How to make the perfect pancakes – light, fluffy, and super easy to flip!
This could be a game changer.
❤ Pancakes that will NEVER stick to the pan.
I’ve made so many batches of pancakes in my life that I’m surprised it’s taken me this long to finally figure out the trick to perfect pancakes that are light, fluffy, and—most importantly—will not stick to the pan. And I’m even more surprised that when I tried to google how to make pancakes not stick to the pan, the only results that came up were the obvious suggestions to add more fat and to use a nonstick pan.
But there’s one foolproof nonstick secret that isn’t so obvious.
Or at least it wasn’t obvious to me… and now it has completely changed the way I make pancakes.
I’d been working on a particular pancake recipe for the blog (for coconut flour pancakes – I’ll post the recipe soon), and the pancakes tasted delicious but ALWAYS stuck to the pan or broke apart as soon as I tried to flip them. I thought so many times about forgetting the recipe and moving on to something else, but the taste was so good that I just couldn’t give up on it.
I needed to find a way to heat the tops of the pancakes instead of just the bottoms.
My first ideas was… really dumb.
Looking back, I don’t know why I even thought it would work: steaming the pancakes by putting a lid over the top and thus heating both the top and bottoms at the same time. You can already tell what the problem with that thinking is, right? Of course it trapped the moisture and turned every pancake into fall-apart mush.
But then I thought about baking.
Baking the pancakes would apply even heat to all parts of the batter without trapping moisture – it seemed like the perfect solution.
Turns out? IT WAS!
The Secret To Pancakes That Will Never Stick To The Pan:
Simply cook the pancakes inside the oven instead of on the stovetop – they need no flipping, will never stick, and can be easily removed with a spatula when they’re done.
This trick has worked with every pancake recipe I’ve tried so far.
Homemade pancakes with strawberries, blueberries, and coconut whipped cream.
Love.
Tips & Tricks For Best Results:
1. Be sure to use a good nonstick pan for these pancakes and grease the pan well after each batch. Stainless steel just won’t work here.
2. Don’t skip the step of letting the pancake batter sit at least 15 minutes – I made that mistake once, so you don’t have to!
3. Use a potholder at all times when touching the handle of the nonstick pan.
If you try the trick out with your favorite pancake recipe, be sure to rate the recipe below in the comments or post your results to Instagram and tag @ChocolateCoveredKatie so I can see and like your pictures!
The CCK Pancake Trick
Feel free to try out this “oven” pancake method with your favorite pancake recipe. Below is one of my favorites:
How To Make Pancakes Not Stick To The Pan
Print This Recipe
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Ingredients
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp white or apple cider vinegar
- pinch stevia, or 1 1/2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup milk of choice, decreased by 2 tbsp if using maple syrup
- 1 tbsp oil OR more milk of choice
- 1/2 cup spelt, white, or oat flour
- 3 tbsp rolled oats
- scant 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- mini chocolate chips, optional
Instructions
Whisk together all ingredients, and let sit at least 15 minutes. Grease a nonstick skillet (or two skillets if you have more than one) very well, and preheat the oven to 350 F. Drop ladles of batter onto the skillet or skillets, place on the oven center rack, and immediately turn the heat down to 280 F. Bake 8-12 minutes, or until tops of the pancakes are no longer wet and pancakes can be easily removed with a spatula. There is no need to flip them! Re-grease the skillet, and repeat the baking step with remaining pancake batter. Pancakes can be frozen for a later date if desired.
More Pancake Recipes To Try:
Pumpkin Pancakes (They taste like eating pumpkin pie!)
Flourless Pancakes – 3 Ingredients
S’mores Pancakes – from the Hello Breakfast Cookbook
Tavia says
If your non-stick skillet has a plastic handle, is there a chance of it melting in the oven? And if so, have you tested this with a baking sheet and silpat, or do you think they would burn or cook the bottom too quickly due to the difference in thickness between the skillet and baking sheet? I’ve been struggling with a couple different pancake recipes lately and and I’m excited to see if this method will do the trick!
Jason Sanford says
Hmm we haven’t tried doing them on a baking sheet, but it sounds like an interesting experiment. Be sure to report back if you try!
Jason (media relations)
Ashley T says
I’ve been cooking pancakes on a baking sheet for awhile and it works fine!
