Name: Basic Pancake Recipe - Fluffy and Delicious
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 cup milk; 2 tbsp. white vinegar; 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; 2 tbsp. sugar; 1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder (I use Aluminum-free); 1/2 tsp. baking soda; 1/2 tsp. salt; 1 large egg; 2 tbsp. melted butter; 1 tsp. vanilla; non-stick cooking spray

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My Grandmother's Basic Pancake Recipe

Your basic pancake, flapjack, griddle cake....whatever you choose to call them, are an American breakfast favorite. Yes, I know that the mix comes in a box, along with a list of preservatives and other chemicals. Making your own from my basic pancake recipe will add about 15 minutes on to your busy day. But they are going yo be healthier and they will superior in quality. Everyone has their favorite childhood memory of those luscious little cakey disks smothered in maple syrup. Such a popular breakfast food and yet most Americans make them from premixed ingredients in a cardboard box. Trust me on this- no matter how domestic the little lady on the box looks her mix is no match for this basic pancake recipe handed down to me by my Nana.

Stack of pancakes drenched in syrup on a white plate

The Pancake Recipe Ingredients - first the dry

Everything you need for this pancake recipe is in your pantry. Let's start with the dry ingredients. Nothing fancy here. Just your basic all-purpose flour, kosher salt, sugar. baking soda, and baking powder. The baking powder should be aluminum free. Aluminum in baking powder leaves a metallic after taste and is included in some baking powders to give an "extra rise". I just add a pinch more of my aluminum-free and avoid the after-taste. I mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl large enough to accommodate the eventual addition of the wet ingredients. I always sift my dry ingredients so I don't end up with any lumps in my batter and mix them thoroughly so that the dry components are evenly distributed.

A glass bowl of pancake dry ingredients being mixed with a wire whisk on a light marble counter top

This is a buttermilk pancake recipe but we have a substitution....

The wet ingredients are combined together first for this buttermilk pancake recipe. If you don't have any buttermilk, you can use milk and white vinegar mixed together (1 cup milk and 2 tablespoons of white vinegar as a substitute). I use white vinegar because it is very neutral without an obvious flavor like apple cider vinegar or wine vinegars. Be sure to let the vinegar and milk stand for at least 5 minutes before using. Melt the butter in the microwave and then let it cool some as you do not want it so warm that it will "cook" the egg while you combine them.

Female hands separating an egg yolk from an egg white into a ceramic bowl

How to separate an egg

You now need to separate the egg. Eggs separate the best when they are cold. You can do it by hand, passing the yolk from half-shell to half-shell, letting the white fall into a bowl. Or you can use this really neat tool I got on Amazon. I love this thing and it makes separating eggs a breeze.

Beat the egg white

Take the egg white and whisk it to soft peaks. Easier said than done if you are doing it by hand as opposed to using a stand mixer. This is just another reason why I love my KitchenAid stand mixer. At the time I got it, it was a major family investment (my son gave it to me for Christmas) but 36 years later, it was worth every penny. I am amazed that it still is working but it is. Now that is a quality product. So I whip my egg white to soft peaks easily with my KitchenAid. Makes this pancake recipe a lot easier.

Combine all the ingredients

Now you need to combine all the pancake ingredients. First, gently fold the beaten egg yolk into the soft peak egg whites. Gently is the key word when working with beaten egg whites as you need to treat them carefully to maintain their airy texture. Those egg whites help make this pancake recipe fluffy. Once the egg mixture is combined, add the vanilla and the butter to the buttermilk. Now combine all the wet pancake ingredients together mixing very gently to maintain the egg white structure. Next make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Combine mixing gently. Small lumps in the batter are OK. Do not over mix as it will make for a tough end product. Let the batter rest for 15 minutes.

Next we heat the cooking surface

Heat your cooking surface that has been sprayed with no-stick cooking spray to medium hot. Pour the batter onto the cooking surface in ¼ cup increments. Bubbles will form on the pancake surface. Flip the pancakes when a few of those bubbles burst. The pancake is done when you press the center of the pancake with your spatula and the depression rises right back up.

Variations on the Basic Fluffy Pancake Theme

This is a basic recipe and the addition of any number of "extras" can change it up. Kids love it when you add chocolate chips, pieces of banana, blueberries, raisins,...... the possibilities are endless. Make it fun! This is a great recipe to make with your kids help. Cooking breakfast together is a great family activity!