Simple, soft, fluffy pancakes, an essential that everyone should know. You’ve been good all week. Go on. You deserve freshly made homemade pancakes for breakfast tomorrow!
Pancakes recipe
Homemade pancakes shouldn’t be complicated. It doesn’t matter if they come out wonky or with a splotchy surface instead of being a beautiful, even golden brown – after all, they’ll get smothered in toppings.
But they should be soft and fluffy. And in my world, not too sweet. Because….you know. Toppings. Load up on toppings!
Any day starting with homemade pancakes is a GREAT day!
What goes in homemade pancakes
This is what you need:
flour
baking powder
sugar
egg
milk
vanilla extract – optional
No buttermilk, no baking soda / bi carb, no yoghurt. You only need baking soda for an extra fluff boost when you have add ins in pancakes, like Blueberry Pancakes, because it weighs the batter down.
And of course TOPPINGS! Why limit yourself to just butter and maple syrup? See below for all sorts of ideas!
Pancakes Toppings – what to put on pancakes
Butter and maple syrup – the classic!
Maple syrup alternatives – honey, golden syrup and other sweet syrups suitable for eating raw
Lemon and sugar – one of my favourites! Light sprinkle of sugar and a squeeze of lemon
Strawberries and cream! Pictured below – layer it up like a cake, sandwiching the pancakes with whipped cream and sliced strawberries, then finish with a dusting of icing sugar / powdered sugar;
Sinfully rich sauces – like caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, butterscotch sauce, peanut sauce, anything!
Lemon curd, fruit compotes and sauces – like blueberry sauce (try the one in this Blueberry Cheesecake), Strawberry Sauce (use the one in this Strawberry Cheesecake) or try the warm apple topping in this Apple French Toast
BACON and maple syrup – YES!
Sprinkle of nuts
Fresh fruit – chop it, pile over pancakes with cream!
Ice cream – add a scoop onto a stack and drizzle with maple syrup, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce. Don’t forget the whipped cream!
Dusting of cinnamon and sugar
Pro tip: Keep a STANDBY PANCAKE MIX!
Homemade pancakes aren’t complicated to make, but sometimes it’s that much more appealing if there’s a ready made mix in the cupboard, just like the ones you can buy at the store!
Just measure out the dry ingredients and pop them in a ziplock bag, jar or airtight container, then when you want to make fresh pancakes, just add the wet ingredients!
To make a handy shake ‘n pour bottle like pictured above, you’ll need a 1.5L/1.5Qt+ bottle to leave enough headroom for the required liquids + shaking. I mix the wet ingredients in a jug then pour it in then shake away!
Now, go forth and elevate your morning by making a big stack of these soft, fluffy, golden pancakes! TELL ME what you top YOURS with! – Nagi xx
Watch How To Make It
Simple Fluffy Pancakes recipe video!
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Simple, Fluffy Pancakes
Ingredients
- 2 cups / 300g plain / all purpose flour (Note 1)
- 4 tsp baking powder (Note 1)
- 1/4 cup / 55g white sugar (caster / super fine is best but not essential)
- Pinch of salt
- 1 egg
- 1 3/4 cups / 435 ml cups milk (any type, any fat %)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or essence
- 4 tsp butter , for cooking
Instructions
- Place flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl, whisk to combine.
- Add egg, milk and vanilla. Whisk until lump free – no longer than 30 seconds.
- Heat a non stick skillet – use medium heat if you have a strong stove, medium high if you have a weak one. Add a tiny bit of butter (about 1/2 tsp) and swirl to melt. Use paper towel to mostly wipe the butter off (this is the trick to avoid a dodgy 1st pancake).
- Pour 1/4 cup batter into the middle of the fry pan (I use a slightly heaped ice cream scoop with lever, standard is 1/4 cup).
- Swirl pan lightly to spread or use the ice cream scoop edge to spread into 11cm / 4.5″ circle (ruler is a must) (joking!).
- When bubbles rise to the surface (see video), flip and cook the other side until golden.
- Remove and keep warm in a low oven.
- Use more butter every 2 to 3 pancakes – depends how good your non stick coating is.
