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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Great recipe. I even added frozen wild blueberries to some and all tasted amazing!
Thank you for this gorgeous pancake recipe! They were as soft as clouds! My family just adored them!🥞
Is the ratio of dry to wet ingredients correct? 1 cup flour to 3/4 cup milk with 1 egg doesn’t produce a thick batter. It was quite thin. Sorry if I am missing something.
Sorry you had a problem with these, Dwight! Is there any chance you made a measuring error?
Hubby & I had these for breakfast this morning. I followed the recipe as written and added a 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon. They were easy to make and so delicious! We intend to make them again. Thank you for your recipes.
Have loved every recipe on your site, so I think I did something wrong this morning when I made these (despite it being a seemingly simply recipe to follow). I can’t figure out why, but the pancakes had a bitter taste to them as well as a bitter/sour aftertaste. I followed measurement. I am wondering if it had anything to do with the oil sitting in the pan too long, but otherwise cannot figure it out. Any suggestions for this?
Hi Sarah, Sorry you had a problem with these. Too much baking powder can cause a bitter taste. Is there any chance you may have made a measuring error with it?
Perhaps baking SODA was accidentally used instead of powder. I’ve seen a different pancake recipe with multiple comments about baking soda in a pancake recipe when the recipe actually called for baking powder but many had misread.
Loved the pancakes. Super easy and delicious- I added chocolate chips and we ate them without maple syrup. Def will be making these again!
Great recipe for pancakes. So light and fluffy. I’ll try the banana pancake recipe next.
My three favorite pancake recipes in the whole world are this one and your banana and blueberry pancake recipes. (I just haven’t tried the pumpkin recipe yet.) Have been making pancakes for decades, but these are the best! However, despite having made this recipe many times and memorizing it, I got distracted today and apparently added the salt, then got the tablespoon and accidentally added MORE salt instead of the sugar. Yikes! That is not a tasty revision – in fact they were not edible and I don’t recommend trying ANY variations to this recipe. I’ve learned a lesson about attentiveness. Thanks for all you do!
Would I face any problems using self raising flour? Thanks
Hi Tracy, I haven’t made these with self-rising flour, so I can’t say for sure. Here’s some more info that may help. Please LMK how the pancakes turn out if you try them with self-rising flour!
Thank you Jenn!! Your “tried and perfected” recipes are a Godsend. They always work. I doubled the recipe, my kids and husband devoured them immediately they got off the pan. And as usual, there were no such thing as leftovers. Thank you 🙂