Pancake Ingredients

While pancakes from a boxed mix are certainly quick and easy, it’s also surprisingly simple to make your own pancakes from scratch. Typical pancake ingredients include:

  • Flour: Most pancakes are made with all-purpose flour, but you can also use whole-wheat flour, buckwheat flour, or gluten-free flour.
  • Sugar: Most sugars work with a basic pancake recipe, such as granulated sugar, coconut sugar, raw sugar, or brown sugar.
  • Baking Powder: Baking powder is the ingredient that creates the light and fluffy texture of the pancakes. You can substitute baking soda, but you’ll need to swap out the milk for buttermilk to provide the acid necessary to activate the baking soda.
  • Salt: A little bit of salt adds a nice balance to the sugar. You will only need about ½ teaspoon of salt; if you’re using salted butter, scale that back to ¼ teaspoon.
  • Milk: Liquid is necessary for a pancake recipe to bind the dry ingredients together. While milk is the most popular, you could substitute any other liquid you have on hand.
  • Butter: Both salted and unsalted butter are great for pancakes. You can substitute a plant-based option if you prefer.
  • Egg: Eggs add structure, flavor, and extra fluffiness, but you can use vegan replacements if you prefer.