Quick and Easy Pancake Recipes
Pancake day has to be one of our favourite days of the year – who doesn’t love an excuse to have pancakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Pancakes make everyone happy because they’re so versatile – whether they’re sweet, savoury or fruity, they’re guaranteed to get the whole family around the table.
You might not believe bacon or syrup-drizzled pancakes could be slimming friendly, but we’ve got plenty of recipe ideas that’ll show you otherwise (and they’re SO easy to make)! Keep scrolling for our top pancake tips…
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Essential equipment
There are some really important tools and pieces of equipment that you’ll need in order to ensure that your pancake day is a success. First of all, we can’t stress enough how important a good whisk is to get a smooth pancake batter.
It really is a kitchen essential for so many of our recipes and we love this one from Joseph Joseph as it has an integrated bowl scraper to make sure that none of the mix gets left behind.
This brand also has a whisk that folds down flat to make storage super simple and convenient – perfect if you’re short on kitchen space.
If you’re struggling to get the perfect pancake flip, then a wide spatula is the tool for you!
As the name suggests, it’s much wider than a normal spatula and will help to make flipping your pancakes foolproof. It’s also a really versatile tool to have on hand as it can be used for omelettes, fish and eggs as well.
There are a couple of different things that can help make sure that your pancakes have uniform shapes and one of these is a ladle. More commonly used for scooping out portions of soup or stew, using a ladle to measure out your pancake mix means that you can make sure that you’re using roughly the same amount each time.
If you’re looking to make your pancakes a bit more interesting then why not use some moulds to make them into different shapes? You can buy special pancake moulds online, or you could just use cookie cutters instead – stars, hearts, circles, the sky’s the limit!
To take your pancakes up to the next level, try putting your pancake mix into squeezy sauce bottles like these and using them to draw out different shapes in your pan.
This technique is perfect for kids and you can even use it to make colourful pancakes – just split your mixture between several bottles and mix in a few drops of your chosen food colouring!
All of these tools are important to achieving perfect pancakes, but they’re almost useless if you don’t use a non-stick frying pan.
This is absolutely vital to make sure that your pancakes don’t stick and means that you can cut down on the amount of butter or oil you’re using to grease the pan – and all of those unnecessary calories!
Sweet or savoury?
Contrary to popular belief, pancakes don’t just have to have sweet toppings, they’re also delicious when topped with savoury items as well.
If you’re new to savoury pancakes, then why not give our Bacon and Maple Blueberry Pancakes a go? We know that it sounds weird and like the combination shouldn’t work, but bacon and maple syrup is the perfect mixture of salty and sweet – trust us!
You could also try topping your pancakes with spinach, ham and low fat cream cheese to create a tasty lunch with a twist.
Want to stick to sweet toppings? Our Folded Berry Pancake recipe uses aerosol cream, fresh fruit and Sweet Freedom Light Fruit Syrup, while our Banana and Chocolate Pancakes are filled with fresh bananas, Choc Shot and chocolate spread – two very different, but super indulgent, slimming friendly treats!
If you want to keep it simple and go for the more traditional pancake day toppings, then lemon juice and granulated sweetener work really well and sweetened quark is another fantastic topping option.
Or, why not mix it up a little bit and go all out? We love pancakes topped with loads of Lotus Biscuit Spread and think that they make the perfect weekend, breakfast treat.
Looking to turn your pancakes into a stunning dessert? Top them with roasted pineapple and cinnamon or even some bananas combined with our Custard recipe – the possibilities are endless!
Pancakes not your thing?
We know that pancakes aren’t for everyone and that’s where our quick and easy waffle recipes come in.
Just like pancakes, waffles can be savoury or sweet and we have recipes for both! Give savoury a go with our Onion and Chive Potato Waffles and Potato, Cheese and Onion Waffles, or enjoy sweet toppings with our Strawberry and Vanilla Waffles and Lemon and Blueberry Waffles.
If you do choose these over pancakes, then you’ll need either a waffle maker, or a silicone waffle mould like this one that you can bake in the oven.
Top tips for achieving pancake perfection!
- The first thing to remember when making pancakes is to use a hot pan! You’ll know that it’s hot enough if you can add a couple of drops of water to the pan and they sizzle and jump around.
- Don’t be tempted to move your pancake around while it’s cooking – pop your mixture into a hot pan and leave it alone. Once the edges have started to go crispy and the top has started to bubble slightly, gently lift the sides of the pancake up to check underneath. If the bottom is a light golden brown, then you can get flipping!
- Mix your batter well, but make sure that you don’t over mix it. The aim is to get most of the lumps out, but if you carry on mixing past this point, then you run the risk of stodgy pancakes.
- No matter how tempting it might be, don’t squish your pancakes down with the spatula as this will cause them to flatten and lose that light, airiness. If you find that your pancakes are browning too quickly, just reduce the heat a little.
- Finally, it’s a general rule of thumb that your first pancake will be less than perfect… Treat this as your chef’s perk and enjoy it as a snack while you’re cooking the rest!
We’d love for you to share your pancake day creations with us over on our Facebook Group! Our community members are super supportive and full of fantastic ideas to help you make tasty food that’s slimming friendly!