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A fluffy stack of pancakes, dripping with maple syrup and topped with a square pat of butter, is an icon of culinary Americana. Almost every culture has its own version, and eating pancakes dates back tens of thousands of years to prehistory, when humans mixed patties prepared from plants or rudimentary flour and cooked them on hot rocks.
Pancakes (whether proto or modern) are elemental and universally loved. Food writer and cookbook author Khushbu Shah recently penned an L.A. Times guide to her favorite pancakes in the city, including: cornmeal mochi pancakes at Yang’s Kitchen; crispy-edged ones that soak up blueberry compote at Telegrama; a single burnished, yeasted cake at Cafe Tropical; and the massive stack, maybe mounded with whipped cream, at the Griddle Cafe.
But making your own pancakes is easy. They might have been the first thing you learned to cook. I remember staring at creamy circles of batter (sometimes “silver dollar”-size or configured to look like Mickey Mouse’s silhouette) on the surface of my mom’s glintingly black Teflon pan, waiting for what seemed like forever for bubbles to appear.
You want bubbles. Bubbles are key. Bubbles mean light, fluffy pancakes.
Most recipes with leaveners such as baking soda and/or baking powder call for resting the batter for 5 to 15 minutes after its mixed. (Don’t overmix, or it will form too much gluten and result in tougher pancakes.) The resting — even if it’s just while the pan heats up on the stove — helps create bubbles. Starches in the flour absorb the batter’s liquid and swell up, and the leavener activates, forming bubbles. During cooking the gas in the batter will cause the bubbles to rise and break on the top of the pancake, which is your cue to flip.
And for crispy edges? Use a lot of sizzling butter.
Here are eight pancake recipes — so you can make a batch this morning.
🍪 Don’t forget to enter the 2025 L.A. Times Holiday Cookie Bake-Off. Entries will be accepted until Monday, Oct. 13. Submit a recipe, tell us a little bit about it and include a photo if you have one.
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Hot And Fluffy Pancakes
You can double or triple the amount of dry ingredients in this recipe and keep the mix in an airtight container for a homemade “instant” pancake mix, former L.A. times Cooking editor Ben Mims says. When you’re ready to make pancakes, scoop out a heaping 2 cups of the mix and proceed with the recipe, combining it with the liquid ingredients in Step 1. This recipe calls for resting the batter for 5 minutes.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 20 minutes. Serves 2.
(Caroline Marks / For The Times)
Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes
Cook these pancakes in a cast iron pan with plenty of butter over medium-high heat, notes former Food editor Amy Scattergood. For crispy edges like bronze filigree, she says the trick is to calibrate the heat, so that the interior cooks through while the edges pan-fry and get crispy. Also, if you don’t use all the pancake batter, put the extra in the fridge, where it will keep for up to a few days. Just add more milk to make the cold batter pourable.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 55 minutes. Serves 4 to 6.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Ti)
Whole Wheat Pancakes
Whole grain flour in this recipe — another from Amy Scattergood — gives the pancakes more flavor. Source locally milled flours such as from Grist & Toll or Tehachapi Heritage Grain Project. The batter is more resilient, so you can whisk without worry of overmixing. It also benefits from a bit of a rest.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 45 minutes. Serves 4.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Ti)
Icebox Cafe’s Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
These lemon ricotta pancakes bake up slowly in the oven — each one in a separate pan — and are served fresh with whipped cream cheese on the side. Time consuming, but worth the wait on a lazy Sunday morning.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 35 minutes. Makes 8 pancakes.
(Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Tim)
Chunky Apple Pancakes
This pancake, chunky with apple pieces, is adapted from A.P.P.L.E. (Apple Publicity Promotion Ladies Effort), published in “Sebastopol Gravenstein Apples: Sweet & Savory Recipes.” It isn’t Gravenstein apple season, but you could use Granny Smith, Jonathan or Braeburn. To make the cinnamon butter, whip room temperature butter with cinnamon and a little bit of powdered sugar.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 35 minutes. Serves 4 to 6.
(Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)
Sweet Potato Pancakes With Brown Sugar Butter Sauce
Fresh off the griddle, these warm sweet potato pancakes are lightly spiced and deliciously aromatic. Top them with maple syrup, or drizzle them with the recipe’s rich praline-like brown sugar butter sauce.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 1 hour 10 minutes. Serves 4 to 6.
Pumpkin Pancakes
These light, spicy pancakes say fall. The batter — spiced with cinnamon, allspice and ginger, and sweet from pumpkin — also includes beaten egg whites, for extra fluffiness. Gently mix the ingredients. It’s OK if the batter is still lumpy. Once cooked, all they need is a light dusting of powdered sugar.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 25 minutes. Serves 4.
(Anacleto Rapping / Los Angeles T)
Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes
Ricotta cheese and egg yolks are whisked together just enough to ensure that there are no large lumps of cheese (if the mixture is too smooth, the pancakes will be wet and grainy). Egg whites are whipped to medium-stiff peaks, folded gently into the batter, for a fluffy stack.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 45 minutes Serves 8.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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