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Fluffy, Fluffy Pancakes

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A Pinterest-optimised image with two photos of the fluffy pancakes stacked on plates, separated by text.

These super fluffy pancakes are sure to be a showstopper at your next brunch party! This recipe is quick, easy, and doesn’t require any buttermilk!

Admit it, a world without pancakes would be bleak, maybe not even worth living in. You love pancakes, don’t you? You do. It’s okay, I do too. My favourite thing about pancakes (other than eating them, of course!) is watching maple syrup drip off the edges of my pancake tower, like some sort of sun-kissed waterfall.

Fluffy pancakes are one of my all-time favourite Sunday morning breakfast treats. The problem is that a lot of great pancake recipes call for buttermilk. (Honestly, who keeps buttermilk at home? Is that a North American thing?)

Without it, you can end up with a flat, lifeless pancake that looks too much like a lost crepe. Here’s a quick and easy recipe to make super fluffy pancakes with ingredients you probably already have at home. Never buy that horrid box of premix again. Please.

A dark moody photo of large, fluffy, pancakes on a dark blue plate.

This is what moody pancakes look like.

Can you make Fluffy Pancakes without Buttermilk?

In short, yes. This pancake recipe uses no buttermilk at all (it does require regular milk though). So, you may ask, what’s the deal with buttermilk? Well, it’s terribly in vogue when it comes to baking. And there’s a reason for it. The acidity in buttermilk helps the pancakes rise.

On the flip side, I’ve never known anyone to regularly stock up on buttermilk. In fact, until I moved to Canada, I had never even seen buttermilk… not even at a supermarket!

(If you’re ever in a real pinch – you can create your own buttermilk alternative by mixing a cup of milk with a tablespoon of white vinegar and letting it sit for 10 minutes. Perhaps less conventionally, you could also use a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice instead of vinegar. Neither option tastes as good as the real thing, but they’ll do the trick. Thankfully, with this recipe – you won’t need to!)

Now, if you do happen to have buttermilk, you can give this Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes recipe a shot!

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Sifting flour is a beautiful thing. It’s like making snow fall… And then turning it into a cake.

Why are my pancakes flat? How can I make my pancakes fluffier?

There are a number of factors that can lead to your pancakes being flat. But here are the four horsemen of the pancake apocalypse (pancalypse…panpocalypse…pancakalypse…help):

  1. Overmixing your batter – overmixing your pancake batter will deflate a lot of the air bubbles in your batter, making it difficult for your pancakes to rise into the light and fluffy pancakes you want (the video in my recipe section is an example of this!). Secondly, it’ll develop gluten. And too much gluten will result in a tough, chewy pancake.
  2. Stale Baking Powder – baking powder typically has a shelf life of 9 months to a year. To check whether your baking powder is still fresh, simply stir half a teaspoon of baking powder into a cup of water. If you see an immediate reaction (it’ll fizz up, bestie!), then it’s still good to use. If not, you should consider replacing it.
  3. Humid Conditions – This is based on an observation made by many of my readers (you can see it mentioned in the comments section below). But a very humid kitchen results in a runnier batter, which means less fluffy pancakes. If you happen to be in a place that is very humid, try putting your batter in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to make sure it doesn’t become too fluid/runny.
  4. Not Letting Your Batter Rest – Letting your batter rest before cooking allows the starch granules in the flour to expand resulting in an airier pancake.

Also…make sure to relax, bestie. Making pancakes should be a pleasurable experience! And this fluffy pancake recipe is simple; it doesn’t require any fancy steps (like whipping egg whites into a meringue). Be mindful of the tips above, and pay attention to your heat management, and you’re sure to be fine.

(If you want to do a little reading, check out my How to Read a Recipe Post – it’ll help you understand the procedures and the measurements used in a recipe post, like this one!)

Of course, if you do end up burning your first pancake, just remember what they say: “Le première crepe est pour les chiens!” (A French saying meaning, “The first crepe is for the dogs!”).

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The faster you cook, the sooner you eat!

Other No-Buttermilk Pancake Recipes You Need to Check Out

Here are three other amazing pancake recipes that don’t require any buttermilk at all. Each one is unique, and delicious!

Golden maple syrup being drizzled on a pat of butter on top a stack of fluffy pancakes.

Maple syrup over a pat of butter. Yes, please!

Fluffy Pancakes, Updated: What’s Changed?

If you’ve been visiting my blog for a while, you may realise that this is a republished version of one of my very early blog posts (also titled, “Fluffy, Fluffy Pancakes”, originally published: February 17th 2015). I’ve updated the post quite significantly.

