Classic Pancakes

Why This Recipe Works

• Simplicity is the technique. Five pantry ingredients, one bowl, no fancy equipment. This proves you don't need buttermilk or ricotta to make excellent pancakes.
• Sifted dry ingredients ensure the baking powder is evenly distributed — no dense spots, no overly puffy spots, just consistent rise.
• The well method prevents overmixing by giving you spatial control over how much flour gets incorporated per stir.
• Melted butter in the batter adds richness and tenderness without the complexity of creaming.
• Minimal sugar keeps the sweetness in the syrup, not the pancake — these are a vehicle for maple.

The Simplicity Principle

There's a reason every diner in America makes pancakes from this same basic formula: flour, milk, egg, butter, baking powder. It's the minimum viable pancake. Every ingredient is load-bearing — remove any one and the recipe falls apart. Add too much of anything and you've overcomplicated something that should be effortless.

Andrew Rea's approach to this recipe reflects his broader cooking philosophy: master the fundamentals before chasing trends. Japanese soufflé pancakes and ricotta pancakes are wonderful, but they're variations on a theme. This is the theme. A stack of golden, symmetrical pancakes with crispy edges and a fluffy interior, drowning in real maple syrup.

The baking powder does all the heavy lifting here. Unlike buttermilk recipes that use baking soda (which reacts with acid), this recipe relies on double-acting baking powder — it produces gas when wet and again when heated. Two chances to rise, zero acid required.

Step-by-Step Guide

The well method is old-school for a reason. Pile your sifted dry ingredients in a bowl, push a crater in the center, and pour the wet ingredients into the crater. Start stirring from the center, gradually pulling flour from the walls into the liquid. This gives you control — you can stop the moment the batter comes together, rather than trying to stir a fully wet bowl of flour and inevitably overmixing.

The batter should look rough. Lumpy. If it's smooth, you've gone too far. Those lumps are small pockets of dry flour that will hydrate during the brief rest and during cooking. They won't show up in the finished pancake.

Medium heat on the griddle — this is where most people go wrong. They crank it up because they want that golden color faster. But high heat means the outside cooks before the inside sets, so you get a dark shell around raw batter. Medium heat and patience. Two minutes per side. Bubbles across the surface are your signal. Flip once. Done.

Stack them tall, add an obscene amount of butter between each pancake, and pour warm maple syrup over the whole thing. This is breakfast at its most fundamental and most satisfying.