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For delicious homemade pancakes, this easy pancake recipe is the perfect base for your favorite toppings and variations!
If you love pancakes, you’ll also love our Buttermilk Pancakes and Fluffy Pancakes – made better when topped with Whipped Cream and Buttermilk Syrup!
The Best Homemade Pancakes!
I think it’s safe to say that most people LOVE pancakes for breakfast.They’re easy and delicious slathered in butter and syrup (especially if it’s Buttermilk Syrup)!
Why is this recipe the best?
- Simple! Made with pantry and kitchen staples, these can be made any time.
- Quick – made in minutes! What’s not to love about that?
- Easy to Change Up – adding ingredients and mix-ins is great. This is the perfect BASE recipe for all of those variations.
- Better than Store Bought. Many pancake recipes rely on store-bought pancake mixes, but this recipe is even more delicious and the perfect starting recipe for all other pancake recipes.
Below are also several ideas to change up the pancake mix to make it even better with the flavors you love most!
How to Make Pancakes from Scratch
This quick pancake recipe is so simple to make!
DRY INGREDIENTS. In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. That’s your pancake mix!
WET INGREDIENTS. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the milk, egg, and melted butter. Whisk until combined.
For fluffy pancakes, let the batter rest for 15 minutes after mixing.
COOK THE PANCAKES. Lightly oil a griddle or frying pan and heat to medium-high (about 375°F). Pour about ¼ cup of batter onto the griddle for each pancake.
Cook until bubbles appear and the underside is lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook for 2 minutes more until browned on the second side.
ENJOY! Serve hot with your favorite toppings.
Pancake Toppings
This best pancake recipe is perfect with any toppings, but here are some of our favorites.
- fresh fruit
- syrup, Buttermilk Syrup, or Cinnamon Buttermilk Syrup
- butter
- Whipped Cream
- peanut butter
The options are endless – be sure to keep scrolling to see how to change up this simple pancake recipe for even more flavor.
Recipe Tips
This pancakes recipe uses simple ingredients!
- Use fresh ingredients, particularly baking powder. An open package of baking powder should be less than 6 months old for it to work the best.
- Do not overmix. Don’t try to get out all the lumps. Overmixing will cause the pancake batter to become gummy and tough.
- Room-temperature eggs and milk mix much easier into the other ingredients and prevent overmixing the batter.
Cooking tips.
- Leave enough room on the skillet between each pancake to easily flip.
- Flip once and don’t press on the pancakes with the spatula. It doesn’t make them cook any faster and only serves to flatten them.
- Make 1-2 test pancakes to ensure the temperature of the griddle is just right.
Substitutions. The recipe is best when made as written, however, some substitutions may be made to produce a similar pancake:
- Dairy-free: use almond milk, oat milk, or soy milk and melted margarine.
- The egg can be replaced with applesauce or a store-bought egg replacement.
- Replace the milk with Buttermilk which you can easily make by combining milk and vinegar.
- Use whole wheat flour in place of all-purpose white flour. You may need to also add a bit more milk.
- Replace the white sugar with a cinnamon sugar mixture.
Storing Info
MAKE AHEAD OF TIME. Pancakes are best made right before serving. If making a large amount, keep them warm by placing them on a baking sheet in a 200°F oven until ready to serve. Avoid stacking them so the heat and steam from the newer pancakes can cause the ones on the bottom to get soggy. Do not cover them with foil for the same reason.
FREEZE. We have a blog post ALL about freezing pancakes. Be sure to check it out for all our tips.
STORE. Separate pancakes with parchment paper and place them in a Ziploc bag.
Pancake Base Variations
Pancakes with syrup on their own are delicious, but it’s fun to change them up too! Below are several ideas to modify this quick pancake recipe to create an entirely new pancake that is also delicious and perfect for the season or holiday.
Be sure to let us know your favorite way to change up classic pancakes!
Here are some other classics we like to use as bases for our pancakes:
Sweet + Fruity Pancakes
Here are some easy ways to make the pancakes sweet!
- Banana Pancakes: add banana slices to partially cooked pancakes.
- Apple Pancakes: add ⅓ cup applesauce and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter OR use 1 grated Granny Smith apple and a teaspoon of cinnamon.
- Chocolate Chip Pancakes: add chocolate chips – kids go nuts over these!
- Blueberry Pancakes: add blueberries and even make blueberry syrup for blueberry lovers!
- Lemon Blueberry Pancakes: mix in lemon zest, lemon juice, and blueberries.
- Peach Pancakes: chop up drained peach halves into small pieces and gently fold them into the batter.
- Island Pancakes: add ⅓ cup of crushed pineapple (drained), and 3 tablespoons of shredded coconut.
