The Best Pancake Recipes: Chez Ma Tante, NYT Cooking, and More

Finding a good pancake recipe is weirdly harder than it should be: Breakfast’s ultimate simple starchy pleasure can come in all manners of different flours, require different dairy products, and in recent years, have gone the way of full protein in many people’s approach. But Eater editors, as per usual, have their time-tested go-to versions, which you too can flip out over.

Smitten Kitchen

I was generally of the belief that you didn’t need a recipe for pancakes. Just mix up some stuff in a bowl, pour it on a hot griddle, and see if it, well, pancaked. I don’t know what led me to this Smitten Kitchen recipe in the first place, but I still make them when the morning calls for a little something extra. Yogurt in place of buttermilk, a mix of grains like rye and whole wheat, and a helluva lot of lemon zest give these incredible flavor and texture — they really put the cake in pancake, if you know what I mean. Plus, there’s something very satisfying about squooshing individual berries into the half-cooked pancakes before flipping. — Lesley Suter, special projects director

Jake Leiber adapted by Daniela Galarza, NYT Cooking

I was always a basic box pancake kind of guy before I tried making Chez Ma Tante’s recipe. I’m usually not a great recipe follower, but if I can achieve success, so can you. The recipe has a ton of butter in it: There is clarified butter in the batter, you add butter in the pan for frying, and you top it with butter. It’s really a great way to start your morning. — Stephen Pelletteri, executive director & EP of video

Alison Roman, NYT Cooking

In our house, my partner is the pancake-maker. Making them for us on many Saturday mornings, he’s cycled through a lot of recipes, all of them promising the fluffiest buttermilk pancakes. Most of them have been pretty good, but when he tried this recipe, the results really stood out: good flavor even before adding butter or maple syrup; a fluffy rise on each pancake, with a tender texture; and a crisp, brown exterior. “Is this a new recipe?” I asked, eating even more pancakes than usual. “You should definitely make this again.” It’s become my new favorite, and it makes me especially thankful that we always keep a container of powdered buttermilk in the pantry. — Bettina Makalintal, senior reporter

Betty Crocker

I am not above using pancake mix. No matter how gentle I am with the batter, how much I sift the flour, or how much buttermilk I add, I can never achieve the same level of fluffiness from scratch made pancakes that I get with Bisquick. These pancakes are light and fluffy and come together easily, but the bananas foster topping is really the highlight: sweet and buttery with bananas caramelized in a brown sugar and cinnamon sauce. I love the nutty addition of walnuts that tie the whole thing together. — Kat Thompson, associate editor

Sam Sifton, NYT Cooking

I’m pretty sure it was Tolstoy who wrote, “All happy families are alike. Each sourdough-baking family has to get rid of its discard in its own way.” In my house, where my wife keeps a bubbly, overachieving starter, we regularly use discard in this all-purpose pancake/waffle recipe. It’s easy to prep the sponge the night before baking, it works perfectly well with yogurt in place of buttermilk to activate the baking soda, the rest of the recipe comes together quickly in the morning, and the batter crisps up nicely (even on a stainless steel pan) so it flips without sticking. The pancakes are tangy and not too sweet, ideal for topping with fruit and maple syrup, and they freeze well for those mornings when you wake up to find you forgot to make or buy bread. There are no unhappy families when you’ve got these pancakes. — Nick Mancall-Bitel, senior editor

Food52

This is the pancake recipe I turn to when I want a stack of golden, diner-style pancakes immediately. I appreciate the slight tang that buttermilk or an overnight rest can bring to the table, but let’s be real, I often don’t have the time or foresight to plan breakfast. The ingredient list is about as straightforward as it gets, and it only takes a few minutes to mix up. A generous amount of baking powder gives the pancakes serious loft and a fluffy interior while a spoonful of sugar in the batter helps them crisp and caramelize in the pan. They are your textbook, classic pancakes — and they won’t disappoint. — Kaitlin Bray, director of audience development