How To Make Pancakes (from Scratch!)
Before we get to the part about how to make pancakes, I want to talk about my favorite lumberjack and his love of pancakes. Of course, you can skippy-do on down if you care not of Paul Bunyan.
Paul Bunyan called them hotcakes. I think to this day, in his honor, lumberjacks throughout the land probably still call them hotcakes. Do y’all remember that book about Paul and Babe the Blue Ox? There’s one really good part in it where the regular-sized (i.e. not giant) lumberjacks are making Paul some HUGE hotcakes and they are so big that the guys have to butter them by tying big chunks of butter to their feet and skating around on the hotcakes until the butter was melted all over? I thought that looked like so much FUN! Nevermind the fact that there’s foot-butter all over your hotcakes, Paul.
Basically, what I’m saying is that that was a really cool book and I recommend it. I also recommend that you learn how to make pancakes from scratch in case the Bisquick factory ever blows up, which, if Paul Bunyan came back to life as a demon giant lumberjack, would probably be the first place he and Babe would explode with their evil eyes. I’m pretty certain that Bisquick pancakes would NOT fly with Mr. Bunyan. Scratch pancakes for him only.
How To Make Pancakes (from Scratch!)
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour (white or whole wheat)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup milk, soy milk, some other milkish product
- 1 teaspoon apple cider or white vinegar
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Whisk the dry ingredients together.
- Separately, whisk the wet ingredients together. (If you have real buttermilk, use that instead of the milk + vinegar.)
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix that up well.
- Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and oil it with a teaspoon of oil or some spray oil or what-have-you. Wait until it’s good and hot then, using a 1/4 c measure, pour some pancake batter on it.
- Now wait. Wait until they are covered in cratery-looking holes and the peripheries are looking dried out.
- Now flip. Deftly. Let them cook another 2 minutes or so until the other side is nice and brown.
- Serve those while you cook the rest, re-oiling the skillet between batches. This will make 8-10 pancakes, enough for 3-4 people, or one Paul Bunyan.
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You totally need to be on Food Network! I could watch you all day…in a non weird way…haha;-)
Umm, I’m not sure there exists a way to do that in a non-weird way, Kenny. 😉
Hahahahah! Hahahaah! 😀
You’re recipe is amazing!! First off I loved the video!!! The commentary was hilarious!! And my kids loved making these with me, they’re 6&8 year old girls! will be looking for more of your videos ????
Awesome! That’s wonderful, Laurie!
love this recipe. the video didnt work for me. could be a net malfunction on their part.
i like using kefir in pancakes from scratch. love the buttermilk feel they give. looking forward to seeing the comedy in the video soon
lewd stories are hilarious. will this fictitious guy pancake maker ever post on the comments? his recipe might be a competitor.
you mentioned the bubbles. once you add the wet to the dry, the basic baking soda/powder initiates the reaction with the acidic milk/vinegar to release the co2 bubbles. that is why most people dont let the batter sit. you loose the bubbling that creates the airy pancake goodness. by applying heat, you accelerate the reaction potential and it permits the tomfoolery to occur within the guys attention span. see, even science cares about the food initiated hookup.
another excellent video my texan friend
Food initiated hook-up. teehee!
Yummy! Think I’ll have some of those for supper tonight! Just as easy as using a mix. Lots of people don’t realize that. Hey… about that Paul Bunyan…my favorite part of the story was the mosquito-bees. They had a stinger on both ends and would sting you comin and goin! haha. I used to read that to my third grade students every year. They loved that book and so do I!
Sherry, I am so glad someone else remembers that book! I was worried I’d be all alone in my PB love.
Foot-Butter.
Yes.
Maybe it’s a Texas thing, but you didn’t put maple syrup on your pancakes. Paul & Babe would’ve! New Hampshire maple syrup is the best! What’d you expect from a Great Stone Face?
Not Texas, just me. As I recall, it took lakes and rivers of syrup for Paul’s pancakes!
Not lakes of maple syrup, just barrels of it.
