Here’s How to Easily Make Old-Fashioned Fluffy Pancakes From Scratch!

Old-Fashioned Fluffy Homemade Pancakes

yield: 4 SERVINGS

prep time: 10 MINUTES

cook time: 20 MINUTES

total time: 30 MINUTES

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon white sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 4 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 egg

Directions

1

To a large batter or mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Whisk together to combine.

Tip: Level the flour properly by spooning into the measuring cup and leveling off the top. Do not scoop. 

2

Add the milk, melted butter, vanilla extract, and egg to the bowl and whisk the ingredients together until smooth.

3

Heat a griddle or skillet to medium heat and grease with butter or cooking spray.

4

Pour 4-inch-sized circle pancakes onto the griddle. Flip the pancake after a couple of minutes when you see air bubbles and the edges lift up around the outside.

5

Cook the other side for a couple of minutes until browned and transfer to a plate. Repeat that process with all pancakes.

6

Serve warm with additional butter and syrup, as desired.

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How to make pancakes from scratch

Need a tried and true pancake recipe to make for breakfast?

Learning how to make pancakes from scratch is not only easy and delicious, but it’s a great life skill to pass on to your kids or grandkids! Sometimes I reach for a convenient pancake mix, but then there are times when I’m really in the mood for some GOOD old-fashioned fluffy pancakes from scratch that are truly special. 🥞

plate of fluffy pancakes

Homemade pancakes with real maple syrup are the ultimate breakfast comfort food!

Here’s a great recipe that I’ve loosely modified from AllRecipes.com that we have been using to create beautiful & yummy pancakes on lazy Sunday mornings at home. I love when the mood is chill and life manages to slow down just a bit to enjoy the cooking process of from-scratch pancakes on the griddle.

Eating keto? If so, check out Collin’s favorite keto fluffy pancakes using almond flour!

pouring pancakes on a griddle

Tips for learning how to make pancakes from scratch: 

    • I have struggled in the past with making perfect circle-shaped pancakes, but I did come across a tip to pour the batter from the top down only in the middle, and then they will naturally spread in a circle. Instead of swirling your pour to form a circle, don’t move it! Just pour steadily in the middle and let the circle happen. Try it—it really works!
    • Make sure to grab baking powder for this recipe and not baking soda! It’s one of the reasons the results are so fluffy, and also make sure your baking powder isn’t expired for the best results.
    • You can of course use a traditional kitchen whisk, but I have been using my new Danish dough whisk to mix up pancake batter and homemade bread lately and LOVE how well it works! It is so much easier to clean too!
    • If you are looking for a great all-purpose mixing bowl, check out this glass Anchor Hocking batter bowl that is my absolute fave must-have bowl in the kitchen!
    • This recipe makes eight 4-inch-sized pancakes. It would be easy to just double the ingredients for a larger family. Leftovers can be stored covered in the fridge for 3-4 days, or stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.

ingredients to make homemade pancakes from scratch

adding sugar to pancakes

mixing dry ingredients for homemade pancakes using danish whisk

adding milk to pancakes from scratch

mixing pancakes in a batter bowl

holding a batter bowl with homemade pancakes

pouring from scratch pancake batter

frying from scratch fluffy pancakes

turning pancakes over on the griddle

easy pancakes from scratch recipe

pouring maple syrup how to make pancakes from scratch


Print

Old-Fashioned Fluffy Homemade Pancakes

yield: 4 SERVINGS

prep time: 10 MINUTES

cook time: 20 MINUTES

total time: 30 MINUTES

Fluffy buttery pancakes from scratch that old-fashioned comfort food dreams are made of!

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon white sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 4 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 egg

Directions

1

To a large batter or mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Whisk together to combine.

Tip: Level the flour properly by spooning into the measuring cup and leveling off the top. Do not scoop. 

2

Add the milk, melted butter, vanilla extract, and egg to the bowl and whisk the ingredients together until smooth.

3

Heat a griddle or skillet to medium heat and grease with butter or cooking spray.

4

Pour 4-inch-sized circle pancakes onto the griddle. Flip the pancake after a couple of minutes when you see air bubbles and the edges lift up around the outside.

5

Cook the other side for a couple of minutes until browned and transfer to a plate. Repeat that process with all pancakes.

6

Serve warm with additional butter and syrup, as desired.

Brought to you by Hip2Save.

bite of homemade pancake from scratch

Add some extra butter and real maple syrup, and these from-scratch pancakes are spectacular!