- Brownie Batter Pancakes: incorporate ¼ cup brownie mix and ½ cup chocolate chips.
Seasonal + Festive Pancakes
We love to switch things up for the holidays and for special occasions:
- Pumpkin Pancakes: add ⅓ cup of pumpkin puree and ½ teaspoon of pumpkin spice to the batter.
- Bacon Pancakes: add chopped bacon pieces to the batter before cooking.
- Funfetti Pancakes: use Funfetti cake mix and a ⅓ cup of rainbow sprinkles.
- Snowman Pancakes: decorate with bacon and chocolate chips for fun all winter long.
- Christmas Pancakes: a Christmas breakfast favorite!
- Gingerbread Pancakes: add in ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and molasses.
- Eggnog Pancakes: use eggnog instead of milk.
- Hot Cocoa Pancakes: 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder added to the batter.
- Carrot Cake Pancakes: use 1 cup of shredded carrots, 1 tsp cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon of allspice, and ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg.
- Maple Nut Pancakes: Add ⅓ chopped walnuts and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup to the batter.
Recipe FAQ
Instead of purchasing a package of pancake mix you can double, triple, or even quadruple the dry ingredients in the recipe (flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar). Sift it together and store it in the pantry to use later. When you are ready measure out 1¾ cup of the dry mix and combine it with the wet ingredient listed in the recipe (milk, egg, butter, vanilla).
The top common mistakes when making pancakes include overmixing the batter, not letting the batter rest, not using the correct griddle temperature, and flipping them too soon or too often.
Flip the pancakes when the edges of the pancake should start to set, bubbles will appear evenly in the batter, and the underside will be a golden brown. Do not press on the pancakes and try not to flip more than once.
For More Sweet & Fruity Pancakes:
- Banana Oatmeal Pancakes
- Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes
- Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes
- Strawberry Pancakes
- White Chocolate Berry Pancakes
- Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
Pancake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 3½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1¼ cups milk
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Toppings: fruit, whipped cream, buttermilk syrup
Instructions
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the milk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla. Mix until combined.
- Lightly oil a griddle or frying pan and heat to medium-high (about 375°F).
- Pour about ¼ cup of batter onto the griddle for each pancake. Cook until bubbly and lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook for 2 minutes more until browned on the second side. Serve hot with your favorite toppings.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Is 1 1/2 cups of milk and 1 1/2 cups of flour correct? I had to add more than 1 1/2 cups flour because it was very liquidity.
Nevermind. It was my error. 🤦♀️ That’s what happens when 4 kiddos are distracting me.
Haha! No worries. I totally can relate to you there! 🙂
Yes, those measurements are correct, but you can certainly tweak a little to get to the desired consistency you prefer. 🙂
Soft and fluffy pancakes with this recipe, thank you!
You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed the pancake recipe!!
These are SO delicious and incredibly easy to make! Our new go-to recipe. Thank you!
You are welcome! I’m so happy you liked it and that you have a new go-to recipe. Thanks for trying it!
Does this recipe call for all purpose flour?
Also, can I substitute Gluten Free AP Flour?
Yes, all purpose flour. I have not tried them with Gluten Free flour, but I imagine you could substitute it out for pancakes and it would work just fine.
I can’t wait to try these! Can you please share your favorite griddle?
Yay! Hope you enjoy the pancakes. Yes, here are some favorites of mine: https://amzn.to/3e0Ktxn and https://amzn.to/3363jNj
How would this recipe change if I wanted to make waffles instead? Would I need to add anything or just use this recipe as directed?
You would want to increase the fat content to create that crispy outside and fluffy inside. I would add about 3 Tbsp of oil to this recipe to turn it into waffles. You could also give our waffle recipe a try. It’s very similar to this pancake recipe, just created specifically for waffles! https://lilluna.com/belgian-waffles/
I’m looking forward to trying some of the add-ins – it would be helpful if all of them had suggested amounts for the add-in ingredients
Thanks for the suggestion! Hope you enjoy the pancakes!
So easy and delicious! It has the perfect amount of salty sweet flavor. I used a 1/3c measuring cup and it made 9 pancakes! Definitely going in my recipe book!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it as much as we do! Definitely my go-to pancake recipe for sure! 🙂
(FYI-You listed vanilla in ingredients but forgot to add it in directions). I omitted the vanilla and also substituted almond milk. My husband is a very fussy connoisseur of pancakes, and he gave the pancakes 10 stars out of 5! Ty!
Oops, I will need to fix that. Thank you for letting me know! Please, tell him thank you!!
Wonderful, my whole family love it.
That makes me so happy! Thank you!