I can’t seem to make these pancakes better than I can with boxed mix.
I’m going to attempt it one more time with my KA flour to see if I’m consistently doing it wrong. My pancakes do not have as many holes from the bubbles and neither does it soak up the syrup as it does in your pictures. I’ve tried not to stir too much so I don’t think thats it. My pancakes come out a bit tough and bland

I want my family to beg for my cooking. What in the world am I doing wrong?

Hi Andrew - It’s sometimes a big challenge trying to make homemade “better” than a boxed mix. We all grow up on boxed mixes, and that’s what we’re used to; anything different may be perceived as “not as good.” We run into this all the time with cakes - so many people will prefer boxed cake mix to homemade, because that particular artificial, chemically enhanced taste is what they grew up with. Now, as to pancakes being tough and without holes, try letting the batter sit for awhile. The rest relaxes the gluten (the part that makes them tough), and dissolves the lumps, and thickens the batter so the pancakes aren’t too thin. For holes, are you using a large egg? Fresh leavening? If the batter is TOO thick, the pancakes won’d develop holes. It should pour easily; you shouldn’t need to scoop or spoon it onto the griddle. And are you using KA all-purpose flour (not bread flour?) Don’t give up… if your family is having a hard time moving from boxed mix to homemade, you might want to take the intermediate step of trying our buttermilk pancake mix, which is one of our most popular mixes. Mixes are a GOOD thing - when they’re made with no chemicals and good ingredients. I find them a real time-saver and turn to them when I’m in a hurry. Cheers! -PJH


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Sorry, Leo - I’m not in a position to give health advice. Maybe ask your doctor? -PJH

Hi Paula - It’s $6.95 for the 20-ounce mix, but I’m not sure of quantities and what you add to it. Call 800-827-6836 for more information; I’m sure our customer service reps can help you. - PJH

Barbara, we sell the best pancake mix around… in several different flavors. And I hope you enjoy your visit next week. We’ve been having GORGEOUS perfect weather - hope it holds for you! - PJH

A comment above has me wondering. You’ve said to let pancake batter sit to allow the lumps to dissolve and give the leavener a head start.

I’ve always thought of pancake batter as being basically thin muffin batter. The ingredients seem to be about the same (more liquid in pancakes) and there’s the same tendency of both a pancake and a muffin to get ‘rubbery’ as they cool.

With muffins, it seems that over-beating and trying to get the lumps out will give you a tough muffin. I always assumed this had to do with also beating out the air pockets that form in muffin dough as soon as the liquid hits the batter and the leavener starts working. (I can actually ’see’ these ‘bubble holes’ in muffin batter when I’m spooning it into my muffin cups.) Would that only be the case if the leavener was soda? Or baking powder? Or double-acting baking powder? Or both soda and baking powder? (My Dad’s venerable ‘Sunday Morning Pancakes’ recipe calls for ‘baking powder,’ and that was Calumet back home. I THINK the can said ‘double-acting’ on it, but I don’t remember.)

I read a post on Breadtopia by a man who was a ship’s captain and made sourdough pancakes for his crew every Sunday. The men would trickle into the galley over a two-hour period. Too keep his pancake batter from going flat and making tough pancakes, this man dissolved a pinch of soda in a little water in the bottom of a shot-glass. He put enough batter for one pancake into a bowl, stirred in the soda water, and then poured the batter onto the grill. It gave him light, fluffy pancakes from first to last. His batter didn’t ‘go flat’ over the long period he was cooking the pancakes.

That made sense to me… so I’m puzzled about the comment above that pancake batter benefits from sitting. Wouldn’t that mean that the air bubbles from the leavening would burst every time you poured the batter, making the last pancakes rise less than the first ones?

I suppose the answer lies somewhere in the chemistry of leavenings. Can you clear up this confusion?

Nel, double-acting baking powder works first when it hits liquid, and second when it hits heat. So allowing it to rest, in liquid form, means the first reaction will get things going; and the second reaction won’t happen till you actually pour the pancake batter onto the grill. If these were made with ONLY baking soda (which acts when it hits liquid), I wouldn’t advise them sitting. As for the sourdough, that was smart - adding a little “base” (baking soda) to the acid of sourdough pancakes would definitely make them bubble up and become light. Hope this helps clear things up - PJH

Also, I like the idea of a stovetop griddle for cooking more pancakes or French toast at a time, but I worry it would suffer from the same uneven heating. Do you have any experience with this and is there a griddle you would recommend?

Sarah, your cast iron griddle might be “suffering” from being TOO good a conductor—it’s responding to the exact circumference of your burner, perhaps? Is it hotter directly above your burner coils, or where the flame hits? That could be the issue. Maybe your non-stick pan simply spreads the heat around better.
I love using a griddle. Although it isn’t perfect (every pancake isn’t perfectly browned edge to edge), I appreciate being able to set the temperature to 350°F and having it remain there. And of course, I love how big it is. We’ve used a Cuisinart here in the test kitchen, and currently use an Elite - we’ve found that both work well. - PJH

I’ve often wondered, if, like crepe batter, pancake batter would do well with a rest period after mixing. To my mind, this might let lumps dissolve a bit… but I don’t know how long the leavening would last. It would also be nice - for convenience sake - to be able to mix the batter up early.

Melissa, absolutely. Pancake batter usually benefits by resting for a minimum of 10 minutes, and up to an hour at room temperature, if you’re using it fairly quickly. As you said, it allows any lumps to dissolve, plus the leavening gets a bit of a head start. Longer than an hour, though, stick it in the fridge, and it should be good overnight. And longer than 24 hours or so, it starts to kind of separate and break down (at least in my experience). -PJH

Thanks, Elizabeth - good advice on both counts. I’m proud you’ll use this recipe in your class! - PJH