Thick & Fluffy American Pancakes are always the pancakes for me. Deliciously light & fluffy and fantastic accompanied with crispy bacon and maple syrup. These make the most amazing weekend brunch.
What are American Pancakes?
There is one main difference between American style pancakes and British style pancakes/crepes. This is the raising agent.
With crepes there is no rising agent so they stay perfectly thin which makes them great for stuffing and rolling.
American style pancakes typically have a raising agent which gives them their lovely thick fluffiness.
American pancakes are commonly made into either sweet or savoury pancakes. If I am making savoury pancakes, it will always be Thick & Fluffy American Pancakes.
If you prefer sweet pancakes, try my Blueberry & Lemon American Pancakes.
Does the first pancake always end up in the bin?
It is widely considered that the first pancake will always fail and will end up in the bin.
Although I have never binned a pancake, my first can sometimes be not as pretty as the others.
This is more often that not down to practice and not the pancake gods! I find it is usually because I am getting my pan to the right temperature.
Your first might not be your prettiest pancake, but it definitely won’t need to go in the bin!
Practice makes perfect, so keep going and I’m sure your next pancakes will look beautiful.
Don’t add too much oil/butter to the pan
One easy mistake to make is to add too much butter or oil to the pan and you start to fry the pancakes. This leaves them looking a little greasy and can cause them to become too brown.
You can use spray oil, vegetable/sunflower oil or butter for the pan; just make sure it is only very lightly greased. If you get carried away and add a bit too much, use a piece of kitchen paper to absorb some of the excess.
You need to use a good non stick pan for pancakes. The butter in the batter helps to make sure the pancakes don’t stick so the fat you add to the pan is just an extra guarantee.
Do you have to let pancake better rest?
I have always let my pancake batter rest, even if it is only for 10-15 minutes. This initially was because it was what my Mum always did; but I have since found the benefits.
Allowing your pancake batter to rest has two advantages:
- It allows the flour to absorb the milk. This helps get rid of any remaining lumps that might be in your batter. It also thickens the pancake batter
- It allows the baking powder to evenly distribute in the batter and create even, fluffy pancakes
If you are in a rush and don’t let your pancake mix rest, your pancakes will still be delicious. Resting is just a way to get them even better.
What to serve with Thick & Fluffy American Pancakes
Whenever I make these pancakes, I always serve them with bacon. Pancakes and bacon is such a classic combination that you really must try if you haven’t already.
The common accompaniment is maple syrup. The sweetness of the maple syrup works really well with the saltiness of the bacon.
I am really not a fan of maple syrup. Instead I eat mine with tomato ketchup which I know isn’t to everyone’s taste.
You could serve these pancakes as part of a larger breakfast/brunch with bacon, pancakes and eggs.
How many pancakes will this make?
There very much depends on how big you make your pancakes!
I like to use my largest mechanical ice cream scoop or an American ¼ cup measure to try and make each pancake as similar in size as possible.
This makes six large pancakes. Obviously if you make them smaller, you will be able to make more pancakes.
I think the recipe below would feed two to three people; depending on how hungry they are! You could very easily double or even triple the recipe to feed more people.
Can you reheat these pancakes?
Even though this recipe doesn’t make a huge amount of pancakes, you still might want to eat them all at once.
You can keep them in the fridge for 2-3 days and reheat them when you are ready to eat them. I would lay them in a single layer on a plate and heat in the microwave for 20-30 seconds or until hot.
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Thick & Fluffy American Pancakes
Thick & Fluffy American Pancakes are always the pancakes for me. Deliciously light & fluffy and fantastic accompanied with crispy bacon and maple syrup. These make the most amazing weekend brunch.
Ingredients
- 135 g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- 130 ml milk
- 1 large egg
- 30 g melted butter cooled slightly
- spray oil
Instructions
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Melt the butter in short bursts in the microwave and then set aside to cool slightly
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Sift the flour, baking power, salt and caster sugar into a large jug
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In another jug whisk together the milk and egg before adding the melted butter and whisking again
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Pour the wet mix into the dry mix and whisk until you have a smooth batter. If you have any lumps, just keep whisking until they disappear
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Let the batter stand for a approximately 15 minutes
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Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and spray with oil. When the pan is hot, add a ladle of batter to the pan. If your pan is big enough you can add two at the same time
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When the top of the pancake begins to form small bubbles, it is ready to flip onto the other side. In total it should cook for roughly a couple of minutes on each side until golden brown
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Keep going until you have used up all of the batter making sure you spray the pan with more oil before you add more batter. The cooked pancakes can be kept warm in a low oven or under some kitchen paper
Recipe Notes
Nutritional information is given as a guide only and may vary.
Elaine says
Best pancakes! So easy and fluffy great with bacon and maple syrup – too moreish!!
Curly says
I’ll leave the maple syrup for you but they are so delicious!
Kat (The Baking Explorer) says
Ooo yes please I love a fluffy stack of pancakes, with lots of maple syrup please!
Curly says
I’ll send the maple syrup your way 🙂
Jacqui Bellefontaine says
I have never made eaten a pancake with maple syrup and bacon I really must try this. I occasionally make them for a weekend breakfast so maybe next time looking at your pictures certainly makes me want to try it.
Curly says
You should give it a try! I don’t make pancakes nearly enough!
Eb Gargano | Easy Peasy Foodie says
If it’s for dessert, I’m most definitely a thin pancakes with sugar and lemon kid of girl, but I do love thick american style pancakes for breakfast. Thanks for linking up to #CookBlogShare. Eb x
Curly says
I like your reasoning!x
Sarah says
We often have American pancakes with either bacon or halloumi or occasionally both. I like mine accompanied with either maple syrup or brown sauce.
I find pancakes are enjoyable with, lemon & sugar, chocolate spread, chocolate spread & peanut butter, chocolate spread & sliced banana (are you spotting a theme?).
I also enjoy galettes (French buckwheat pancakes) particularly with mushrooms in a cheese sauce.
Curly says
I’ve not heard of having pancakes with halloumi before, different but I’d like to try it! Haha a theme of delicious things! I haven’t tried galettes but they sound tasty 🙂
Natalia Losada says
Hi! Can I leave the batter stand for more than 15 minutes? If so how long? Thanks
Curly says
Hi Natalia, yes you can leave the pancake batter in the fridge for a day or so. Just make sure you keep it covered in the fridge and you give it a good whisk before you want to use it.