Make Easy Pancakes from Scratch Using These No-Fail Recipes

Maybe it’s the memories of waking up first thing in the morning on a Saturday to the smell of flapjacks flipping on an iron griddle but there’s something nostalgic about homemade pancakes that just screams weekend breakfasts with the family. If you are craving that hit of nostalgia promised by a delicious handmade pancake, we’ve got everything you need here.

Check out our quick, easy, and simple recipe for arguably the fluffiest and most delicious pancakes you will ever taste. We’ll walk you through how to make the basic pancake and then share some of the tips and tricks we’ve learned over the years. From there, we’ll also share some of the ways you can mix things up or alter the recipe to suit your dietary needs.

So, if you are ready to feast on your favorite childhood Saturday morning guilty pleasure, let's dive into how you can make easy pancakes from scratch!

Where to Start with Homemade Pancakes

The trick to making delectable and fluffy homemade pancakes is your batter. If the batter is too thick, you will end up with gloopy, unpleasant pancakes that take forever to cook through. The outside of the pancake will harden or burn while the inside remains raw. On the other hand, if your batter is runny, your pancakes will flatten into crepes and you won’t get a fluffy final result.

You can test your batter before cooking it using a spoon or a ladle. Simply dip the spoon into your batter and gently lift it above the edge of the bowl. The batter should be thick enough to cling to the spoon yet runny enough to slowly slide off like honey or corn syrup.

Don’t worry if there are a few lumps in the batter, either. You can smooth those out with a fork or a metal whisk.

Four Easy Steps for How to Make a Fluffy Pancake

After you’ve made a thick-but-not-too-thick pancake batter, following these four easy steps to create pancakes that’ll take you straight back to Saturday mornings as a kid:

Step 1) Preheat a non-stick pan, a griddle, or a well-seasoned cast-iron pan over medium heat. Once the pan is hot, drop the temperature down to medium-low heat to keep the butter from scorching. After two or three minutes, your pan should be ready. Drop a small pat of butter into the pan and let it coat the pan or griddle completely.

Step 2) Pour your batter onto the pan or griddle using a ¼ cup measuring cup. By using a measuring cup, you can guarantee that every pancake comes out exactly the same size. As you pour, start in the middle of the pan or griddle, and slowly work outward in a circular motion until all of the batter has been poured out. This technique will help make perfect circles.

Step 3) Be patient! If you rush your pancakes by cranking up the heat or flipping them too early, you will end up with burnt or improperly cooked flapjacks. Wait until the underside reaches a beautiful golden hue. You will notice some bubbles rising to the tip of the batter. Once you see bubbles, then you can flip.

Step 4) Flip your pancakes with a flick of the wrist. If you try lifting your pancakes using your entire arm, you will end up with a lopsided and messy-looking final result. A sturdy yet flexible plastic spatula will also allow you to completely slide underneath the pancake for added support.

And voila—you have beautiful, golden-brown pancakes worthy of serving to your mom or dad. They should be light and fluffy, almost like miniature sponge cakes. Douse them in butter, maple syrup, or honey and stack them high for a picturesque pile of goodness!

Quick and Easy Pancakes Recipe (FROM SCRATCH!)

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Total time: 25 minutes

Servings: 12 Pancakes

Dry Ingredients:

Wet Ingredients:

Cooking Directions:

Begin by sifting together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda into a large mixing bowl. Then, combine with the sugar and salt. Once all of the dry ingredients are combined, make a well in the middle of the mixture.

Pour the wet ingredients into the well one at a time, starting with the milk, then the butter, vanilla, and the egg. Combine well using a fork or a metal whisk. Start by first folding the wet and dry ingredients together then mix until most of the lumps have broken apart.

(Your batter should have a creaminess to it but, if you find that it is too thick or it won’t pour off the back of a spoon, you can add a few extra tablespoons of milk until you’ve achieved your desired consistency.)

Leave your batter to rest in the fridge while you heat your pan or griddle. While heating the pan, be sure to wipe away any excess butter. Pools of butter in your pan will cause the edges of your pancakes to fry, ruining the light and fluffy texture you are after.

Pour your batter ¼ of a cup at a time and allow the batter to evenly spread across the pan in a round shape. If it does not spread, you can use the back of a spoon or ladle to help the batter spread evenly.

When bubbles begin to rise to the top surface of the pancake, check the underside to see if it is golden. If you are satisfied with the color, use a plastic spatula to flip the pancake and allow the other side to cook.

Repeat with the remaining pancake batter. You should be able to make 12 pancakes with the amount of batter that you made.

Top your pancakes with maple syrup, a fruit compote, honey, or even ice cream and fro-yo.

