Fluffy American pancakes: thick, soft, flipped when the bubbles burst
Thick, soft pancakes with baking powder that puff up in the pan like little pillows. The whole secret is a batter mixed briefly, lumps and all, rested for ten minutes, and patience at the flip: only when the bubbles on top burst and stay open. Twelve from one batch, with butter, honey and fruit.
Your own work in that: 30 min.
- Batter 10 min
- Resting 10 min
- Frying 20 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneMix the dry ingredients
In a large bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Distributing the baking powder now saves mixing later, and less mixing means fluffier pancakes.
Ingredients: 250 g plain flour · 3 tsp baking powder · 2 tbsp sugar · ½ tsp salt · 2 pcs eggs · 300 ml milk · 40 g butter
Flour, baking powder, sugar, saltWhisk the wet ingredients
In a jug whisk the eggs with the milk and the melted, cooled butter. The butter should be lukewarm: hot would cook the eggs, and cold milk would set it into lumps.
Eggs, milk, lukewarm butterCombine briefly, keep the lumps
Pour the wet into the dry and stir with a spatula 10–15 strokes, only until no dry flour remains. The batter should be thick and lumpy. Rest it 10 minutes: the baking powder starts working, the flour hydrates, bubbles appear on the surface.
TipLumps are a good sign. A smooth, long-mixed batter develops gluten and the pancakes come out flat and rubbery instead of fluffy.
Thick, lumpy, a ten-minute pauseFry over medium heat
Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat and wipe it with a paper towel and a little butter. Pour a quarter cup of batter (about 60 ml) per pancake, spaced apart; cook in batches of 3–4, about 20 minutes in all. Cook 2–3 minutes, until bubbles form on top, burst and stay open, and the edges look matte. Then flip and cook another 1–2 minutes.
TipHeat too high: burnt bottom, raw middle. The first pancake is always the temperature test; if it browns in a minute, turn the heat down.
Bubbles burst and stay open: flipKeep warm
Stack the finished pancakes on a plate under a clean cloth, or in an oven at 80 °C, until all are done. Don't grease the pan more than needed: excess fat gives blotches instead of an even golden colour.
Under a cloth until the frying is doneServe
A stack of pancakes, a pat of butter on top, honey, raspberries and banana slices. Eat at once; reheat cold ones for a minute in a dry pan or the toaster.
Ingredients: 30 g butter · 4 tbsp honey or maple syrup · 150 g raspberries or blueberries · 1 pcs banana
Butter, honey, fruit
Before you start
With buttermilk
Buttermilk instead of milk and half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda alongside the baking powder: tangier, even fluffier, the American diner version.
With blueberries inside
Drop a handful of blueberries onto each pancake right after pouring the batter into the pan, not into the bowl: they won't stain the batter and spread evenly.
Batter for tomorrow
Batter with baking powder loses its lift after a few hours. Mix the dry and wet ingredients separately in the evening (keep the wet ones in the fridge), combine in the morning.
