Reliable Pancake Recipe
Fluffy pancakes are a chemical reaction – and adding lemon juice ensures you’re going to have consistently fluffy pancakes every time. These are easy pancakes you can make for breakfast, lunch, or dinner – or even lunch dessert.
This recipe uses a kitchen scale for measuring ingredients by weight, ensuring its consistent, reliable, and easy to remember – as easy as 1-2-3. You can buy a scale for as low as $10, it will change how you cook for the better.
Ingredients
1 large egg (50g)
200g all purpose flour (~ 1-1/2 cups, depending how you scoop flour)
300g dairy or non-dairy milk (~ 1 -1/4 cups)
10g baking powder (~ 2 teaspoons)
2g salt (~ 1/2 teaspoon)
30g sugar (~2 tablespoons)
15g fresh lemon juice or another acid like white vinegar (~1 tablespoon)
Butter for cooking
Additions (such as bananas) and toppings (such as maple syrup) if using
Flour and salt are particularly fickle when using volume measurements. A kitchen scale is a worthy investment, especially if you make a lot of pancakes, and they start at $10.
Equipment
Kitchen scale
Small, a medium, and a large bowl
Wire whisk
Quarter cup cookie scoop or a ladle
Fish spatula or other spatula
Griddle or a pan (I used stainless, any type works)
Wire cooling rack
Method
Use a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients. For small quantities, use a tiny bowl for accurate measurements before transferring to your main bowl.
In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
In a large bowl, crack in the egg and whisk it lightly to break it up. Add in the milk and lemon juice and mix until homogenous.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until there is no more visible dry flour, but the mixture is still clumpy. Set aside for 5 minutes.
Pre-heat your pan or griddle for 5 minutes on low heat.
Once evenly heated, add a small amount of butter to the pan. The butter should bubble and stay in the center of the pan; if it turns brown immediately or runs to the sides your pan is too hot. If it doesn't melt it's too cold.
Using a 1/4c scoop or a ladle, add in enough batter for one pancake. After 1-2 minutes you'll see vigorous bubbles and the outer ring will appear matte. Flip the pancake and cook for another 1-2 minutes until the center feels set.
Store pancakes in a wire rack in the oven at 200°F until ready to serve. Alternatively, cool completely on a wire rack and freeze. Or eat them one at a time!
Optionally, you can add fruit or vegetables to the pancakes as they cook, such as bananas. Serve by creating a stack of pancakes as tall as you are hungry, topped with your choice of syrup, and a bit of butter.