- Serve with toppings of choice!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
More pancake recipes
Giant Pancakes – to share!
Pikelets – mini pancakes!
Life of Dozer
I’m surprised there isn’t a massive drool hanging from his mouth.
Oh wait. I don’t want to gross you out, but after I wrote this post, I almost slipped on a puddle of drool when I was cleaning that area. Ewwwwww!
Best pancakes I’ve ever made. Made 13 (must be the right size), ate three and froze the rest. My new go to pancake recipe. Great as usual Nagi 👏
Woo hoo that’s great Christine! Enjoy!! N x
Quick question: if I want to make a large amount of pancake mix ahead and then take out only enough for one batch each time, how many cups of the dry mix would I scoop out?
I would make one batch then measure how much total dry mix that makes then you will know how much to use from your big batch! N x
These are amazing! I thought I had the perfect pancake recipe but these are better and slightly easier too. We tried them with whipped butter which made them even better (just butter whipped with milk). Thanks for another amazing recipe.
I just made these for Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday) at work and they were delicious! Lots of comments on how fluffy they were. *Favourite toppings were maple syrup & icecream 🙂
Hi Nagi made the pancakes – yummo- topped with bacon, banana and maple syrup.
Magic 🥰
These pancakes are amazing! My partner says theses are the best pancakes he has ever had & teenagers completely agree with him.
My kids always love pancake for brekkie in the weekend. This morning I felt I needed to give your recipe a go. I served with berry compote, banana,fresh strawberries, whipped cream and maple syrup. You know it is good when kids go really quiet and eat. Another winner, Nagi! All my old pancake recipes can go noe. Lol
Great recipe, was surprised no vinegar was needed. Worked well with wholemeal flour. 🙂
Hi Nagi!
I am so not a pancake lover normally, I just find them too heavy, but these are by far the lightest, fluffiest and tastiest I have had. I was worried the sugar would be too much – nope, they were spot on.
Kids loved them.
Many thanks,
Holly
You always come through! These pancakes were fluffy and perfect. Thank you!
Your website is the most trusted for when I want to try something new and to be sure it will come out tasting amazing all the time! Thank u, the pancakes were yum!
Wow wow best ever Nagi you have done it again, I cannot fault any of your recipes… great start to the weekend …
Hi Diane! So glad you enjoyed it! N x
Made these for our teen and added choc chips…he loved them as did we. I just made a huge batch freeze. Best recipe ever and will def make again 😊
I know this sounds crazy, but can I leave out the sugar? I’m looking to make for my toddler and don’t want the added sugar. I figure that I could sweeten with toppings like fruit for him instead.
HI Nagi
I used this recipe today with students who are learning from home. Worked out just perfectly which is a relief cos last time I made pancakes with students they used them as frisbees 🙂 Thanks for another winner recipe.
😂 I’d love to have seen a picture of that!! N x
I tried making these pancakes but they turned out really flat, first recipe here that hasn’t turned out well for me and the easiest! 🙁 I used the 2 cups plain flour + 1 tbsp self raising flour substitution in the notes as I didn’t have baking powder. I’ll grab some baking powder and try again 🤞
Hi Jamie,
I believe what she means is to replace the plain flour and baking powder with (2 cups + 1tbs of) self raising flour.
Thank you Minh, that makes a lot more sense!
Yes Minh, I read it the same way as you. To replace plain flour+baking powder with self-raising flour you simply use 2 cups SR four plus an extra TBSP of SR flour
Hi Nagi,
I strangely like to eat my pancakes with bacon & eggs, would this be suitable as is or would I need to reduce the sugar slightly?
My 10 year old son made these. He was so impressed with how they came out. The whole family loved them. Thanks for another awesome recipe.
My new go-to recipe for pancakes 😍 they’re delicious and so fluffy! I substituted the baking powder and plain flour for self raising and they still turned out amazing! Definitely going to make up some jars of it so they’re ready to go whenever I want to make them!
this is now my go to recipe for Pancakes , Flapjacks ? they are not the same , what would you do to make it a waffle batter ???? ” Good Appetite “
Hi Joseph, waffle batter is different to pancake batter – one to put on my recipe list! N x