What Each Ingredient Does in Pancakes

The short answer: flour gives a pancake its structure, milk hydrates the flour and sets how thick or thin the batter is, and eggs bind the batter so it sets into something you can flip. Everything else fine-tunes the result: sugar and salt for flavour and browning, butter or oil for tenderness, and baking powder, bicarbonate of soda or buttermilk for lift in thicker pancakes.

A classic British pancake needs only flour, milk, eggs and a pinch of salt. American-style pancakes add a raising agent, a little sugar and usually melted butter. This page sets out what each ingredient is there to do in one table, then gives a short explanation of each, with a link to our more detailed guide wherever there is one.

Pancake ingredients and their functions at a glance

Flour

Flour is the frame of the pancake. When it is wetted and stirred, two of its proteins join up to form gluten, a stretchy network that lets the pancake bend without tearing. In the pan, its starch swells and sets, which is the moment a liquid batter becomes something you can lift. Overmixing builds too much gluten, which is a common reason for chewy pancakes. Our guide to the best flour for pancakes explains how plain, self-raising and other flours compare.

Milk

Milk is the main liquid, so it decides the consistency: more milk for a thin British pancake, less for a thick American one. It hydrates the flour, which gluten and starch both need, and its natural sugar and proteins help the surface brown. Water makes a usable batter, but the pancakes come out paler and taste plainer. See which milk works best for pancakes for whole, semi-skimmed and plant milks side by side.

Eggs

Egg proteins firm up as they heat, binding the batter and giving the pancake its body. The yolk also keeps the fat and liquid blended, adds richness and helps browning. If you whisk the whites separately, they trap air too, which is how Japanese soufflé pancakes get their height. Read what eggs do in pancakes for yolk versus white and the effect of an extra egg, or pancake batter without eggs if you need to leave them out.

Sugar

Sugar is optional in a British pancake, where the sweetness usually comes from the topping. In American-style batters it speeds up browning and helps the pancake hold on to moisture, so it stays soft. Add too much and the outside colours long before the centre is cooked. Our guide to sugar in pancake batter covers how much each style actually needs.

Salt

A pinch of salt is not there to make pancakes taste salty. It sharpens the other flavours and balances sweetness, which is why a batter without it can taste flat even when everything else is right. If you cook with salted butter, the batter needs very little extra.

Butter or oil in the batter

Melted butter or oil stirred into the batter coats some of the flour proteins and limits how much gluten forms. This is called shortening, and it makes the pancake more tender. Butter adds flavour as well; oil gives a slightly softer result and is easier to mix in. This is a separate question from the fat you cook in, which we cover in butter vs oil for cooking pancakes.

Baking powder and bicarbonate of soda

These are raising agents. Both release carbon dioxide, and the bubbles expand in the heat so a thick pancake rises and turns fluffy. Baking powder contains its own acid, so it works in an ordinary milk batter. Bicarbonate of soda needs an acid from the recipe, such as buttermilk, yoghurt or lemon juice, and without one it tastes soapy. Self-raising flour already contains a raising agent, so a recipe using it rarely needs more. If your pancakes come out flat, start with why pancakes go flat, dense or rubbery.

Buttermilk

Buttermilk is cultured, slightly sour milk. Its acidity reacts with bicarbonate of soda to give lift, it makes the crumb softer, and it adds a mild tang. It is the base of a classic American stack but is not needed for British pancakes. Our guide to buttermilk in pancakes explains what it does and how to make a substitute.

Why British and American pancakes use different ingredients

A British pancake is thin and is meant to be rolled or folded, so it relies on flour, milk and egg alone. Steam and the set egg do the work, and a raising agent would only make it puff. The science of British pancake batter goes into the detail.

An American-style pancake is thick and fluffy, so it needs a raising agent, a thicker batter with less milk, and usually some sugar and melted butter for colour and tenderness. The science of American pancake batter explains how those ingredients work together.

Key terms

• Gluten formation: flour proteins linking into a stretchy network when mixed with liquid.
• Gelatinisation: starch absorbing liquid and swelling as it heats, which thickens and sets the batter.
• Coagulation: proteins, mainly from egg, turning from liquid to solid in the heat.
• Emulsification: keeping fat and water blended, helped by lecithin in egg yolk.
• Aeration: adding gas or air to a batter, from a raising agent or whisked egg whites.
• Shortening: fat coating flour proteins so less gluten forms and the pancake is more tender.
• Maillard browning: proteins and sugars reacting in the heat to give colour and a toasty flavour.
• Dextrinisation: starch breaking down into dextrins in dry heat, adding to the golden surface.
• Caramelisation: sugar itself browning when heated.

For more cooking terms, see our pancake glossary, or browse the ingredients we use.