The Secret to Perfect Fluffy Pancakes Every Time _ NYT Cooking

I do love pancakes .

Am I more of a waffle person ?

Maybe ?

But this video might change my mind .

Hello everybody .

My name is Vaugh .

I'm here in the Nyt cooking kitchen studio and today it's all about pancakes .

I'm gonna be making Mark Bittman's everyday pancake recipe , which is a great recipe because it is truly so simple .

This is like your everyday pancake .

Your go to recipe .

No frills , pancake .

You know your pancake without all the bells and whistles the base for everything that you need to know about how to make a great pancake .

I'm gonna make the recipe one time through as Mark Bittman intended it .

And then I'm gonna go through the comments section , things that you all have suggested and I'm gonna pick out some things that I like and I'm gonna make different versions of it .

We'll do some like comparison tests .

Maybe there's some little tweaks I can make here and there in order to make an even lighter fluffier luscious pancake , more luscious how to make your everyday pancakes even more luscious than they already are .

Come up with that chat GP T before we get going , I do have to just like read Ted's comment because it really encapsulates like the vibe of , you know , everything that I've been trying to say , which is they're just pancakes .

People calm down .

You don't need to use 17 different types of flour .

Chocolate drops only made by a hermit on the highest mountain in Switzerland on select Tuesdays in the spring and edible gold glitter .

That's why it's called Everyday Pancakes and not how pretentious can I be ?

Pancakes ?

Ted's from Santa Barbara .

I just decided that .

Wow , this is already getting hot because I'm gonna be making a lot of different pancakes .

I think that a griddle is a great way to , you know , cook a bunch at the same time , which is such a luxury .

You don't have a griddle .

I like using a cast iron skillet .

You just want to make sure that it doesn't get too hot .

We're cooking on like kind of a medium low heat here or you could use a non stick pan .

A great thing about this recipe .

It's calling for all the stuff that you probably already have on hand .

Anyway , the sugar is optional in this recipe .

You should use it .

It won't make it too sweet .

It's just gonna promote some browning .

It's gonna kind of round out the flavor a little bit .

So I , I recommend the sugar .

I'm going to just give this a quick little stir and it doesn't have to be so super sifted and I will show you why in a minute in this recipe , the milk is 1.5 to 2 cups .

I wanna start with 1.5 cups for right now because you can always add a little bit more liquid if you need to .

But it's hard to like take it away who that was a ploy egg .

Uh Melted butter is also optional .

That extra fat in there will not only add a little bit of richness and tenderness , but it's also gonna add flavor because it's butter and it's delicious .

So we have a lot of butter in here because we're gonna be making a lot of pancakes .

I'm just breaking up the yolks a little bit great .

I like to make a little bit of like a divot in the middle and I'll pour those wet ingredients right into the center .

And then that way I can kind of go from the middle and start with small concentric circles and then work my way outward and like incorporate a little bit more flour at the time .

Very , very important with pancakes is you do not want to over mix mainly because you don't wanna develop too much gluten .

Think about bread , right ?

You're mixing that dough for a really long time because you want it to have structure with pancakes .

You want them to be light and fluffy .

You can even see in this batter that I still have some like dry pockets of flour and when you have kind of a lumpier batter , the batter won't spread as much on the pan because it is like a little bit lumpier .

And also if you're mixing things into this , like chocolate chips or blueberries , they suspend in the batter rather than sinking all the way to the bottom .

You could take softened butter .

You could even probably use like a neutral oil of some sort like a grape seed oil .

When the butter foam subsides , you can just ladle your pancakes on there .

You can see because my batter is still lumpy .

It's not spreading out too much , which is good .

Oh , I actually do like when there's like little mini pancakes that you can kind of snack on my dad .

He was the one who really taught me the basic tenets of a pancake .

And he always said you'll know that it's ready to flip when the edges start to set a little bit and then you get a consistent bubble .

Not like a rolling bubble by any means , but like a couple bubbles just popping at the top .