Homeschool Mom says
Yes, we bake pancakes on a large baking sheet too and it cuts my time at the oven into less than half. I can have pancakes for our family of 5 done in about 35 minutes (and that is including waiting for the oven to preheat). We use an 11×17″ pan with 1″ edges and it has worked great with all my gluten, dairy, egg-free pancake recipes. (I double a recipe so it has 3 cups of flour and that fits the pan nicely) We sometimes add blueberries, too. Cook them at 425 for 8-10 minutes. Just use a pizza cutter to slice them into rectangles or squares to serve. It’s great because they all come to the table hot at the same time.
Rachel says
You mean the baking paper or the tray that comes with the oven?
Melissa says
Most non-stick skillets have some kind of instructions when you buy it that tell you what temperature they are oven-safe for. Of course, if you threw that out and don’t remember, you might be stuck. 🙂 Seems like most non-stick pans that I’ve bought in the last few years have been marked good until at least 400 F.
Paige Flamm says
These pancakes look perfect!
Paige
MH says
yak.. are serious….you might as well boil them..
were you leaving under a rock – just add butter ot oil to the batter..- they will never stick!
Christina says
I think the whole point is to bake them without adding any oil to the pan. Not everyone eats oil or butter.
AmyLynn Hunt says
MH, Christina is right, and I wanted to add that also, the point also is to make a healthier pancake. Which would definitely take “boiling them” out of the running :0)
Katie definitely does not live under a rock, she has wonderful, fresh ideas that have been quite possibly **literal** life-savers at my house – my Dad had a heart attack and still will not change how he eats (or drinks, like a liter of Pepsi every day! Frustrating!) but having Katie’s great recipes and always something new has helped me at least get healthier desserts into his diet. I can’t tell you how much better I feel about him eating these desserts. It is so so much.
And butter isn’t vegan – I think this whole Blog is vegan, a lot of “how to also make it gluten free” recipes – hopefully you looked around a bit and have seen some of the drool -worthy treats.
LUIS TRISTANI LEBRON says
Incorrect because that doesn’t works with coconut milk, with cow milk there is no problem.
Julie says
LIFE CHANGING! I used the pancake trick this morning for breakfast on a paleo pancake recipe I have and you were 100% right, they did not stick or fall apart! In the past I’ve had problems with the pancakes falling apart when I would try to flip them so they never looked very pretty even though they tasted good. But this time they not only tasted good, they also looked as good as they tasted. Thank you so much for coming up with this!!!
Barb says
What type of oil did you use ?
Lois says
Thinking to line a cookie sheet with parchment paper for ease in removal and clean-up.
Kevin says
I would love to hear if parchment paper works!
Hannah says
These were delicious Katie! We loved them and they turned out super fluffy 🙂
Karen says
Since I have always believed ‘non-stick’ to be a very unhealthy idea I have a # of very well seasoned cast iron pans and I find this idea to be ‘life changing’!!! Though one of the comments says “just add MORE butter/oil” I would also disagree here as we all KNOW a WFPBNO diet is the BEST way to go, and even if we do ‘cheat’ a bit here why do so when it’s NOT needed!
I’m betting that a well seasoned cast iron skillet will work here PERFECTLY! I know mine are very close to non stick a just a drop or two of oil guarantees these pancakes will lift off easily and your terrific idea cures the flip and watch the 2nd side stick! Cast iron of course has no problem in oven and I think will counteract the ‘sheet pan too thin so they burn’ issue! Thank you for these ‘keeper’ ideas, Karen
Homeschool Mom says
Cast iron was my first thought too. Since I’m cooking for 5, individual pancakes take a long time. I found that using a quality (thicker, silver) baking sheet rather than a thin, dark, non-stick one worked perfect for us. Just thought I’d add in case others are cooking for a big family also.
Sarah says
This reminds me of something we make at our house. We call it Pancake Cake. So far it works with any pancake mix or recipe. We grease a cake pan with a little coconut oil and pour in our prepared pancake batter. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes. You essentially have what looks like cake for breakfast – or dinner 🙂 Since I have 5 kids, I love it when I don’t feel like flipping pancakes forever. We get a little more creative for birthdays by adding fruit, dark mini chocolate chips or whatever sounds delicious, right into the batter. However, my favorite day to day add-in is a good amount of cinnamon.