While the recipe is the same great pancake recipe it’s always been, I’ve rewritten the post with the aims of addressing some of the major questions I’ve received from commenters over the last few years. If there’s anything you feel is still missing, please do let me know with a comment below.

I’ve also done my best to create a clearer, more readable post, while maintaining the gist and the feel of the original. (The original post was written quite some time back, it was mostly me rambling about how much I love pancakes!)

A delicious stack of five extra fluffy pancakes stacked atop a blue plate.

Helpful Tools

Heads up! The following are affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, I will receive a small commission. You won’t need to pay a penny more, but it’ll help keep my lights on! Thank you bestie, you rock!

Luckily, it doesn’t take much equipment to make perfect pancakes. It is however a lovely feeling to have all the right equipment. Here are a few little things that might make your pancake-making experience just that much sweeter.

While I’ve still got your attention, please do take a moment to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube. Or you can subscribe to my mailing list – don’t worry, I’ll never give out your information or send you any spam. Thank you, bestie!

A stack of fat fluffy pancakes on a white plate with a blurred out background.

It’s easy to add chocolate chips, just fold a few handfuls into your batter. Mmm… look at that delicious chocolate!

Let’s Time Travel

One Year Later: Baked French Toast
Two Years Later: Cream Puff Swans (Choux Pastry)
Three Years Later: Homemade Spaghetti & Meatballs

Print
A photo of five super thick and fluffy pancakes stacked atop one another on a blue plate.

Fluffy, Fluffy Pancakes

★★★★★

4.6 from 205 reviews

  • Author: Riz | Chocolates & Chai
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 15 mins
  • Total Time: 30 mins
  • Yield: 6-7 Pancakes
  • Category: Breakfast & Brunch
  • Cuisine: American
Print Recipe

Description

A surefire recipe to make fat and fluffy pancakes, without any buttermilk or special ingredients.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup All-Purpose Flour, sifted
  • 2 tsp Baking Powder
  • Pinch of Salt
  • 2 tbsp White Sugar
  • 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp Milk
  • 1 Large Egg, beaten
  • 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter, melted
  • 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
  • Canola Oil (or any other vegetable oil), for cooking

Instructions

  1. Combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder into a bowl and mix well.
  2. In a separate bowl, mix the egg, milk, vanilla, and melted butter together. Be careful not to use hot, melted butter, as that may end up cooking your eggs!
  3. Pour the wet ingredient mixture into the dry ingredients and stir till mostly incorporated. The batter should be thick and a little lumpy, but without any visible streaks of flour. If it is too thick to work with, add a little milk. Set the batter aside for 5-10 minutes.
  4. Heat a heavy-bottomed, non-stick pan over a low-medium heat and coat it with oil. Use a 1/4 cup measure to scoop and drop the batter into the pan so that you get evenly-sized pancakes.
  5. Cook until the first side is golden brown, or until the top surface forms bubbles. Flip and repeat on the other side. Adjust heat accordingly. Serve while still hot.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

    • Hey Monique! I’ve personally not tested this with buttermilk in a long time so I don’t quite remember how it turns out…I think a few other commenters have tried it and found it worked fine 🙂

      Reply

  3. These are AMAZING! We use this recipe every Sunday – if we buy pancakes, my little girl says ‘not as good as Mummys’!! thank you so much for such a wonderful recipe xxxx

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  4. This recipe is amazing!!! These are sooooo good (and fluffy) I baked these for my little brothers. They loved them. I’m definitely going to bake these again sometime!!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  5. Me and my daughters made this recipe today they loved them! Although I only had self raising flour so I just used that and half the amount of baking powder. I did accidentally put n extra cup of milk so I had to double up on the ingredients lol so we have left over batter for tomorrow 😀
    Thanks alot from down under!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  7. Thank you so much! I’m a beginner at cooking, and was quite disappointed with the plethora of flat hard pancakes I kept making. This recipe has finally resulted in fluffy pancakes. Yaaay!

    Reply

  8. Would this recipe work if I make the batter over night? Or do you have another recipe I can do that way? My time is super limited in the mornings so I never get to make pancakes from scratch 🙁

    Reply

    • Hey Lily! I totally understand the difficulties of limited time in the morning. Yes, I think this should be fine if you make the batter the night before, cover and refrigerate, and cook the next morning 🙂 Hope you enjoy them! 🙂

      Riz

      Reply

  9. I haven’t tried these yet but plan to soon! Was wondering if I double the patch if these would be good leftover for a few days?

