Golden, Extra Fluffy Pancakes Recipe - Food.com (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to fluffy pancakes? ›

The secret is in the egg whites!

To give your pancakes that fluffy text, beat only the egg whites for 3 minutes on medium speed.

Adding baking powder is the easiest way to make fluffy pancakes. There's more than one way to make the bubbles that make a pancake fluffy, but the easiest way is by adding a raising agent such as baking powder.

Buttermilk is often used instead of regular milk

Many restaurants use buttermilk instead of dairy or plant-based milk when making pancakes, which changes the interaction of the ingredients before and during cooking — leading to a fluffier, more texturally satisfying, and tastier result.

Gordon Ramsay's recipe

Whisk the egg whites “*ntil foamy”. MiX all the other ingredients in a second bowl, then fold in the egg whites. Grease a pan with butter and use a medium heat, ladle in the batter to cook until bubbles form (around 5-6 minutes) and then flip and cook for around 2 minutes.

Baking powder (double acting) provides two rises: The first occurs when the baking powder comes into contact with a liquid, the second when it's exposed to heat. Too much baking powder will create a very puffy pancake with a chalky taste, while too little will make it flat and limp.

Using extra virgin olive oil in place of the melted butter in this recipe adds moisture in addition to flavor, resulting in a light and fluffy pancake that's perfectly tender and moist, not dry or doughy in the least.

Flour is the main ingredient to any pancake. It provides the structure. Different types of flours alter the structure because some flours absorb more moisture or create more gluten (which binds the structure together) than others.

1700s – Before baking soda chefs used fresh snow, which contains ammonia, to help make pancakes light and fluffy. 1800s - Milk and occasionally cream become the preferred liquids for pancake batter: before then, brandy and wine had been just as common.

Using too much baking soda or baking powder can really mess up a recipe, causing it to rise uncontrollably and taste terrible.

IHOP, for instance, requires its pans to be heated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and uses Crisco instead of butter to grease it, says Grimm. IHOP also has designated griddles that never cook anything other than pancakes, as Jon Kotez, IHOP's senior manager of field operations support, told Restaurant Business.

How are IHOP pancakes so good? ›

When you put cold batter on a hot griddle, it will bring the griddle temperature down, and it will take a little bit for the griddle to recoup. At IHOP or Denny's, the griddles are very heavy compared to the number of pancakes they put on it, so the temp differential is much less compared to a pan at home.

Q – Should I make my batter in advance? A – Ideally make your batter and let it rest for about 30 minutes before cooking. This allows the flour to absorb the liquid, making the pancakes lighter and fluffier.

The ideal temperature for cooking pancakes

Either way, it's obvious that delicious pancakes require an ideal griddle temperature (and a little bit of patience) to get that nice, fluffy texture. Simply put: the best temperature for cooking pancakes is 375°F on a griddle or medium to medium high heat on the stove.

Eggs are a crucial ingredient. They provide the cakes with the structure to hold light bubbles. Eggs also give the batter additional, richer flavor from the yolk fat. If you add too many eggs, you'll have “pancakes” that look more like custard or crepes.

Flour: This homemade pancake recipe starts with all-purpose flour. Baking powder: Baking powder, a leavener, is the secret to fluffy pancakes.

Pancake lovers' biggest complaint when adding water instead of milk is that the flavor seems to change. Pancakes aren't as richly flavored with water. There are a few ways to improve your batter when you've used water, including: Add extra butter.