Chef's recipe for 'the best' American pancakes that are 'light and fluffy'

Feb 09, 2024

If you're searching for the best American pancakes recipe, you'll want to try Chef Frank Proto's suggestion. Not only is the delicious recipe going down a treat with foodies, you can cook along with his demonstration video

Nothing screams 'Sunday' like a stack of American pancakes. Whether you like to serve up a pile for brunch or save them for a post-roast snack, the dessert is a classic. But how can you perfect the crowd-pleaser? Well, if you're a fan of "light, fluffy" pancakes you've come to the right place.

Chef and culinary instructor Frank Proto shared his delicious recipe in a recent episode of Epicurious 101, and we've set out everything you need to know below. In even better news, you're likely to find all of the ingredients in your kitchen cupboard, so they're perfect for a lazy weekend. But enough waffle. Let's get to the good stuff, so you can give the recipe whirl and taste the pancakes for yourself.

Frank said: "First thing I do is mix my dry ingredients. So I have all-purpose flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda. The baking powder and baking soda are a must because that's going to give us our leavening, bubbles and make our pancakes light and fluffy.

"So once I've put all my dry ingredients in, I get a whisk just to make sure there's no pockets of any one ingredient, so our dry ingredients are well-mixed." He then started to mix the wet ingredients in a separate jug.

"Together, the apple cider vinegar and the milk make buttermilk," the pro explained. "Part of the reason I use the milk and apple cider vinegar, as opposed to buttermilk, is that whenever I buy buttermilk, I make one dish with it, it sits in the fridge for two weeks, and I end up throwing it away. This way, I always have vinegar, I always have milk, and I can make a quick buttermilk on the spot."

He continued: "Eggs not only add structure, but they add fat and leavening to the pancakes," before he whisked the wet ingredients.

Next, he whisked his wet ingredients to ensure the yolks had broken up, and then it was time for the chef to mix the wet ingredients and dry ingredients together." A lot of people will mix pancakes until they are well combined, I am not that way," explained Frank. Instead, he "mixed it 20-25 times" and then left it alone. "Lumps are okay. Do not mix it anymore. I like my batter to be on the thicker side so we get nice thick bubbles and the pancakes are nice and tall."

To cook his pancakes, the chef opted for an electric griddle. "With this griddle, I can probably make 10 pancakes at a time," he noted. "Couple of items you can buy or use if you don't have a griddle, you can buy a cast iron griddle that goes on the stove, or you can use a non-stick pan or a sauté pan."

Addressing the fat he uses to cook pancakes, the pro continued: "I like to use whipped salted butter. This will give a little saltiness and crispiness to the pancakes. I get a nice heaping dollop of butter on there and spread it around. If your butter gets a little brown, that's ok, it just means the pancakes will have a little brown butter flavour, and that is delicious."

Then "scoop your batter using a large spoon - try not to disturb the rest of the batter - get it onto the griddle." However, you don't need to worry about scooping the perfect circles. "When you're scooping your pancakes, do not be tempted to stir. I'm picking up from the side, leaving all those bubbles intact in the rest of the batter," Frank instructed.

"There's a temptation to flip your pancakes too quickly," the chef added. "I'm watching for the bubbles on top to start popping through. I want my bubbles to pop up through my pancake and the pancake to be set before I start to flip.

As for how you should use your spatula, he said: "When you get under the pancake, a lot of times people push it and they chase the pancake around. You want to get under there, quick push and then flip away from you. If you push toward you all that butter is going to splatter on you. The next temptation is to start pushing down on these. Why? What are you doing when you do that? You are pushing all of the bubbles out. Do not push on your pancakes. Flip them and let them be."

Finally, when you can push on your pancakes and "they spring back", it's time to serve your stack. For toppings, Frank recommended butter and maple syrup. "There is no substitute for salted whipped butter," he claimed. "Salt and sweet go well together."

To ensure flavour throughout, he added butter to the bottom of each pancake layer, before he added a "nice smear on top" and decided to "douse it" with syrup. The final result "just makes you want to smile", according to the chef, and fans were quick to agree and praise the recipe.

One person replied: "My wife is a pancake aficionado and she said these are hands down the best pancakes she's ever eaten. Thank you!" A second said "I am telling you, this is the BEST pancake I have EVER had. This blew away my expectations." And another praised: "I made these today and can confirm that they were absolutely delicious! Light, fluffy and super satisfying!"

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