    Reply

  10. Two-thumbs-up pancakes 😄everytime!!!
    Fulffy & lightly sweetened. My family loves them!
    Thankyou soo much for sharing this great recipe
    ❤️❤️❤️

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • Hello there! Thank you so much! I’m so happy to hear your family loved the pancakes. I hope you make them often! And please do check out some of my other recipes too!

      Reply

  12. Just made this recipe for the first time today. I was searching for a fluffy pancake recipe. This recipe did NOT disappoint! It tasted so good, instructions were amazing, and overall a pretty easy recipe to make. Thank you for this post, this will now be my go to recipe for pancakes going forward.Thanks Riz!

    Reply

  13. Promised the kids pancakes for dinner and had to google a “no buttermilk no oil” recipe once I realized that I had no mix! Very, very pleasantly surprised by the quality of these. I subbed extract for vanilla bean paste and added berries to the mix and cooked them on a griddle for 375°
    Will 100% use this recipe again. I might not even buy a new box of mix!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  14. These pancakes are amazing. I make them often during the week for my kiddos. Thats if i wake up 30 minutes before them!!! Boxed pancake mix is no lo ger wanted jn this house 🙂

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  15. OMG probably one of the best pancakes I’ve ever made thank you so much for the recipe…we will definitely be making again!!!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • Hey Kruti! I’ve never tried using either almond milk or applesauce, but I remember another commenter saying she had good results using applesauce. Hope it worked out for you too??

      Reply

  17. I am rubbish at making pancakes. I came across this recipe and made a double batch. They turned out perfect, every single pancake! I normally burn a couple! Lol!! Amazing recipe, Beautiful fluffy pancakes! Thank you so much! My kids devoured them!
    Just made another double batch for Christmas morning, and I’m gonna freeze them now, so I can enjoy Christmas morning with my kiddos!!
    Thanks so much 😊❤️

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • Leeanne! Your comment has honestly made my day! I so glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe so much, and that your kids loved them too! Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

      Reply

  18. These are delicious. Finally an American pancake recipe without buttermilk! . No need to pay for overpriced branded pancake mixture from the states to the U.K. now. Made these this morning and such a hit. Delicious. I had to leave out the sugar as I shared them with my 8 month old but a bit of maple syrup on mine sweetened it right back up. Baby loved them too!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • Hi Alice! So glad to hear you and the baby loved them!!! And yes, a recipe without buttermilk and an alternative to expensive box mix is exactly why I felt I needed to share this recipe. Thank you so much for giving it a try 🙂

      Riz

      Reply

  19. I am the worst at making pancakes! Does the milk need to be at room temperature before adding butter? I’m assuming so since my butter clumped…

    Reply

    • Hey Jennifer! Yes, if your butter is clumping, then the milk is likely too cold (generally, unless advised otherwise, when baking – room temperature ingredients are used for everything). That said, you should still get pretty yummy pancakes even with clumped butter as it’ll mix into the dough somewhat when you mix the wet and dry ingredients. And any remaining clumps will form little bursts of steam when being cooked that will help create air. 🙂

      Reply

  20. These are, hands down, the best pancakes I have ever made!! Finally a recipe that works and actually makes fluffy, gorgeous pancakes! Just made for New Year’s Day breakfast for a house full of teenagers – huge hit!
    Thank you so much for sharing!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • Happy New Year, Pam! I’m so glad you found my recipe in time for 2019! Hope you all have a wonderful year! And please do visit again 🙂

      Reply

  21. Loved these pancakes! Best recipe we have ever used. Loved them so much that we made them two mornings in a row.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  22. One of the best pancake recipies I’ve tried so far. Been cooking this for the last few Sundays for my family’s breakfast! Will be our regular breakfast item from now on.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • Hi Kathy,

      I’ve not tried, but I’d guess that if you’re using salted butter, you won’t need any additional salt. Hope it turned out well!

      Reply

  24. This is a great full proof recipe. my pancakes always turn out bleerrrr but this time they really came out great.ofcourse i made a few substitutions based on what i had in my kitchen. I used cake flour. which i sifted with a fork because I dont have a sieve or whisk. margarine instead of butter (butter is 4 times more expensive than margarine so i only buy it probably once 9r twice a year for special dishes. Also used brown sugar instead of white. it is the only one we buy in our home. best pancakes i have ever made and had!! and recipe gave me 5 pancakes

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  26. Hi! I plan to try the recipe, seems to be a hit to everyone who tried! Just wondering, since I’ll give them to my 1yo, can i remove the salt and sugar? Or replace them with something else (healthier)?
    Can the all purpose flour be replaced as well? With coconut, almond or wheat flour?
    Thank you!!!