I am using a metal spatula on this nonstick skillet .

I know that that's a , no , no , we just don't have our silicone one here right now .

For some reason , I'm going to be very , very careful .

I mean , that's the best thing about these little , like , it's not even a silver dollar pancake .

This is like a , a penny for your thoughts .

I think we're about ready to flip .

Here we go .

Oh , yeah , that's what I'm looking for .

So you cook it on one side about 2 to 4 minutes depending on how hot your skillet is .

But then once you flip it over , you really only need like an extra minute .

These look really blonde for some reason .

Interesting .

We'll find out why .

Ok .

So here is pancake number one .

This is a great vessel for syrup .

If you're gonna eat a pancake with like butter and maple syrup , this is , this hits the spot .

You know , I mean , it's got like nice kind of fluffiness to it .

It's well cooked all the way through .

It's got that little bit of crisp on the edge which I really like from cooking it in the butter .

It's not like the most tender pancake I've ever had , but I really enjoy like the height on it .

It's not got the most flavor to it .

I will say that's ok .

It's the everyday pancake .

So with the rest of my batter , I do wanna overmix this a little bit like kind of get the lumps out and just show everybody what the difference is .

I'm not gonna work it too much because I'm not looking to make bread dough just to like prove a point .

Oh I just flipped that first one and it's like so blonde and by blonde .

I mean pale , I use like the same amount of butter .

It's honestly even at like a little bit of a higher heat .

So you would think that it would get darker quicker .

It's almost cooked through .

And the only raw part of the batter is right in the middle right there .

It looks like a thin crust pizza .

No , it looks like a cauliflower crust pizza .

Um Alright , let's try it .

You can tell that there's been more gluten development and it's just like kind of sad and flat .

It's the same batter .

But these two are so much thinner and ladder than these which are fluffy and light .

This is our control and then let's jump into some variables .

I'm gonna pick out ones that I like and see , you know what kinds of things that you all have added to the recipe in order to kind of make it work for you .

But ultimately all of this is in service of me finding out what makes my like ultimate ever every day pancakes .

Still keeping with the ethos of this recipe , which is every day .

I think that it needs to use mainly pantry staples .

I think that it needs to be very quick and easy , low lift and still not use a whole lot of like bowls or things for me to clean .

A lot of people are calling for using buttermilk .

There's something a so catchy about buttermilk pancakes .

It's like something that we've grown up hearing .

Hi , everyone .

So let's get straight to the point .

I'll be sharing with you three nutritional tips for you to lose weight without dieting .

I mean , I do not believe in diet .

Don't get me wrong .

They work but they only work usually for , you know , a set period of time when you go on a diet .

What tends to happen is that , you know , for example , if you were to go on a liquid diet , yes , you will lose weight .

But what you're losing is not fat .

All you're losing is just water and muscle mass at the end of your diet .

Will you be able to maintain a liquid diet for the rest of your life ?

The answer is no , and it's not good for you as well .

So today I'll be speaking about , you know , ways to eat , right .

Everybody knows how to eat healthy when we talk about healthy eating .

The first thing that comes to our mind is , you know , eat lean meat , you know , have lots of salads , you know , make sure your plate is full of green salad , you know , lean proteins .

But what about eating ?

Right ?

Because eating right is a key to losing weight .

So three tips I would like you to follow in order to lose weight without dieting are tip number one , your meal intervals , right ?

Tip number two nutrition ratio per meal and tip number three calories per meal .

Let's go into , you know , each tips in more details .

The key to remember is that we want our blood sugar level to be stabilized when our blood sugar is stabilized .

What happens is that our body will start , you know , breaking down fat and start burning fat and we won't be cra you know , sugary food at the same time .

So let's go through each of the points .

In details point number one meal intervals .

Oh , yeah .

And this is a thick batter .

Very lumpy , but it also still somehow feels light .

I'm gonna use an ice cream scoop .

