How to Make Pancake Batter

Behind every delicious stack of pancakes is a good pancake batter and with the recipe and video below, you’ll learn how to make it!

When it comes to breakfast recipes, pancakes are always the first choice at my house and the best part about these fluffy pancakes is that they’re easy to make, whip up, and even freeze!

My homemade pancake recipe for the Fluffiest Pancakes on Earth has been one of the most popular recipes on this site since I first published it in 2013. Over the years, I’ve received a lot of questions about the pancake batter itself, which I’ll answer below for you.

Is Pancake Mix the Same as Batter?

Pancake mix is not the same as pancake batter. A pancake mix includes all the dry ingredients needed to make pancakes and is often sold in pre-measured boxes near the pancake syrup and flour at the store. You can make pancakes with a mix at home by simply adding wet ingredients like milk, eggs, butter, or oil.

Pancake batter is the combination of both dry and wet ingredients in any pancake recipe. The batter is then poured onto a hot pan and cooked yielding pancakes.

Is Pancake Mix Just All Purpose Flour?

There are 3 types of pancake mixes: a homemade pancake mix is a combination of flour, baking powder, and salt. Storebought original pancake mixes include those ingredients plus a preservative, such as calcium carbonate, and “complete” mixes include all the above plus dry milk, palm oil, corn syrup, and other preservatives in dry form. And finally, all-purpose flour is finely ground wheat, which by itself can’t be used for pancakes. 

Best Pancake Batter

After nearly two decades of making pancakes for my family and sharing many pancake recipes on this website, I’ve learned that the best batter is one that doesn’t overly spread on the pan when it’s poured and yields pancakes that are fluffy and taste great.

This means that the batter should be airy enough to mostly cook through before flipping the pancakes over and have enough baking powder to give the pancakes a fluffy texture and hold its shape when flipped over to cook the second side. 

Sticking to a recipe, like the one below, that’s been tested many times before publishing, will help you avoid some of the common pancake mistakes from happening.  

What is Pancake Batter Made Of?

Pancake batter is made of a combination of dry and wet ingredients. Before checking the recipe card for measurements, check why each ingredient is needed to make a great batter:

• All-Purpose Flour: the foundation of pancake batter. If you have self-rising flour, use this pancake recipe with self-rising flour.
• Baking Powder: gives pancakes a fluffy texture and helps them rise when exposed to heat. It’s a must-have ingredient unless you use this recipe for pancakes without baking powder.
• Salt: to enhance the flavor of the other ingredients.
• Sugar: this sweetens the pancake batter slightly and gives it some flavor -it’s an optional ingredient.
• Milk: the liquid used in this pancake batter. You can use regular milk or dairy free. If you’re out of milk, use this pancakes with water recipe.
• Egg: to bind the ingredients and help the pancakes hold together. Before you look for egg substitutes, use my egg-free pancake recipe.
• Butter: adds delicious, buttery flavor, which also helps flavor the batter, a little goes a long way.

Pancake Batter Recipe

If you watched the video at the top of the post, you might have noticed that making the pancake batter is quite simple. Some tips for you in each step to ensure success are:

1. Measure
   Measuring and combining the dry ingredients into a large bowl will ensure they’re evenly distributed and that you have enough room to make the batter.
2. Mix
   You’ll add the wet ingredients to the big bowl and begin mixing by whisking the egg first. Then, I recommend incorporating the dry ingredients from the outside (of the bowl) in to make a cohesive batter. Stop mixing when they’re just combined.
3. Cook the pancakes
   Heat the pan first, over medium-high heat. Once hot, grease it with oil or butter. Then immediately pour about ¼ cup of batter for each pancake and cook them long enough on the first side to see the edges defined and bubbles forming throughout. Flip them, and cook the second side for an additional minute. 
4. Serve
   Stack them high and enjoy topped with your favorite pancake toppings and syrup. 
5. Store
   Leftover pancake batter that hasn’t been cooked can be refrigerated for a day or two, covered, and cooked later as well as cooked pancakes (more on this below).

How Thick Should Pancake Batter Be?

There are many variations of the same pancake recipe floating around the internet with different dry-to-wet ingredient ratios, so naturally, the thickness of the pancake batter will vary. 

