Best Pancakes – A Beautiful Mess

If you’re looking for the best pancake recipe, this is it! These homemade pancakes are fluffy, sweet, and buttery. This recipe was perfected by my husband, who is our pancake maker, so I have to give credit where credit is due.

My kids know these as (their dad’s) pancakes, but I also grew up calling them griddle cakes or flapjacks. Whatever you call it, it’s probably one of the easiest and most loved breakfasts. My husband always made pancakes on a griddle and I grew up frying them in a skillet. I’ll show you the (slight) differences, but both methods are good.

Related: Then learn how to make the best French toast, crepes, and whole-grain pancakes. If you have a little more time, try the classic cinnamon rolls.

material

• all-purpose flour
• brown sugar
• baking powder
• salt
• milk
• vanilla essence
• egg
• unsalted butter

Pancakes are usually simple, but you can add blueberries, raspberries, chocolate chips, or even a little cinnamon to the batter.

how to make pancakes

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients, including flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Next, stir in the wet ingredients: milk, vanilla extract, large egg, and 2 tablespoons of melted butter. The dough should be cohesive, but it doesn’t have to be 100% lump-free.

If you are using a nonstick electric griddle, heat it to about 350°F to 375°F. Once heated, pour 1/4 cup of pancake batter onto the hot surface. After 1-2 minutes you should see bubbles forming in the dough. Use a spatula to flip the pancakes.

Continue cooking on the other side for 1 to 2 minutes. Pancakes will be golden brown when done. Transfer the cooked pancakes to a plate and brush with the remaining melted butter.

If you’re cooking pancakes in a pot or nonstick skillet on the stove, heat the pan over medium heat. Next, melt a little butter and oil in a frying pan and spoon 1/4 cup of pancake batter onto the hot surface. After 1-2 minutes you should see bubbles forming in the dough. Use a spatula to flip the pancakes.

Continue cooking on the other side for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the cooked pancakes to a plate.

Continue cooking until all the batter is used. Serve warm with your favorite accompaniments like maple syrup, peanut butter, or Nutella.

Tips and Alternatives

• You can substitute brown sugar or granulated sugar if you wish, but we like the brown sugar to add flavor to the dough.
• You can also substitute milk or dairy-free alternatives such as soy milk or oat milk.
• You can replace the butter in this recipe with any dairy-free butter substitute, such as margarine/vegan butter.
• If you’re making 12 pancakes or want to keep them the same size, use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to spoon out the batter while cooking. However, there’s no need to measure and you can easily make these pancakes a little larger or smaller. If it’s quite large or small, you may need to adjust the cooking time.
• When cooking with young children, we often have them add food coloring to the milk when making the dough. That’s why most of the pancakes in my house are blue or green. 🙂

Other breakfast recipes

Stove top vs electric griddle

In most cases we electric griddle to make pancakes. Sure, this is another kitchen gadget that’s nice to have at home, but we use it at least once a week and love the pancakes we make with it. The advantages are:

• Even cooking surface – This ensures even, fluffy pancakes every time.
• Non-Stick – No need to add extra butter, oil or cooking spray to prevent pancakes from sticking to the surface while you work.
• Large work surface – Easily make 4-6 pancakes at a time instead of 2 or 3 on the largest pan on the stove.
• Free up space on the stove – We often cook bacon on the stovetop (in a large frying pan) at the same time as we make pancakes, so extra space makes things a lot easier.

The stove top also works fine! I grew up eating pancakes made this way, so pancakes that look fried feel nostalgic to me. I love the crispy edges created by melting butter and oil in a hot skillet. This method always gets an A+ from me because the combination of crispy edges and fluffy insides is how I defined pancakes growing up. 🙂