Move over IHOP because these pancakes make an insanely delish breakfast. 🤤 The best part is this one-bowl recipe is easy enough for my older kids to make on their own as they develop more cooking and kitchen skills. You can of course use this recipe as a base and incorporate any desired add-ins like chocolate chips, nuts, and fruit as desired into the batter. Enjoy!

taking a bite of homemade pancakes

Here’s what my teammate Jenna had to say about these homemade pancakes:

“This recipe is everything pancakes should be! They are fluffy, easy to make, and so tasty. I have been using the same pancake recipe for going on 20 years now, and I like this even better Just simple ingredients and it all comes together beautifully. These cooked to perfection on my griddle and everyone loved them… I mean, how could they not when covered in maple syrup no less!”


Here’s how to make excellent waffles from scratch (& freeze them)!


About the writer:

Lina has a Bachelor's Degree from Northern Arizona University with 11 years of blogging and photography experience having work featured in Today.com, Martha Stewart, Country Living, Fox News, Buzzfeed, and HGTV.


Join The Discussion

Comments 23

  1. AuntMae

    Will definitely be trying this! Thanks!
    Do you find that the Danish Dough Whisk can sub for the traditional kitchen whisk in many or all recipes requiring the use of a whisk? TIA!

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Yes! I don’t even have a full size traditional whisk anymore because of space, but I do have a mini one for sauces. Love the Danish whisk!

  2. julie

    I actually don’t like fluffy/airy pancakes. I like a firmer pancake similar to McDonald’s pancakes. Anyone know how I can make a more firm pancake?

    • Bebe

      Beat the bubbles out of your mix.

    • Amy

      Actually the more you mix something, the more air bubbles get in it making it more fluffy. Even with cake or things like that. Try mixing until it’s just smooth or mostly smooth. Pancakes can have little lumps and still be perfect 😊

      • Kel

        Depends on what your mixing. Over mixing a batter like this would not make it more airy. It would create gluten for a more dense end result.

    • Jeangirl

      From what i’ve read these are the things that make pancakes fluffy… baking powder, not overmixing and not letting the batter rest. So if you add less baking powder, really mix it good and cook right away that might give you just what you need. I just made these following the above the directions and they were indeed light and fluffy…. Thank you:)

      • Jeangirl

        meant…. “baking powder, not overmixing and letting the batter rest.”

      • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

        Thanks for your feedback and suggestions!

    • Sandy

      The baking powder is what “fluffs” the pancake. Cut back on the amount or eliminate.

    • Anonymous

      This recipe has a lot of baking powder; I would try using 1.5 tsp and see what you think. Whole wheat flour will also make them denser. Stirring/mixing develops the gluten (like kneading bread dough), so that may make them chewier.

  3. sweetklouise

    I’ve always found that lemon juice helps, too. The Harry Potter cookbook has a great pancake recipe (my daughter is a HP nut lol) and she makes me make them oh the weekends. So easy and so good she says! I will try this one next weekend and see how they compare.

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Oh nice! Thanks for sharing! i agree that’d be a great addition. 🙂

  4. Kate

    I made these this morning. Very tasty. Highly recommend this easy recipe. Make sure to measure exactly and use real maple syrup. 👍

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Thanks so much Kate!

  5. Maria

    I use an Allrecipes pancake recipe as well.. it’s the “Buttermilk II pancakes”. They are amazing! I always make my own “buttermilk” sub by adding a bit of vinegar and/or lemon juice to milk and letting it sit for 20 min or so. Then serve with fruit and chopped fresh mint and of course real maple syrup and extra butter 😏

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Awesome 👏 thanks for sharing Maria!

  6. Chantel

    I made these this morning and they definitely did not turn out as expected. They were something between a crepe and a pancake. My baking soda was fresh, I didn’t overmix and I reviewed the recipe to make sure I didn’t miss anything. The batter was quite thin. I usually do the spoon and sweep method for flour. I wonder what method was used for the original. If someone uses a.more scoop and shake method that would mean much more flour in that 1 1/2 cups than ended up in mine.

    My typical weekend pancake recipe uses real buttermilk. I get the best results with full fat or Bulgarian buttermilk. I also use maple syrup instead of sugar. I didn’t have buttermilk on hand though so decided to give this recipe a try.

    • Sunshine

      Chantel: use baking powder not baking soda!!

  7. Holly W

    I wonder if this could be made keto with almond flour and monkfruit sweetener?

  8. Christy

    How do you get them to be fully cooked in the middle without them getting too dark on the outside? The flavor was great and they were really fluffy but they were either burnt on the outside or the inside wasn’t cooked. I’m thinking medium heat might be too high.

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Hmm ya maybe try start by trying med/low heat next time on your stove or griddle.

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