It’s a Sunday morning, you’re suddenly craving a stack of perfectly moist fluffy chocolate chip pancakes, so you go to your favorite café and order some.. and guess what? They got you hooked on the spot.

Many people think making fluffy pancakes requires expert pancake skills, but I’m here to prove to you otherwise. They’re so quick and easy to make you’ll end up having #PancakeSundays as a thing. Here I’m going to show you the tips and tricks to get these done in 5 easy steps, along with 3 different pancake variations ideas. Your weekends will never be the same again.

#PancakeSundays Tips & Tricks  

My Sundays often begin with a moist fluffy stack of pancakes, and the secret is ALL in the pancake batter. If it’s too runny, the pancakes won’t fluff up. Too thick, and the pancakes will be undercooked on the inside.

Tip: The perfect fluffy pancake batter is thick BUT at the same time, it very smoothly runs off the spoon/whisk. If your batter has a few lumps, that’s ok, you can smoothen them out with the spoon/fork or whisk. That being said, here is how you make them

Fluffy Pancakes Basic Ingredients

This recipe yields 6 fluffy pancakes:

Dry Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour (150 g)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar (38 g)

Wet Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon of any vinegar or lemon juice
• 1 cup of milk (250 ml)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons of melted butter or cooking oil (30 g)
• 1 large egg

Tip: Vinegar activates the baking soda (due to its acidity), giving the pancakes the extra rise. You can substitute with lemon juice or other clear vinegar (apple cider, rice vinegar, etc.)

Instructions

1. Use a whisk/fork or hand mixer to whisk the egg until it’s light and fluffy, then add the other wet ingredients. Thoroughly mix them to create your batch of wet ingredients.

2. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add the wet ingredients. Slowly fold them into the dry ingredients. Mix until smooth (a couple of lumps are normal).

Tip: The consistency of the batter will be thick and creamy. If you find the batter too thick -- doesn't pour off the whisk smoothly -- fold a couple of tablespoons of extra milk into the batter at a time until reaching desired consistency.

3. Set the batter aside and allow to rest while heating your non-stick pan over low-medium heat.

4. Lightly grease the pan with a small amount of cooking oil. Pour ¼ cup of batter onto the pan ()

5. When the underside is golden and bubbles begin to appear on the surface, flip with a spatula and cook until golden. Repeat with the remaining batter.

6. Stack the pancakes on a plate and serve with honey/ pancake syrup, a fruit of your choice, ice cream, or frozen yogurt, or enjoy plain!

Tip: If you want your pancake fluffy, don't spread the batter on the pan after pouring it in

Pancake Variations

The best thing about pancakes is with a slight twist on one or two ingredients you can have different flavors of pancakes. Let’s face it, fluffy vanilla pancakes are a classic but having them every single time can get a bit boring over time. So as I promised, here are 3 different pancake variations you can try.

Having different flavor variations is super easy, just use the fluffy pancakes basic ingredients above, and alter it as follows.

1. Lemon Pancakes

Add: 1 tablespoon of lemon zest

Mix the lemon zest with the pancake batter

Important note: For lemon pancakes use 1 tablespoon of lemon juice as your acid component as opposed to vinegar.

2. Chocolate Pancakes

Add: 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder

Mix the unsweetened cocoa with the dry ingredients

3. Cinnamon Pancakes

Add: 1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Mix the cinnamon with your dry ingredients

Expert Tips

• Make sure you don’t overmix your batter. Lumps are just fine!
• Let the batter rest a little bit while you warm up the pan or griddle, set the table, etc.
• The perfect pancakes start with a pan at the right temperature. My best trick is to flick just a bit of water on the grill. If it immediately sizzles, then I’ll start with a small test pancake.
• Bubbles will form and burst on the pancakes when they are ready to flip. Just be patient after adding the batter to the grill, it will happen! Don’t flip them before the bubbles come to the surface and burst or they will be undercooked and heavy, instead of light and fluffy!

If you try any of these tips or recipes and find them share-worthy – which I hope you do – please share. Tag #smodernhealth on Instagram and don’t forget to check out my other blog posts!