Who’s in the mood for IHOP-style pancakes? Forkful after flavorful forkful, with melted butter seeping over the sides, fruit on top, and syrup drizzled over it all — these fluffy, buttery pancakes are the stuff breakfast dreams are made of.
Here’s a recipe for those who love the chain restaurant’s super-popular pancakes. Make them up for breakfast, lunch or dinner, and you’ll be able to get your IHOP fix in your very own kitchen.
Spoiler alert: Though IHOP pancakes are wildly popular with the comfort-food crowd, our copycat IHOP pancake recipe doesn’t have any magic or hard-to-find ingredients. In fact, you probably have everything you need to make these pancakes right this very minute.
Making IHOP-like pancakes is so easy, you’ll be wondering why you haven’t sought out a copycat pancake recipe before!
Just sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the egg and buttermilk. The buttermilk mixture goes into the dry ingredients and gets stirred up with the melted butter, sugar and vanilla — but only until they’re all just barely combined. That’s actually the key to fluffy pancakes: Don’t overmix the batter.
Now, it’s time to cook your IHOP-style pancakes to fluffy, pillowy perfection in a greased hot pan or griddle.
MORE: Make a Wendy’s Frosty at home with 3 simple ingredients
Ladle 1/4 cup of batter into the pan or griddle for each pancake. Wait for bubbles to form and pop on the top of the batter and the edges to set before flipping. (Yes, we know they smell good, but have patience.) Let the second side cook for a couple more minutes and slide your flapjacks onto a plate.
Now you can top your very own homemade IHOP pancakes with softened butter, your favorite syrup, fruit, chopped nuts and giant swirls of whipped cream. Savor them with scrambled eggs and crispy slices of bacon.
But don’t forget the buttermilk! If that’s not staple in your refrigerator, you can make your own in minutes! Simply add a tablespoon of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar to about 1-1/4 cups of milk. The acid in the lemon juice or vinegar will clabber the milk to create buttermilk.
Recipe inspired by Onion Rings and Things
Also try Funfetti Japanese pancakes:
Copycat IHOP pancakes
Yield 9–12 servings
Ingredients
- 1-1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1-1/4 cups buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons melted butter plus more for greasing pan
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- In large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In small bowl, whisk egg and buttermilk.
- Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until smooth.
- Add melted butter, sugar and vanilla, stirring just until combined.
- Heat pan or griddle to medium heat. Lightly grease surface of pan by lightly brushing with pat of butter.
- Ladle about 1/4 cup batter on pan or griddle, making 5-inch wide circle. Cook until bubbles begin to form on surface and edges begin to set.
- Gently flip pancakes and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Repeat with remaining batter.
- Serve pancakes hot with butter and syrup of choice.
Courses Breakfast