Ashley T says
I started baking my pancakes about a year ago. I use a cookie sheet with sides and spread them all out (like a cake or brownies). We’ve been having square pancakes since then (once I cut them). Never did I think about still making them circular! Great idea! They will love that!
Ilta says
Here in Finland we’ve always baked our Pannukakku (=pancake) in the oven! It’s a very traditional dessert 😉
pooja says
Never did I think about still making them circular! Great idea! They will love that!
Kelly says
My husband has thrown the idea of baking the pancakes out there so many times in the past while I was trying to make pancakes. I regularly make gluten free, vegan pancakes with veggies hidden in them for my boys who have digestive issues and that was an issue for us for awhile. Since I have been using a ceramic pan or a copper pan, have not had any problems (well, not that many anyway). I will give this a try. Thanks for the recipe.
Julie says
What about using a cookie sheet?
Rachel says
Love this tip! When I bake pancakes with eggs in my ceramic pan: no problem (although I need to use a lot of oil…), but when I use a non-egg recipe, like the coconut version, they stick, are to thick, fall apart when I try to flip and part of the batter stays stuck to the pan… Last time I tried I gave up and had to throw away the batter :(. I really want to try this option and I am wondering if it would work in a baking dish or in a glass oven dish…. Hmmm….
Cassie Autumn Tran says
Never thought the oven would do the trick! Hmm, I definitely have to try this hack out!
Hannah says
Very clever! I’ll have to try your baked pancake trick next time I make them.
Deirdre says
What a great idea. I really must try baking them. Not standing at the stove cooking them for the whole family appeals to me. Thanks for such a brilliant idea.
VC says
I tried it with a cookie sheet but they came out more like underbaked cookies than pancakes. They were tasty but definitely not pancakes. Also, the recipe above will not yield 10-12 pancakes… it’s only half a cup of flour. I tripled it and ladled 1/4 cup per pancake and got 13 pancakes.
monika says
why not just put the pancakes on a cookie baking sheet lined with parchment?! 😉
Natasha says
This has literally changed my life!!!! Thank you so much. I have done just about everything and I would get so frustrated making pancakes but I love them so much. Why didn’t I think of this before. Doesn’t matter; I’m so glad you did! Thank you thank you thank you! I love pancakes even more now and I didn’t even know that was possible!
V says
Should you allow the batter to rest for 15 minutes no matter what pancake recipe you use, even if the recipe doesn’t say to let it rest, or is the 15 minutes rest time only for this recipe and all other recipes that tell you to wait 15 minutes?
Also, how can you do several “batches” of pancakes? After the first batch comes out, can you put a second batch directly into the oven (that is at 280), or do you need to turn the oven back up to 350, wait for it to preheat, then put the next batch in and turn the oven down to 280?
Jason Sanford says
No need to allow it to rest if it’s a different recipe that doesn’t call for resting. After the first batch of these, you can simply put the second batch right into the already hot oven.
Jason
Amy Green says
This sounds like a great idea. My only concern is that I always make bacon in the oven, and I am worried that the bacon flavor might seep into the pancakes. Anyone have suggestions? (I know Katie is vegan)
Cake Delivery in says
Really a nice and flavored recipe, it’s highly touched to my heart and I don’t have any word to say. YOu are really great. I hope you will provide some more mouth-watering recipe in future. Waiting eagerly for that. Really loving your kindness. Thanks for sharing it here!
Erika says
Thank you so much for all the great ideas. I have been trying to make gluten free pancakes with unsweetened applesauce in place of vegetable oil and they continue to stick no no matter what I put in my pan ahead of time. They always fall apart when I go to flip them. So excited to try them in the oven!!!
Jim Yarrow says
I tried this today and it was, for me, an epic fail. After bringing the pancakes out of the oven, I felt like I was using the spatula like the jaws of life to extract the pancakes from the pans. It was actually worse than doing it stovetop. For context, I used Krusteaz Pancake Mix and 3/4 c. of blueberries, and oil for both pots. Also, the texture of the pancakes was spongy, not at all like what I would expect of pancakes. I rewashed the pans and did them stove top for my wife – she would not have been happy with the first batch.