Thanks for the pancakes.Also,I paused the video at 7:41 as you did a transition(clock style?)from a close up and if you stop at just the right time you have a pancke for a head!Very fitting I thought,and damm funny too!
They call me Pancake Head.
I used this recipe tonight to make pancakes for the first time in my life. I added blueberries too. It all came out great, thanks.
It was the first time I was watching your show btw. I watched it on Tv via the blip.TV channel on the Roku device. Then I checked some of your older episodes and I stumbled against your meatballs recipe. This is how we do them in Greece too although we make them smaller and we add mint. Anyways, great stuff.
That’s awesome, Eugenia! Minty meatballs sounds so good, too. I will try that for sure.
Mint! That’s terrific!
We need a few more things to which we can add mint. Besides whiskey.
As long as your meatball mint doesn’t interfere with my whiskey mint, there won’t be any problems.
For typical Swedish pancakes there is a simple recipe:
The basic formula is “2-1-1”
1 part flour
1 egg
2 parts of milk
add a pinch of salt and fry thin pancakes in an iron pan with a table spoon of butter.
Serve with whipped cream, ice cream and jam of your choice.
Thanks! I will have to try your Swedish pancakes some time. I do like ratio recipes.
I made this recipe with almond flour and added some leftover canned pumpkin I had. I also veganized it with egg replacer and almond milk. YUM!
Yumm pumpkin pancakes!
Good morning Hilah,
I wanted to stop by and congratulate you on your three awards! You so deserve it!!! The Potato Latkes looked way yummy and I’m looking forward to making them soon. Although, I would have to use the cooking spray 🙂 sending much love – Margie
Hey Margie! Thanks, hun! Hope you try the potato latkes. I bet your kids will love them!
Hi Hilah
I just want to congratulate you with your awards as Margie says you so deserve it, I love your recipes and would also love to see you on the food channel you are so much fun and you make everything so simple and easy. You inspire me to make things that I always thought is too much work. Keep up the good work and YOU GO GIRL!!!!
Kindest Regards and have a Great Christmas Hope to see Lots more of you in the New Year.
Hi Teresa! Thank you for the congratulations! And especially thank you for watching the show. Any friend of Margie’s is a friend of mine. 🙂
I made these tonight (see website)
Dude, your pancakes look perfect! Mmm!
I hate when directions call for “cook until that side is golden brown” because my x-ray vision has been on the fritz lately. I totally appreciate the “cratery looking things and dry peripheries” way of determining side doneness 🙂
Ahaha! Thanks, D’Aun!
Pancakes and Bacon
http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_liu5z7TGBB1qabj53o1_400.jpg
Hi Hilah, I’ve made pancakes from scratch before but never with baking soda. What does that do for the recipe? Also, I love your style and the way you explain things. Great website. I hope to learn how to cook better than I do now by watching your vids. Thanks again.
Hi Ken!
The baking soda helps the pancakes rise, making them fluffier.
Thanks for your kind words, I’m happy to hear my show has helped you!
-hilah
Great pancakes Hilah loved the video
Thanks, Ethan!
I could never get the hang of pancakes before, but these looked so delicious I had to try to make them. I was NOT disappointed! Thank you for the great tips on knowing when to flip them. They’re so light, fluffy, and buttery tasting. I can’t wait to try some more of your recipes.
Hi Amber!
I’m so so happy they worked for you and that the video helped! Thanks for writing, sister!
Congratulations on your awards!
I use the recipe from America’s Test Kitchen which are really yummy. Of course now I have cravin for hotcakes. Rats and it’s going to be dinner.
Thank you, Sri! Happy to see you here.
Sometimes, I have pancakes for dinner. Shh. And sometimes, I have corn pancakes with black bean salsa on them for dinner. It’s good.
yeah, stopped bugging you on G+ and decided to hit the premesis directly. 🙂
Mmm.. corn pancakes with blackbean salsa.. zounds yummy!
Ha! Not bugging me!
I should put that corn pancake recipe up here soon!
first time learn how to make pancakes my kids love it thank you miss hilah
You are welcome, Fatimazehra! That is wonderful!
