If you've been looking for the perfect homemade pancake recipe, good news—your search stops here. These are everything you could want from classic pancakes: light and fluffy with crispy edges, perfect for soaking up pools of melted butter and maple syrup alongside your plate of oven-baked bacon and our creamiest scrambled eggs. Made from a simple batter of flour, milk, eggs, and baking powder, there’s a reason these are a favorite amongst the Delish team. Read on to for all of our top tips so you can become a pancake pro in no time:
How to make perfect pancakes:
—Spoon (rather than scoop) your flour into a measuring cup. Scooping can lead to overpacking your measuring cup with too much flour, which can result in tough pancakes. A light touch and a spoon will help keep your stack nice and fluffy.
—Gently stir together your wet and dry ingredients. If you overmix, you'll end up with a dense, short stack. Stir just until you have a few small clumps of flour left, then stop.
—Use the right pan. A large heavy-bottom pan (like a cast-iron) or griddle is your best bet—it will distribute heat the most evenly and give the best color to your pancakes.
—How to measure your pancakes. We like to use a small measuring cup to pour our batter into the pan. It guarantees all your pancakes will be the same size and makes for easy cleanup.
—Don’t burn your butter. Carefully and gently wipe the hot griddle between pancakes and add new butter so it (and your pancakes) won’t burn.
Make pancakes for a crowd.
If you plan on making a lot of pancakes, this recipe easily doubles (or triples)! If your batter starts to thicken too much after sitting for a while, thin it back out with a little bit of milk until it's back to your desired consistency. Keep cooked pancakes warm in a 200° oven on a baking sheet fitted with a wire rack.
Freeze pancakes for the future.
If you have leftover pancakes or just want to make breakfast in advance, these are perfect for freezing. Cook off your pancakes and let them cool, then store them in a freezer-safe resealable bag. Pop them out and defrost them in the toaster for a near-instant breakfast!
Pancake variations.
We wanted to keep this classic, using ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen. If you’ve mastered these and want to take your pancakes to the next level, try our buttermilk pancakes, our lemon ricotta pancakes, or our buckwheat pancakes next.
Made this? Let us know how it went in the comments below!
(180 g.) all-purpose flour
granulated sugar
baking powder
kosher salt
whole milk
large egg
pure vanilla extract
melted unsalted butter, plus more, softened, for cooking and serving
Maple syrup, for serving
Mary Rupp is a food writer and recipe developer who contributes, tests, and styles recipes for Delish. After graduating from the International Culinary Center in New York, she earned her stripes at restaurants like Per Se and The NoMad. When she’s not cooking Caramel Pecan Pie and Creamy Corn Pasta in the Delish test kitchens, you can find her traveling abroad and hunting for the next great food trend.