This isn't changing the chemistry of the recipe .

This is just kind of something that I wanna do .

Wow .

And that is not spreading at all .

Uh I am gonna coax this a little bit .

Look like biscuits .

Yeah , they do .

It looks like biscuits in the everyday pancake recipe .

It's stated as 1.5 to 2 cups that is telling you to rely on your visual cues .

So I'm gonna add just a tiny little splash in here .

I'm gonna actually just use the spatula and just like fold it gently so that I don't over mix .

This is looking a lot better for me .

I'm not getting as many of those visual indicators as I got on the other ones .

I'm not getting as much setting around the edges .

Always remember that the first meal , which is your breakfast should be consumed within the first hour of you .

Waking up breakfast means break fast .

So it should be consumed within the first hour of you waking up .

What happened next is that you should continue eating for every 3 to 4 hours as you've heard me right , you need to eat frequently .

So every 3 to 4 hours , you should have something to eat .

So that should be about 5 to 6 meals a day .

What you want to be doing is to eat small portions but frequently to stabilize your blood sugar level .

And the last meal of the day should be consumed one hour before bedtime .

So yes , you can eat , you know , near to your bed time , but just make sure that it's one hour before bedtime and that you're only eating and fat and not carbohydrate .

The key to remember is that if you're very hungry at meal time , that means you have waited too long to eat .

What this means is that in every meal , you should be consuming your protein , your carbs and your fat protein equals your lean meat , fish tofu eggs .

Whereas carbohydrates equals , you know , not just rice , not just bread , but also all your vegetables .

You know , I know there are diets out there saying that you should cut your carbs .

But no , if you eat two liter carbs , what happens is that your body will start storing fat and your body will stop burning fat .

And we don't want that .

But at the same time , if you eat too much carbs , your body will store too much fat at the same time and also reduce the energy level .

So the key is to remember to eat the right nutrient ratios per meal .

So what is the right nutrient ratio per meal ?

Protein and carbs should be eaten at almost the same ratio whereas fat should always be at the lowest amount .

So let's say let's put protein carbs and fat at 100% fat should only be consumed about 20% .

And that is literally a teaspoon of olive oil or you know , a teaspoon of butter or peanut butter , things like that .

It's in minimal portion .

Whereas protein and carb should be about 40 40% each or you can have more protein , 45% and 35% of carb .

By balancing out your neutral ratio , your body is getting the essential nutrients that your body needs .

And therefore , it will maximize fat burning .

And the third point is everybody knows this calories per meal .

So , if you are eating so frequently , you should not be consuming a lot of calories per meal .

For women , I would suggest that you consume about 250 to 350 calories .

Whereas for men , you can consume about 400 to 450 calories per meal .

Well , it also depends on your activity level .

If you're a very active person , whether being a male or female , then obviously you need to consume more calories .

Same like base recipe with my two cups of flour , two teaspoons of baking powder , the quarter teaspoon of salt tablespoon of sugar optional , not optional .

Here's where this method may lose me that I have to break out another piece of equipment and also another bowl , but it could be worth it .

You know , some things in life are worth a little bit of extra effort .

Mhm Again , it still is very important to not over mix .

And I would even air on the side of less mixing than I did before .

And then I'm going to gently fold the egg whites in and I'm gonna start with just a little bit and then kind of like , start to incorporate it .

It's like that little bit of sacrificial egg white just to start it and then it'll make it easier to fold in the rest .

But you know , if you're doing a lot of office work and you're not moving much at all , try to stick to the guideline of 250 to 350 calories for women and 400 to 450 calories for men per male .

So that includes your protein , your carbs and your fat .

Too many calories consumed at a , at a meal .

It increases fat storage and reduces your appetite on the next meal .

And two liter calories consumed at a meal would drop your blood sugar level .

Therefore , you will start craving , you know , sugary stuff .

And whenever you see something that it's sweet , what you will do , you would just grab it and eat it without even thinking .