I Love your Recipes and the way you cook <3 . <3 Its awesome! (Y)
Its so hilarious and fun to watch you Keep it up and could you also teach how to make caramel custard? 🙂
Hi Sana! Thank you so much! If you’re talking about making flan, then I think I can handle that. 🙂 I love that dish!
Yeah! Flan it is 😀 When are you going to make it? I am soooo excite because in youtube i dont get to learn it from others you explain each and everything and I love that 🙂
Hello again! I’ll try to get that done in April. Thanks for watching the show! 🙂
Hilah,
I used to buy buttermilk when a recipe called for it and I would end up throwing the rest away because it would go bad (who the hell cooks with buttermilk every day?) Anyway, I found out that you can buy buttermilk powder. Yes powder! And you can keep it in your cupboard for like a year. I’m about to run out so I’ll be using your vinegar method soon. Now if you’ll excuse me, I am going to make pancake balls in my pancake ball pan. I too love balls.
Pancake balls! What are those fancy pans called?
Thanks for the powdered buttermilk idea. I too have some in my pantry that I use for breads but never thought to use it in pancakes. Of course! 🙂
I just realized that my response to your inquiry about pancake balls never posted. They are called aebleskiver and I believe they are Danish. Look ’em up. They are amazing.
I have heard of those, Victor! Never tried them, though they look delicious! Thanks, Victor.
Love how easy it is!! I put some bananas and brown sugar in them an my kids went nuts!! You are amazing!
Yummy! Sounds like delicious additions, Danielle!
Hilah, you’re like my hero! =) i love cooking now, i love your videos and you are so hilarious! obviously you’re already well known, but you definitely deserve your own TV show!
Danica, I’m walking on a cloud, to hear you say that! So happy to be a part of your enjoying cooking, too. 😀
Hilah your great to watch, I’ve never put melted butter in my pancake batter before tried it the other day and it was excellent thanks for that tip.but I have to tell ya tried water once that was a no no.thanks again.
Glad you liked the recipe, Nicko!
Hilah.
Loved the video and loved the pancakes. You make me hungry in that kinda Weird way.
So hungry.
Thanks.
Hi Hilah, thanks for great job .. (^_^)
Is it possible to keep the bowl (with the ingredients mixed in it) and just make Pancakes every morning with it? or it will get rottened!
Thanks a lot -again- for the huge efforts, and you just got a loyal follower .. (^_^)
Best wishes ..
Malek ..
Hi Malek!
If you refrigerate the batter, it will stay okay in the fridge for a couple of days. Make sure to cover the bowl so it doesn’t get dry. Thanks for writing!
Made these yesterday for my family and they loved them, of course! Every Hilah recipe we have tried has been wonderful! We used the HEB Mootopia Vanilla Milk (it’s what we had) and it made the pancakes a little sweeter than they would have been with skim milk, but everyone loved them. Thanks for the recipe!
So happy to hear that, Carolyn! 😀 I love a good pancake.
Hi Hilah
Can baking soda be replaced with separating egg yolk and egg white, beating just the white till fluffy.
Is baking soda good for consumption?
Yr comment pls. Thank you
Hi Leong,
That is one way to leaven pancakes and it makes good pancakes. Baking soda is fine for human consumption, especially in the small amounts called for in baked goods recipes. Antacids like Alka Seltzer are mostly baking soda.
I made these this morning and mine turned out super thin 🙁 They didn’t fluff at all. What am I doing wrong?? I followed the recipe exactly.
Love your videos, btw 🙂
Hi Kellie!
Could it be that your baking powder has been sitting in your cabinet for a while and is no longer active?
Thank you from amazing cooking, I still learn how to cook watching. I was suprised when I saw a recepie for Baklava. In Bosnia, we make it for our Muslim holiday Bajram.
Love from Bosnia ♥️
Is it possible to use oil instead of melted butter?
Sure!
We have used this recipe for years. We think we figured out how to elevate these into orbit! Add a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of sugar. You won’t be sorry!
Great recipe, easy to do and, for the first time, pancakes were as expected, hahaha!