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It feels like food bloggers are always on a quest to find the perfect something. Chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cake, donuts………pancakes?
Well today you can call me Frodo, because I think I’ve nailed this quest. Without further ado, I give you: the fluffiest little pancakes!!!
There are a lot of theories out there about what makes the “perfect” pancake. Some folks are of the buttermilk & baking soda camp; others use baking powder as leavening. When the Humanities grind gets to be too much, the fun of experimenting in my cozy kitchen gets me excited again and makes me feel like I’m back in 5th grade Mad Science camp. And guess what I discovered?
You don’t need a fancy formula for perfectly fluffy pancakes. You don’t need kitchen know-how. You don’t even need milk or eggs, if you wanna roll the vegan way.
All you need is a super top-secret ingredient…
Whoops, did I spoil it?
(Here’s me actually pouring it into the bowl–you’ll notice I erm, missed a little bit above)
Yep–bubbly, effervescent, all-natural, unsweetened, zero calorie, and zero sodium goodness: seltzer water!!!
Lifts you right up just thinking about it, right? Ha!
I discovered this surprise ingredient while I was scouring the interwebs for a pancake recipe that wasn’t just the same chummy shlummy formula. Luckily, I had fallen in love with seltzer water a few years back when Canada Dry sparkling seltzer water was all the office stocked in its fridge, so I quickly ran down to Ralph’s and hauled my butt back up the giant hill with one of these wonkin’ 12-packs in tow.
The things I do for you guys, really.
My arms might still be sore–I hope one of you had the decency to at least call my masseuse.
(Just kidding–I can’t afford a masseuse…)
So here’s the deal. You start with your ingredients:
Flour, sugar, salt, seltzer water, baking soda, Greek yogurt, and an egg or…mayo, if you’re me and don’t have eggs in your fridge for some weird reason. (Hey, it works!)
You mix together the first 3 ingredients in one bowl, the yogurt and egg/mayo in another. Then you combine them and hopefully pour the seltzer water into the bowl instead of all over your cutting board…
Then you toss everything onto the pan and wait for those gorgeous little bubbles to appear in the batter before flipping these tiny pancakes over.
Annnnnd, you’re done!
Unless you want 2-minute microwave cinnamon apples–then you skip on ahead to the recipe and make that, and remember that you deserve it because you are an amazing human being who has just made the world’s fluffiest little pancakes EVER.
Don’t forget to pick up some Canada Dry seltzer water today so you can make these awesome pancakes!
The Fluffiest Little Pancakes {secret ingredient!}
Don't underestimate the power of these tiny little pancakes--they are fluffy to the max! Seltzer water makes these pancakes light and almost bubbly, so you can inhale stack after stack with a generous heaping of microwaved cinnamon apples on top.
Ingredients
For the pancakes:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons white sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/3 cup Canada Dry sparkling seltzer water
- 1 egg OR 3 tablespoons full-fat mayonnaise (if using mayonnaise, add an extra tablespoon of seltzer water)
For the microwave cinnamon apples:
- 1 apple, cored, peeled and chopped
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
For the pancakes:
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt
- In a second bowl, combine yogurt and baking soda. Add to the dry ingredients, along with seltzer water and egg/mayo. Stir until all ingredients are combined.
- Heat up a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add oil if desired (not necessary) and add a tablespoon of batter to the heated pan. Heat until little bubbles form on top of the batter, then flip over the pancakes and heat through on the other side.
- Serve with microwave cinnamon apples (recipe below)!
For the microwave cinnamon apples:
- Combine all ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat on high for 3 minutes, stirring at each 1-minute interval. Serve warm over pancakes!
Now THAT … is brilliant! 🙂 I do the same thing for a banging beer batter, makes total sense to do it for pancakes too. Wonder what would happen if you used almond meal instead?
Whaaaat–that makes SO just sense. Saving that idea in my to-do pile, along with almond meal (will report back if I do that!).
My mind is blown – Wow – Ala – seltzer water is your secret ingredient to these fluffier than fluffy pancakes?!?! Thanks so much for sharing this – I so cannot wait to try it!
yesssss Shashi, do it!! I can’t wait for you to try it!
Whoaaaa the secret is out and thanks for sharing it. As someone who loves brunch (doh), I constantly crave for the fluffiest pancakes and these pancakes sound awesome! Love love love….
hehe–sounds like something you HAVE to try then, Linda! <3
I’ve heard of the seltzer water trick, but never tried it. Need to! Brilliant pancakes — thanks.
I really hope you can come next brunch, John!