Follow this recipe to make the BEST, ultra fluffy and delicious American pancakes. Start your weekend morning with these amazingly soft, light and scrummy pancakes topped with butter, syrup and fresh berries. It’ll take just minutes of your time to rustle these up and everybody will beg you to make pancakes every single weekend…

I’ve loved pancakes for as long as I can remember and growing up pancakes were something we ate for breakfast at the weekend. Since my childhood, times have changed as I’m no longer a student and work most weekends. So these days pancakes at the weekend aren’t something we have as often as I’d like, but when I have a weekend off we certainly make sure to indulge!

A stack of warm homemade pancakes covered with golden syrup and butter is the epitome of sheer heaven for me. When your usual weekday brekkie doesn’t cut the mustard, a batch of pancakes will definitely lift your spirits and excite your tastebuds!

I pretty much love all types of pancakes, thin and crisp and the thick, soft and fluffy American-style pancakes that are hard to beat. I’ve tested batch after batch of pancakes since landing on this recipe – trying out different quantities of buttermilk, yoghurt, sour cream and milk and several batches of pancakes later I have finally discovered the perfect pancake.

Luckily this recipe doesn’t require many ingredients, but the ingredients it does call for you’re already likely to have in your kitchen including basics like flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, milk (or buttermilk/sour cream/yoghurt), a couple of eggs and butter/vegetable oil.

I’ve found it hard sourcing ingredients for my bakes over the last few months, but I’m making the best of the situation and I’m really pleased with all the food and recipes I’ve concocted during lockdown so far.

I should’ve been devouring American pancakes on a trip to Florida next month, unfortunately we’ve had to put that holiday on hold for the moment, but at least I can make these pancakes and enjoy at home while dreaming of a future trip…

The pancake batter is easy to make, very similar to making a cake. Just remember once you’ve added the wet ingredients to the dry, be gentle and don’t over mix otherwise your pancakes won’t be light and they’ll be tough, they also won’t rise as much in the pan as they cook. So just take extra care when mixing the ingredients together and you’re well on your way to making the best homemade pancakes.

You needn’t be an expert baker or cook to make pancakes. To start, mix either plain or self-raising flour and baking powder with salt and the sugar. For the wet ingredients, mix either milk, buttermilk, sour cream/natural yoghurt with a couple of eggs and melted butter or vegetable oil. I’ve found vegetable oil makes a lighter batter, but butter adds fantastic flavour.

These pancakes are even good the next day, I simply take however many I want (usually about 2 or 3) and reheat mine in the microwave until just warmed through. Then I top with anything I want and dig in!

Serve your pancakes with loads of different toppings. They’re so good warm with a generous drizzle of golden or maple syrup, spread with Nutella and topped with fresh berries. If you don’t have any fresh berries, if you have frozen mixed berries then simply pop those in a pan with enough sugar to sweeten to taste and then serve the hot berry sauce on top of your pancakes.

Pancakes aren’t just for breakfast, you can even serve these up for dinner or dessert. So whenever or however you serve your pancakes, I hope you love them!

(Makes 10-12 – Serves 4)

Ingredients:

270g plain or self-raising flour – I use cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder (omit if using self-raising flour)

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons caster or granulated sugar

260ml buttermilk or milk (I use buttermilk and add 2 tablespoons of milk to my pancake batter to loosen it slightly)

2 large free-range eggs

4 tablespoons melted butter or vegetable oil

Method:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar until thoroughly mixed.
2. In a bowl or jug, beat the buttermilk (or sour cream/yoghurt), milk, eggs and melted butter/oil until combined.
3. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients. Gently whisk or fold the ingredients together with a spatula until you have a thick and slightly lumpy batter – you don’t want a completely smooth batter.
4. Heat a non-stick frying pan on a medium-low heat. Place 2-3 generous tablespoonfuls of the batter into the pan and don’t spread out at all as the pancakes will spread out enough on their own. Only cook about 2-3 at a time as you don’t want to overcrowd the pan, cook each pancake for about 1-2 minutes until bubbles appear on the surface then flip and continue to cook the pancakes for about a minute or until golden.
5. Keep pancakes warm in the oven as you continue with the remaining pancake batter or set aside to reheat in the microwave when ready.

You’ll know the pancakes are ready to flip because bubbles will appear on the surface. Make sure not to have your pan too hot otherwise the pancakes will burn. You can see from the picture on the right how the buttermilk gives the pancakes extra height and makes them super fluffy!

I sometimes add fresh blueberries to my pancakes, but you could also add chocolate chips/chunks

Recipe Notes: 

• I recommend using cake flour as I find produces a really fluffy pancake.
• I use buttermilk as I find it makes a super fluffy American-style pancake, but you can use milk if that’s what you have in. If using buttermilk, I recommend adding about two tablespoons of milk to loosen the pancake batter a little.
• Feel free to add to your pancake batter anything from fresh or frozen fruit like blueberries, raspberries or if you love chocolate then add some chocolate chips.
• If you don’t have a non-stick frying pan to cook your pancakes, make sure to add a little butter or oil to the pan before cooking your pancakes.
• These pancakes are best enjoyed on the day of making, but they’ll keep for up to 3 days stored in an airtight container or on a plate covered tightly with clingfilm.

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