So how do we , we're consuming the right calories .

The key is to remember that you should feel satisfied after each meal .

So if you're feeling too full after a meal , that's telling me that you're eating too much .

If you're still feeling hungry after an hour , that's telling me that you're eating too little .

So the key is to just feel satisfied and not overindulging .

Those are the three main points to remember and practice in order to lose weight without diet .

And if you can incorporate this to your lifestyle , what you're doing is that you will not only be able to lose weight but to maintain your weight for the rest of your life .

And that's what we want .

And you know , most diets , you can't do that through most diets because they are only temporary .

So remember that nutrition should be part of your lifestyle and that you should have fun and enjoy it .

Three tips to remember .

First one male intervals , second one ne ratio per meal and the last one calories per meal .

And if you can follow this , if frequently don't let your body go hungry , neither should you over indulge .

I can assure you that you will start seeing results , you know , by losing weight and seeing and feeling healthier and fitter .

And if there are anything that is unclear , anything that you want more elaboration on , please leave a comment and I will strive to answer them .

So as I did before , I'm gonna start to incorporate maybe a quarter of this volume into here .

Something to just kind of get it started lighten it up a little bit .

I don't know .

There's just something about the lift created in both the egg white version and the buttermilk version .

Like those were just much more active pancakes .

And this I feel like is gonna be the most active because we're doing two activation exercises .

That's kind of a , a beautiful pancake .

See , I'm just so impatient but , oh , this is ready .

Oh , I'm like , not mad at those little spurts , but that looks nice .

Oh , yeah .

Like this is definitely the fluffiest .

That's like the tallest building in North America .

Oh , my .

Wow .

Oh , no , I really didn't want to like the whipping of the egg whites because I , but it's so nice .

So it's got like the fluffiness from the whites .

The super tenderness from the buttermilk , that flavor from the buttermilk is also really , really nice and it's got the even cooking that I had in the whites test .

But the browning that I had , I mean , this is , you get the best of both worlds for this one .

I took the egg whites to a little bit of a softer stage .

They weren't as stiff and so it was easier to incorporate without knocking out a lot of the air , which I think is imperative .

I like this one .

This is a very special pancake .

It's a pancake to say I love you .

And though you should always say that to yourself too .

But my version of saying I love you to myself is not having as many dishes to clean .

So this will be my winner for the ultimate version , which I'm about to make .

But I do think it is a little bit more every day for me .

If I'm just cooking for myself to just use buttermilk , that's my disclaimer and I'm going with it .

But I think if I have to come up with an ultimate version , then it's gonna be this one plus a couple of things just to like up the flavor a little bit more .

Wow .

We did a lot today .

I drenched these in syrup mainly for the sake of the sensual beauty shots we probably got .

But to me , like a really good pancake should stand on its own and then I actually have some that I didn't drench in syrup .

They're very good .

It's super fluffy but still quite custardy and moist in the middle .

The addition of vanilla and a little bit of extra salt was really the thing that kicked it up just a little extra from my final test with the buttermilk and the whipped egg whites .

It just adds that extra depth of flavor .

The whipping of the egg whites and mixing that with the buttermilk was such a pleasant surprise for me because I was like , damn , I didn't wanna like that as much as I did , but I did like it and I think I'm gonna do it and I did and it's great .

We've got a 50 minute hit workout today .

You're gonna be sweating , but it's gonna be fun .

Now , don't be alone in your fitness journey .

Join the rest of the community on Instagram , youtube or this score , if you need some motivation and as always , the full three week schedule is on my website .

Smash that thumbs up button .

Leave a comment down below and also subscribe .

If notifications turn out and let's get started .

We've got four sets with 32 exercises in this 15 minute workout , 20 to 30 seconds on and 10 to 20 seconds off .

Let's start with loop squats .

A melody .

Do a squat then have your hands loop under your thighs , then back up and repeat on the other leg .

Make sure your back is straight loose and core are engaged .

Love .