    Reply

    • Hi Sarah! I’ve personally not tried removing the salt and sugar, and changing out the flour…but I know some other commenters have done so and have had mostly good results 🙂

      Reply

  28. Hi Riz, I do something else to make my pancakes rise beautifully. I separate the white from the egg and beat the white to soft peaks. Once I’ve combined all of the other ingredients I FOLD in the egg whites.. They look like regular pancakes until they are turned and then they immediately start puffing up and rising.

    As to buttermilk, I guess I am the odd man out… I DO keep buttermilk in my refrigerator. It keeps a really long time. But I always have it readily available for pancakes, ranch dressing, or some cakes.

    Reply

  29. Hi Patricia! Thanks for commenting! I agree, separating the egg white from the yolk and beating into soft peaks is a fantastic method (I actually use it in my Lemon Mascarpone Pancakes recipe) – I haven’t used it here because the intention behind this recipe is one that is quick and easy enough to be accessible to just about everyone. 🙂

    Reply

  30. These were so easy and quick to make and tasted delicious! This is the first pancake recipe I’ve tried making pan-sized pancakes with and they were surprisingly easy to flip! Thank you!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  32. I don’t like pancakes. They aren’t terrible or anything, but I would always prefer waffles or French toast. My son has been asking me to make pancakes for a couple of weeks now and I decided to go ahead and do it today. I found this recipe on Pinterest and tried it. We all loved them! (Including me!) And I loved how mine actually turned out to look like the ones in the picture. I’m looking forward to making these again in the near future.

    Reply

  33. Hi Riz
    Isn’t this a picklet recipe?

    To me, pancakes are like a thick crepe. They aren’t supposed to be fluffy, and they have no sugar. They come close to the size of your dinner plate.

    A picklet is palm sized (about a centimeter thick) that is fluffy. These are served singularly with maybe butter/margarine and jam, maybe add some whipped cream for an indulgent but innocent afternoon delight.

    And then there are hotcakes that are about the size of a slice of bread, and are as fluffy as you can get. Stack these puppies up for the naughtiest but most rewarding treat with the maple syrup and ice cream.

    I dunno. That’s just why I was confused by the name of this recipe and the way it’s served in the video. Maybe the terms are used more interchangeably in America.

    Reply

    • Hey Fiona!
      I’ve never heard them called picklets before…I’ve done a quick Google search, and from what I can see, pikelet is only used in certain parts of the UK (I grew up there but never heard the term myself!) and Australia/New Zealand – from what you’re describing, I think I’ve known pikelets as crumpets. (And this definitely is not a crumpet recipe!)

      I’ve heard hotcakes as an alternative word for pancakes. I’m not sure where they’re commonly called hotcakes (US, I think?), but pancakes are definitely the common name for them. Hope that helps and that you found what you’re looking for! 🙂

      Reply

  34. Good recipe but not big enough for my family of 5. I scaled it up and added Cinnamon, Baking soda, and Brown sugar.
    INGREDIENTS
    • 2 cup All-Purpose Flour, sifted
    • 2 tsp of ground cinnamon
    • 4 tsp Baking Powder
    • ¼ tsp Baking Soda
    • ½ tsp of Salt
    • 1/3 cup White Sugar
    • 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
    • 1 ½ cup of milk, plus ¼ cup extra if needed
    • 2 Large Egg, beaten
    • 4 tbsp Unsalted Butter, melted
    • 3 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
    • Canola Oil (or any other vegetable oil), for cooking

    Reply

    • Hey Edward! Thanks for commenting! I love the addition of cinnamon (yum!). (And yes, this recipe makes 5-6 pancakes which is usually good for 2 people-ish.)

      Reply

  37. These are so great! Such a great combo. Didn’t love the taste that the canola oil in the pan added. Would maybe try greasing the pan with butter instead? Otherwise, these are perfect. Love scooping them with a quarter-cup- that’s the perfect size. Thanks!

    Reply

    • Hey there! So glad you enjoyed the pancakes! Yes, butter should work well (it’ll need a bit more replenishing as these don’t always cook super quick, so keep some extra nearby!), though there shouldn’t be enough canola oil in the pan to change the flavour. 🙂

      Reply

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