Personally, I prefer a thicker batter with the right amount of baking powder because it yields fluffier pancakes. The pancake batter below is like that and it almost feels like cake batter.

If your pancake batter feels too thin or is runny, I recommend you do a single test pancake first, and if you’re not happy with the results, make waffles instead.

You can also use pancake batter to make Scrambled Pancakes. Use that link to learn all my tips to help you succeed at this viral recipe.

Batter Secret for Fluffy Pancakes

If you’re tired of failed pancakes because there was something wrong with the batter, I’ve got you. My friends call me the pancake whisperer because I often troubleshoot the batter by how it feels before I waste the whole batch. Here are a few of my secrets:

Measure accurately:
Pancakes require accuracy when measuring the dry ingredients (no eyeballing). I recommend measuring flour by spooning it into the scoop not by dipping the scoop into the flour bag directly, which can pack a lot more flour and make the batter dense.

Fresh baking powder:
Baking powder is not the same thing as baking soda. Baking powder typically lasts 9 months once opened, after that, it begins to lose some of its powers.

Don’t overmix:
Once you mix the dry and wet ingredients to form the pancake batter, use a fork to break up any flour clumps into the batter instead of continuing to mix the batter around. Overmixing will yield chewy, doughy pancakes.

Can You Make Pancake Batter The Night Before? 

Most pancake recipes, including the one below, are flexible enough to allow you to make the pancake batter the night before so you don’t have to measure anything in the morning. 

I recommend covering the batter bowl with a lid or plastic wrap as well as allowing the batter to sit out for 15 to 20 minutes at room temperature before making pancakes. When cold, the pancake batter becomes denser (thicker), and while you can cook it cold, it will change the texture of the pancake.

How to Freeze Pancake Batter

Freezing pancake batter is a terrific idea for a no-fuss breakfast in the future. First, make the pancake batter in a bowl and then pour it inside a freezer-safe zip bag. Lay it flat on top of a sheet pan or plate, and once frozen, place it anywhere in the freezer that it will fit! It can stay frozen for up to 3 months.

At a later date, let it thaw out overnight in the fridge or submerged in water for 30 minutes to an hour. Once thawed, pour the batter into a bowl and scoop it out onto a hot pan to cook your pancakes. 

Homemade Pancake Batter Recipe

Servings: 6

Prep Time: 5 minutes mins

Cook Time: 10 minutes mins

Total Time: 15 minutes mins

This pancake batter recipe yields incredibly fluffy and soft pancakes every time

5 from 30 votes

Print Pin

Watch how it’s made:

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon aluminum-free baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar, recommended
• 1 ¼ cups milk, any
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted

Instructions

Make the pancake batter:

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
• Make a well in the middle and pour the milk, egg, and butter. Mix with a whisk or fork until smooth.

Cook the pancakes:

• Heat a large non-stick pan (or griddle) over medium-high heat -I set my griddle around 350F. Once hot, grease the surface with oil, spray, or butter.
• Immediately, pour ¼ cup of pancake batter onto the greased pan. Cook the pancakes for about 2 minutes, until the edges begin to look defined and bubbles form. Flip the pancakes over and cook for another minute on the other side. Remove from the pan onto a plate and cook the remaining pancake batter.

Serve:

• Serve the warm pancakes topped with your favorite toppings and a drizzle of maple syrup if desired.

Store:

• Refrigerate unused batter, covered, for up to 2 days. Leftover pancakes for up to 3 days. Or, freeze for up to 3 months.

Notes

Use the right baking powder: Since pancake batter naturally has a mild, neutral flavor, it’s important to use aluminum-free baking powder. The metallic flavor will ruin the taste, especially in fluffy pancake recipes that call for 2 or more teaspoons. Trust me on this one.

Equipment

Batter Bowl with Lid

Pancake Flipper

Pancake Keeper

Ceramic Pancake Warmer

Aluminum-free baking powder

Nutrition

Serving: 1pancake | Calories: 151kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Trans Fat: 0.003g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 473mg | Potassium: 129mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 144IU | Calcium: 213mg | Iron: 2mg