost on the dry side. The batter came out very thick, and I almost had to scrape it into the pan. They were undeniably poofy, though.
I have always had delicious success with the Best Buttermilk Pancake recipe from Martha Stewart - it was in their 10th Anniversary issue years ago, but its also available on their website. I highly recommend them for amazingly tender, light buttermilk pancakes.
I thought these were delicious! I sprinkled chocolate chips on them right after pouring them in the pan and served them for Valentine's Day breakfast.
Most batters need about 15 or 20 minutes for the leavening agent to work. I use Pioneer baking mix (a regional brand in Texas), and I always let the batter rest and rise before I use it. But I will be trying this recipe because it sounds delicious.
I don't see any acid ingredient listed... What I've gathered from watching Alton Brown's "Good Eats" show on the Food Network is that baking soda buttermilk (or some other liquid with some acidity) = fluffiness.
Now, I don't recall if he explained this in an episode about pancakes or if he was talking about puffy cookies... I also seem to recall Ina Garten saying something about it, like for baking biscuits, I think, but she mentioned lemon juice instead of buttermilk. Vinegar also works. It's the bubbly reaction from mixing the baking soda with the acid that creates the fluffiness. Or so I understood!
Anywayyyy... the other day I made pancakes from scratch for the first time, and not having buttermilk (it's expensive and not readily available where I live), I had a stroke of inspiration and used non-fat plain yogurt instead. Bliss!!! Serendipity is delicious. :)
Can't wait to try this recipe.
these were perfect, great recipe, nice and fluffy!