Homemade Pancake Recipe
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Rise and shine! This easy homemade pancake recipe delivers the perfect pancakes—fluffy inside, crispy outside, and way better than store-bought mixes.
This homemade pancake recipe, adapted from The New York Times Cookbook, has been a beloved staple in my kitchen since my kids were little—and for good reason. Made with pantry staples I always have on hand, the pancakes turn out perfectly fluffy with crispy, golden edges every time.
They’re delicious on their own but also easy to customize with your favorite add-ins. When my kids were younger, I’d sprinkle in chocolate chips for a fun treat. These days, I love adding fresh or frozen blueberries for a fruity twist.
If you’re looking for variety, my banana pancakes and pumpkin pancakes are fantastic options, too. Once you’ve tried making pancakes from scratch, you’ll never go back to boxed pancake mix—homemade is just as easy and so much better.
“My husband and daughter agree, best pancakes ever!”
What You’ll Need To Make The Best Homemade Pancake Recipe
- All-purpose flour, baking powder, sugar & salt – The dry ingredients: flour gives structure, baking powder makes the pancakes light and fluffy, sugar adds sweetness (and helps with browning), and salt balances the flavor.
- Eggs & milk – Work together to bind the batter and make it smooth and pourable. (Do not substitute buttermilk for the milk.)
- Butter – Adds richness and flavor to the batter and helps with browning.
- Vegetable oil – Used for cooking the pancakes; it prevents the butter from burning and helps the pancakes brown evenly.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
Step 2: Mix the wet ingredients. In another bowl, whisk the eggs and milk until evenly combined.
Step 3: Combine everything. Add the wet ingredients and melted butter to the dry ingredients and stir just until moistened—it’s okay if the batter looks lumpy. If it seems too thick, go ahead and add a splash more milk.
Step 4: Cook the pancakes. Heat a griddle or nonstick skillet over medium heat, coat with oil, and swirl in a pat of butter. Scoop ¼ cup of batter per pancake into the pan and cook until golden on the bottom and bubbly on top—that’s your sign they’re ready to flip.
Step 5: Flip and finish. Flip the pancakes and cook the other side until golden, about 30 seconds. Repeat with the rest of the batter, wiping the pan clean between batches. Serve hot with butter and maple syrup and enjoy! Leftover pancakes can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Video Tutorial
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Best Homemade Pancakes
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled off
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1½ cups milk, plus more if necessary
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled, plus more for cooking
- Vegetable oil, for cooking
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and milk until evenly combined.
- Pour the milk/egg mixture and the melted butter into the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined. If the batter seems too thick, add 1 to 2 tablespoons more milk.
- Heat a griddle or nonstick pan over medium heat; coat it lightly with vegetable oil and swirl in a thin pat of butter. Ladle or drop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately ¼ cup for each pancake; cook until the first side is golden brown, or until the top surface bubbles and is dotted with holes. Flip and cook until the other side is golden brown. This happens quickly so peek after 30 seconds and watch carefully! Adjust the heat setting if necessary. Wipe the griddle clean with a paper towel between batches. Serve immediately with maple syrup.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I made these pancakes with my eight year old granddaughter for Sunday breakfast. They were delicious and very easy to make. This recipe will be my go to for pancakes. Thank you Jenn for sharing.
The recipe is fantastic, however, no matter which pancake recipe I make, mine always turns out way flatter than than the pics. I follow the recipe but I must be doing something wrong. Any thoughts?
Hi Paula, What brand of flour do you use?
King Arthur
That’s the flour I would recommend. If you find that your pancakes are consistently thin, I’d cut back just a bit on the liquid you’re using. Hope that helps!
check the date on your baking powder
Make these. These are the best pancakes I have ever made. Every other recipe I tried has a baking soda aftertaste! Also, I love that the recipe is already in metrics.
Hi, I love this recipe but the batch is too small for my family. I’ve been trying to double this recipe but have failed multiple times. Can you help me?
Hi Esther, Happy to try to help. What kind of problems have you experienced when doubling the recipe? Are you sure you’ve doubled all the ingredients?
Delicious! We make these every Sunday morning
Jenn, I made these pancakes for my husband’s Valentine’s breakfast. He took one bite and said, “I wish Valentine’s Day breakfast was every morning!” Thank you for all of your wonderful recipes. I have tried a number of your recipes and they are delicious!
Thanks so much for this recipe, I have been using it for years with a lot of joy.
These are my adaptations:
flour+baking powder: sub with selfraising flour
sugar: sub with brown sugar, but only 1 tbsp
add 1 large tbsp sour cream
add a few frozen berries to each pancake while baking
This recipe is everything you want in a pancake! Crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside! They are nice and thick without being heavy. They are delicious with syrup, cream, fruit, chocolate chips…really any topping you can think of… and to be honest, they are so tasty they don’t even need anything else. I suggest doubling the recipe because you will definitely eat them all and if for some reason you don’t, they are delicious cold as well! We like to eat ours with eggs and hash browns!
My kids and I love these pancakes! I make them without any sugar since we top them with fruit and maple syrup and they are delicious! Thanks for the great recipe!
This is now my all the time pancake recipe. They are exactly how my partner likes them: a little squishy on the inside, and crispy outside. 🙂
This is our go-to recipe for easy fluffy pancakes. I typically make a batch and freeze any leftovers to reheat in the toaster on busy weekdays for my children.