Light and Thin Pancakes From Homemade Pancake Mix Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you make pancakes less heavy? ›

Getting your pancakes to be lighter and moister is easy, but takes a little extra effort. The idea is to add more air to the batter just before you make them. No need to add more leavening agents like baking soda or baking powder.

Add Some Butter

Melted butter rounds out the texture of pancakes by adding just the right amount of fat to keep the stacks rich and moist. No need to go crazy with it, though; a little goes a long way. Just add a tablespoon of melted butter per cup of pancake mix for super tasty pancakes.

Baking powder and baking soda are the chemical leaveners typically used in pancakes. They are responsible for the bubbles in the batter, and for making the cakes light and fluffy.

Milk helps make pancakes fluffier than water. Since milk is thicker than water, it creates a thicker batter. Further, if you use whole milk or low fat milk, the fat content helps yield tender, fluffy results.

Pancake batter is slightly lumpy, but not too thick. Your pancake mix should be thick enough to drip off the spoon little by little instead of pouring too easily onto your heated surface. If you believe your mix is too thick, add milk a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the desired consistency.

If the batter seems too thick, add a bit more milk. If it's too thin, add a bit more flour. Make sure you sieve it in to avoid creating lumps and whisk to ensure the mixture is combined.

If your batter is far too watery or soup-like, it'll never congeal enough to get worthwhile pancakes. To fix runny batter, just use a sifter to add in flour by the teaspoon.

Add an Egg

Even if your pancake mix doesn't call for an egg, mix one into the batter. The egg will add richness to the recipe and make the end result taste like homemade pancakes. If your pancake mix already calls for an egg, try adding an extra one.

Over-Mixing the Batter

A slightly lumpy pancake batter is actually a good thing. Sure, our natural instinct when mixing a batter is to make sure everything is nice and smooth—but resist it. Over-mixing develops gluten in the batter, which means heavier, chewier pancakes, rather than light and fluffy hotcakes.

Crêpes, popular in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Portugal, are made from flour, milk, and eggs. They are thin pancakes and are served with a sweet (fruit, ice cream, jam, chocolate spread, powdered sugar) or savoury filling (cheese, ham, seafood, spinach).

What ingredient keeps pancakes from falling apart? ›

Gluten, which is found in flour, keeps pancakes from falling apart. Gluten, a type of protein, forms a “spiderweb” within baked goods, giving them structure. As the starches gelatinize, and turn from a batter to bread, the gluten strands hold them in place.

Blini (plural blinis or blini, rarely bliny; Russian: блины pl.), singular: blin, are an Eastern European pancake made from various kinds of flour or buckwheat, wheat, etc. They may be served with smetana, tvorog, caviar and other garnishes, or simply smeared with butter.

Why pancakes turn out too thick: Dense pancakes, this is different than thick and fluffy, happen because the flour was improperly measured and the batter has too much flour. When the pancake batter is too thick without enough baking powder to help it “lift” you will have dense, thick pancakes as the outcome.

Buttermilk and yogurt are often used in fluffy pancake batters to add thickness, as adding more flour to a thin batter will make a stodgy, thick pancake. Don't be tempted to add cream though, because fat affects gluten and gives a crumblier, less fluffy texture.

Eggs are a crucial ingredient. They provide the cakes with the structure to hold light bubbles. Eggs also give the batter additional, richer flavor from the yolk fat. If you add too many eggs, you'll have “pancakes” that look more like custard or crepes.