stack of pancakes with syrup

American pancakes

By Miriam Nice
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(88 ratings)
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Prep: 25 mins Cook: 30 mins

Easy

Serves 4

Easy, American-style, fluffy pancakes are great for feeding a crowd at breakfast or brunch. Top with something sweet like fruit, jam or syrup, or rashers of crispy bacon.

Nutrition and extra info

  • Vegetarian

Nutrition: per serving

  • kcal356
  • fat13g
  • saturates6g
  • carbs46g
  • sugars8g
  • fibre2g
  • protein13g
  • salt1.25g
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Ingredients

  • 200g self-raising flour
  • 1 ½ tsp baking powder
    Baking powder

    Baking powder

    bay-king pow-dah

    Baking powder is a raising agent that is commonly used in cake-making. It is made from an alkali…

  • 1 tbsp golden caster sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 25g melted butter, plus extra for cooking
    Butter

    Butter

    butt-err

    Butter is made when lactic-acid producing bacteria are added to cream and churned to make an…

  • 200ml milk

    Milk

    mill-k

    One of the most widely used ingredients, milk is often referred to as a complete food. While cow…

  • vegetable oil, for cooking

To serve

  • maple syrup
    Maple syrup

    Maple syrup

    may-pul sir-rup

    The rising spring sap of a number of varieties of maple tree…

  • toppings of your choice, such as cooked bacon, chocolate chips, blueberries or peanut butter and jam
    Bacon

    Bacon

    bay-kon

    Bacon is pork that has been cured one of two ways: dry or wet. It can be bought as both rashers…

Method

  1. Mix the flour, baking powder, caster sugar and a pinch of salt together in a large bowl. Create a well in the centre with the back of your spoon then add the eggs, melted butter and milk. Whisk together either with a balloon whisk or electric hand beaters until smooth then pour into a jug.

  2. Heat a small knob of butter and 1 tsp of oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. When the butter looks frothy pour in rounds of the batter, approximately 8cm wide. Make sure you don’t put the pancakes too close together as they will spread during cooking. Cook the pancakes on their first side for about 1-2 mins or until lots of tiny bubbles start to appear and pop on the surface. Flip the pancakes over and cook for a further minute on the other side. Repeat until all the batter is used up.

  3. Serve your pancakes stacked up on a plate with a drizzle of maple syrup and any of your favourite toppings.

  • Recipe Tip

    To serve

    If you want to serve them all at once, heat the oven to its lowest setting and put a couple of baking trays in there to keep the pancakes warm as you make the rest.

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Comments, questions and tips

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Deborah van Heerden's picture
Deborah van Heerden
5th May, 2019
5.05
Easy to make tastes delicious
shezblue
5th May, 2019
5.05
These are a firm favourite in our house. My kids love making them with me. So light and fluffy. I use only 1tsp of baking powder though. I find it can taste a bit metallic with 1.5tsp...
Finley Evans's picture
Finley Evans
30th Jun, 2019
Use baking powder and backing soda at the same time. They work together and gets rid of the mettalic taste.
Natasha Scarlett
1st Apr, 2019
5.05
I have never made this style of pancake before but for a first time trying I'm glad I found this recipe. They came out absolutely amazing and I will definitely be using this recipe again
Lamis Lataoui
25th Feb, 2019
5.05
I have never made a comment on any recipe before, but it with this one I had to I have honestly tried at least 10 different american pancake recipes before and given each one a second chance - but they’ve always been too runny or too dry or too hard to flip in one piece These pancakes are PERFECT, I didn’t go for this recipe at first as the photo isn’t as appealing as some others but they end up looking great and are my holy grail pancake recipe Over the months I’ve found that : using slightly salted butter and a teaspoon of vanilla in the mix, whisking for about a minute, and, when frying only re-oiling the pan max twice for the whole batch, using two heaped tablespoons of batter per pancake, and lightly spreading the batter around making the pancakes bigger but a bit thinner so they cook quicker and are easier to flip - makes these pancakes completely foolproof so glad to have found this recipe!!!!
flauffy
3rd Nov, 2018
5.05
Great pancake recipe, I've used this a few times on special occasion breakfasts and they're so straightforward. Also very adaptable when it comes to toppings and extras - today for my husband's birthday he added in chunks of Galaxy, delish!
nattorama's picture
nattorama
29th Sep, 2018
5.05
These are sooooooo easy and flippin delicious.
Ayse Inal's picture
Ayse Inal
16th Sep, 2018
4.05
I've made these pancakes a number of times now and consider this my go-to recipe. However, I would strongly advise NOT whisking the batter until smooth as this makes for tough, heavy pancakes. Just turn the batter enough to combine the dry and wet ingredients, then stop! Leave those little balls of flour in the batter! This creates a much fluffier pancake. Also, I always separate my eggs, mix the yolk in with the milk and melted butter, fold those in with the dry, then whip the egg whites and fold those in last. Makes them super fluffy. Love these cooked with added blueberries, and drenched in maple syrup and cream
debrat
24th Aug, 2018
3.05
These were ok. I prefer scotch pancakes which are made with just milk, egg & flour. Waited a bit too long after adding baking powder so by the time I came to cook them it had frothed up and was really thick so difficult to pour & difficult to tell when cooked as outside cooked quickly but as so thick inside was hit or miss whether cooked!! Think they would make a good waffle mix!
ruthiebabe
12th Aug, 2018
5.05
Very easy and quick recipe. Halved the ingredients for two people and no issues with the results, which were completely yummy! They tasted better than the ones we usually enjoy at our local deli (so potentially saving us a fortune - 3 pancakes with butter and syrup costs £4.95 per person!!!).

Pages

Debra Driver
19th Mar, 2019
Can these be frozen ?
goodfoodteam's picture
goodfoodteam
20th Mar, 2019
Thanks for your question. We think they're best fresh but it is possible to freeze them. Freeze them between sheets of baking parchment in a container so they don't all stick together.
Beth Jones
15th Mar, 2019
How do I make for one person? Thanks
goodfoodteam's picture
goodfoodteam
16th Mar, 2019
Thanks for your question. You can roughly divide it by 4, making it 50g self-raising flour, 1 medium egg, 3/4 tsp sugar, 3/4 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp melted butter and 50ml milk. Hope that helps!
Cookingmomma847
15th Aug, 2018
Can these pancakes be frozen?
goodfoodteam's picture
goodfoodteam
19th Aug, 2018
Thanks for your question. We think these are much better served fresh.
blackrosepetals91
21st Jul, 2018
How do you keep this so thick and round? Mine just end up wonky and thin
Ceirun Williams's picture
Ceirun Williams
31st Aug, 2018
5.05
I find it’s best to put the mix in the fridgefor at least 20 minutes. This thickens it up and stops it spreading as far when it hits the pan and you get lovely spongy thick pancakes.
ruthiebabe
12th Aug, 2018
5.05
Hi I made sure to pour the batter from a largish serving spoon into the hot frying pan and as the goodfoodteam recommend, I poured 'on the spot' rather than swishing the batter around the pan. Think having your pan reasonably hot helps - that way the rise can happen quickly allowing the pancakes to become light and fluffy and thick. Hope this helps.
goodfoodteam's picture
goodfoodteam
23rd Jul, 2018
Thanks for your question. We suggest making sure you use the mixture as soon as it's made so that the baking powder is active. Pour the liquid into one spot so that it spreads evenly. Hope that helps!

Pages

Ceirun Williams's picture
Ceirun Williams
31st Aug, 2018
5.05
Refrerate the mix for at least 20 minutes before cooking. This will make your pancakes rise more as it spreads out slower if you prefer them a little thicker.
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