Nutritional Facts Per Serving

A Few Fun Alterations You Can Make to Our Pancake Recipe

If you want to play around with the recipe, you can make a few small changes based on your personal preferences and dietary requirements. Check out some of our favorite changes here!

A Gluten-Free Pancake Recipe

If you are on a paleo  or celiac diet, you will not be able to use all-purpose or plain flour to make pancakes. Don’t let your diet keep you from enjoying delicious morning treats, though. You can easily make gluten-free pancakes by substituting flour for something else.

Common gluten-free pancake mixes are made using a combination of tapioca flour, superfine white rice flour, and potato starch. Alternatively, you can use Bob’s Red Mill Paleo baking flour. It is specifically formulated for consumers who cannot eat grain.

A Pancake Recipe with Coconut Flour

Alternatively, if you want to substitute standard all-purpose or plain flour, you can use coconut flour. Although slightly more expensive, coconut flour is gluten-free and will give your pancakes a delicious coconut flavor.

However, coconut flour does not hold together as well as all-purpose or plain flour. We recommend adding more fats, such as coconut cream, butter, or some cream cheese to help hold your pancakes together.

A Pancake Recipe with No Eggs

Eggs help hold the dry ingredients in a pancake together. Unfortunately, many people cannot eat eggs due to allergies and dietary restrictions. If you can’t eat eggs, don’t worry! You can still enjoy delicious pancakes without them.

Try substituting eggs with one of these ingredients:

The proportions will vary depending on the ingredient, though, so be sure to find a recipe specific to each ingredient.

An Easy Pancake Recipe Without Baking Powder

If you don’t have any baking powder at home, you can still make delicious, fluffy pancakes by substituting baking powder with a little extra baking soda. Simply substitute an extra ¾ tsp of baking soda, or you can use a combination of ½ teaspoon of cream of tartar, ¼ teaspoon of baking soda, and ¼ teaspoons of cornstarch.

If you don’t have any of these ingredients and you can eat eggs, we recommend separating your egg white and whipping them into a thick foam. The added air content will help lift your pancakes to create an incredibly fluffy final result, reminiscent of a souffle.

A Healthy Pancake Recipe Using Bananas

The trick to making fluffy yet healthy banana pancakes is in the batter. Ideally, healthy banana pancakes should be moist and soft, yet fluffy—not soggy! Start by mashing your bananas until there are no lumps in the batter. Leaving large chunks of banana will create pockets of moisture throughout the pancake.

Additionally, avoid overheating your pan or griddle. If your pan is too hot, the outside of the pancake will cook before the inside, causing your pancakes to be mushy and unpleasant. Instead, be patient and let them cook slowly from the outside in.

A Dairy-Free Pancake Recipe

In this day and age, lactose intolerance hardly seems like an issue at all. If you can’t consume dairy, you can still make wonderfully fluffy pancakes from scratch. Simply replace the milk using your preferred dairy substitute.

We recommend using almond, hazelnut, or coconut milk. These dairy substitutes will help impart a richer, nuttier flavor without dumping a ton of lactose in your pancakes. Be careful though—these plant-based milk substitutes often have a higher water content, so you may have to adjust the dry ingredients depending on which one you use.

Make Banana Pancakes with Almond Flour

Banana pancakes made from almond flour are the perfect substitute for anyone on the paleo diet. By switching out all-purpose or plain flour with almond flour, you can avoid gluten, and by adding bananas, you will be perfectly within the confines of your diet.

Best of all, banana pancakes made from almond flour are incredibly simple to make. Using only three ingredients—eggs, bananas, and almond flour—you can create remarkably fluffy paleo pancakes from scratch. The trick is to whip your egg whites until they are fluffy and full of air!

Make Banana Pancakes with Only 2 Ingredients!

If you thought it was unbelievable that you can make paleo pancakes using just three ingredients, wait until you see this recipe! With just a few bananas and some eggs, you can create fluffy pancakes without any added starch or carbohydrates!

Completely skip the flour for this recipe by thoroughly combining bananas and egg until you achieve a thick batter. We recommend keeping these pancakes small, though, as you may struggle to get a decent result if they’re difficult to flip. Also, cooking them over a high heat will improve their overall texture.

It may sound like a challenge to pull off delicious and fluffy homemade pancakes, but it doesn’t have to be! With the right ingredients and just a little bit of patience, you will be making pancakes that remind you of your childhood family breakfasts in no time. Just be sure to follow our recipe to the letter.

If you have any dietary restrictions, you can also alter our recipe to suit your needs. As you’ve seen, it is possible to make pancakes with very few ingredients so, even if you can’t consume eggs, dairy, or gluten, there are still plenty of options available to you.