Fluffy Pancakes - the Softest and Fluffiest Pancake Recipe - Quick, Easy and 5-miniute Prep. (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to making 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. They'll start turning creamy, which means it's time to add them to the pancake mixture. Use a wooden spatula to incorporate everything. There you have it!

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

Baking soda is essential for baked goods, but baking powder is really what makes pancakes and biscuits rise and become so super fluffy. Double-acting baking powder, which is the kind that you'll find in the grocery store, produces bubbles in two ways: when it is mixed with wet ingredients and then when it gets heated.

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.

Here's why. Pancakes and waffles typically both contain baking soda, which causes them to rise. As soon as the baking soda is combined with the wet ingredients (which contain an acidic ingredient, like often buttermilk), it starts producing carbon dioxide gas bubbles that cause the batter to rise.

Bubbles of gas are caught in the batter as it cooks and this is what makes the pancake fluffy. This also explains why you should make your batter fresh. If it sits uncooked for too long, the gas can escape and you'll end up with flat pancakes.

The natural chemical leavening agent we'll be using is baking soda. This helps pancakes rise up while being fluffy and soft. Baking soda is a base with a high alkaline. When it mixes with an acid or in this case, the buttermilk, it creates bubbles that release a lot of gas.

Gluten, which is found in flour, keeps pancakes from falling apart. Gluten, a type of protein, forms a “spiderweb” within baked goods, giving them structure. As the starches gelatinize, and turn from a batter to bread, the gluten strands hold them in place.

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.

To make the fluffiest pancakes possible, you need to make bubbles in the batter. You can make bubbles by using a raising agent, such as baking powder, and by making and cooking your batter quickly.

What is the most important ingredient in pancakes? ›

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.

How you handle the batter makes a difference. If you beat it until it is smooth, your pancakes won't be as fluffy. Pancake batter should be mixed until it still has a few lumps in it. Then it needs to stand for about 15 minutes, to ensure that the flour is fully hydrated.

Flat pancakes are nearly always because of expired baking powder, too little baking powder for the recipe size, or too thin of a batter. How to fix flat pancakes: First, test your baking powder by adding a teaspoon of baking powder in a glass and adding a tablespoon of water or two.

Flat pancakes are nearly always because of expired baking powder, too little baking powder for the recipe size, or too thin of a batter. How to fix flat pancakes: First, test your baking powder by adding a teaspoon of baking powder in a glass and adding a tablespoon of water or two.

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.

Fluffy pancakes get that way because of the air bubbles created while preparing the batter (via The Spruce Eats). The batter is what keeps those air bubbles trapped, which means they'll deflate if you overhandle your pancakes.