At the start of shelter in place in 2020, I started trying to make the fluffiest pancakes. Really tall, full, pancakes without any fancy tools.

I started a twitter thread of them, and as such got lots of questions on how. So here’s three simple rules to follow to get better fluffier pancakes!

Lumps are your friend

The enemy of rich fluffy pancakes is gluten. Gluten develops the more you mix (that’s why we knead bread dough). That’s why you want to do the bare minimum mixing when making pancakes. Sift your dry ingredients to help prevent clumping, but then once the wet are in there be ok with lumps. I also recommend using slightly less wet ingredients than the recipe calls for (especially so with box mix), we’re making tall pancakes, not crepes. We’re going to help solve some of the lumps with…

Let it rest

… letting the mixture rest for 10 (TEN) minutes. I know you want to eat immediately, but this step is important to let the flour fully hydrate and many of those lumps to resolve themselves. This is the time you get out the pan or skillet you’ll be cooking on and start to prepare it so you can cook…

Low and slow

… low and slow! Put your burner on just below medium. I personally use a non-stick pan without any lubricant (I know, I know! But you can use butter if your pan needs some.) Use the ¼ cup measure to scoop out some mixture and pour it into the pan. Since your temperature isn’t too high, you have time to use the cup measure to push around the mixture into the shape you want.

An example

This is a recipe I’ve made a few times, most recently for my family on my trip back to Sydney, Australia.

The correct way to make this is to combine the eggs and sugar, then the rest of the wet together. Who has time for that in the morning though? Just combine them all at once and move on. Make sure to follow the rules above though!

Happy pancaking!