I found the recipe for these Diner Style Pancakes on the King Arthur Flour website. I was intrigued when I saw that the recipe calls for malt, like the kind you use for malted milkshakes. They said that many restaurants use malt instead of sugar in their pancakes.
I happened to have some in my pantry, so I decided to give them a try. They did not disappoint! They were nice and fluffy, and also tender. I think that the malt
HOW TO MAKE DINER STYLE PANCAKES
Making pancakes from scratch really isn’t that hard, and it only takes a few minutes. They taste so much better than pancakes from a mix, it is totally worth the effort!
The batter for these waffles does need to sit for about 15 minutes, so plan ahead. As it sits, the batter will thicken up a bit. Any small lumps of flour will also dissolve. So make sure you give it time to rest before you cook your pancakes!
Ingredients needed:
- eggs
- milk
- oil or melted butter
- vanilla extract
- all purpose flour
- salt
- baking powder
- malted milk powder
Beat eggs and milk till frothy. Add oil and vanilla. Stir in remaining ingredients just until moistened; don’t over-mix. Let rest for at least 15 minutes. (The batter will thicken as it sits.)
Cook at medium heat on an oiled griddle. Serve with your choice of topping. We love them with buttermilk syrup.
Pro tip: To make sure your griddle is at the correct temperature, just make a mini sized pancake (about the size of a quarter). That way if it’s undercooked or burned, you haven’t ruined multiple pancakes.
Pancake Variations:
-If you want to make the pancakes more healthy, you can substitute half or all whole wheat flour for the all purpose flour.
-For chocolate chip pancakes, stir about a cup of chocolate chips into the dry ingredients.
-For blueberry pancakes, spoon batter onto your griddle, then arrange several blueberries on each pancake before you flip it.
PANCAKE TOPPINGS YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS:
MORE EASY RECIPES FOR BREAKFAST:
- German Pancakes (oven pancakes)
- Fast and Easy Waffles
- Breakfast Quiche
- Streusel Coffee Cake
- Blueberry Pancakes
- Breakfast Casserole with Bacon
- Oatmeal Waffles
- Coconut Granola
RESTAURANT STYLE PANCAKES
Diner Style Pancakes
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 1 ¼ cups milk
- 3 Tbsp oil or melted butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
- ¾ tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ cup malt
Instructions
- Beat eggs and milk in a large mixing bowl till frothy. Add the oil and vanilla. Stir in flour, salt, baking powder, and malt powder just till moistened; don't over-mix.
- Let batter rest for at least 15 minutes. (The batter will thicken as it sits.)
- Drop batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto a lightly greased griddle. Cook on one side until bubbly, about 2 minutes; flip and cook the other side until golden brown, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Make sure you let the batter sit or it will be too runny.
Nutrition
(Originally published Sep 9, 2009. Updated September 2019.)
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I notice the original KAF recipe specifies only 1C milk if you are in a “hot, humid” climate (or plan to let the batter rest more than 15, minutes.) I also notice that you are in Utah, Kara… Each year I drive from Ohio to Las Vegas, and living in a place as dry as Utah is a VERY different experience than living in a place as humid as Ohio! I wonder if those whose pancakes failed are in a humid climate? (Or perhaps let their batter rest too long, or both.) In high humidity, even flour that is sealed in a canister or jar will contain significantly more moisture than it would in a dry environment, and will not be able to absorb as much water once it’s incorporated into a batter.
KAF also states 180g of flour in their recipe. A single cup can vary by a whole ounce or more, depending on how it’s measured, so using volume instead of weight for flour can REALLY mess up results.
It also calls for beating the eggs and milk in a mixer for three whole minutes – I’m not sure how much air they might actually retain, but that seems significant.
The place I live is so humid that there are TWO sump pumps in my basement. I haven’t yet tried this recipe, but when I do, I will weigh my flour, and I will use only one cup of milk! I’m sure they will be delicious.
This is like a crepe recipe. Super thin and the pancakes came out crunchy and not fluffy at all. Would not recommend, sorry.
Sorry you had trouble with them, not sure why yours didn’t turn out. But I know that’s frustrating. 🙁
Really good if you do it right
Agreed! Some people seem to have trouble, but they always turn out amazing at my house! Glad you enjoyed them!
These were terrible.
So sorry you didn’t enjoy them. Did you follow the recipe exactly? What went wrong with them?
Let’s us pray! 🙏
I so desperately want this to be good. I’ve been searching for a recipe that will taste just like diner pancakes. Not IHOP or Denny’s, a Diner! They are gate keeping and we need to get down to the bottom of this.
My 8 year asked my why I wasn’t using the box mix in the pantry. Hopefully the taste will give the reason why.
NOPE! These aren’t it! not completely flat but not soft, thin edges. Eggie taste. I personally didn’t care for it.
I’m still on the search.
I made the box stuff
I hope you can find a recipe that replicates the diner you are thinking of. Good luck!
How about sifting the dry ingredients to make sure it’s fluffed? That may help some people
Thanks for the tip! If your flour is packed and dense, sifting does help!
Can you use Bisquick? Can you just add malt? Please respond to my direct email address. I want to make sure I get response. I am anxious to try this recipe.
I have never tried it with Bisquick, so I’m not sure how it would turn out. But you could definitely try adding malt to the dry mix before adding the liquid as directed on the box of Bisquick.
I agree with other people, these turned out flat and dense. Don’t waste your time, follow the Joy of Cooking recipe instead.
Do you let these rest just on the side or in the refrigerator please?
Just room temperature is fine.
Will give these a try. Just sound interesting. Also interesting comments good and bad. Question,: Do you use whole milk or 2%? That may be some people’s problem with them.
I usually use 2% milk because that’s what I have on hand, but whole milk works just as well. I think it’s more a problem of people measuring flour differently. But it’s hard to know without being in the kitchen with them. 🙂
best pancake recipe i’ve tried! not sure how other people are having any sort of negative results, the odd time i’ve even made mistakes along the way and these have turned out great!
So glad you love them! They are always a hit whenever I serve them, so I’m also a bit baffled when people don’t succeed.
These were THE fluffiest pancakes I’ve ever made where I didn’t have to separate the eggs. Even then these might’ve been fluffier. I’m really sorry so many people haven’t had success with this recipe, I really think it is excellent. Perhaps a safety precaution one could take is to mix all the dry ingredients separately before adding to the wet. Then when the two do come together, making sure the batter is nice and lumpy. I definitely will be saving this recipe!
So glad you loved them! I’m not sure why some people have trouble, and for others they turn out perfectly. I’ve never mixed the dry ingredients separately, but maybe that would help others, so thanks for the tip!
Disappointing results! Used accurate measurements, waited an extra 5 min for batter to rest, as it looked suspiciously runny after the 15 min wait…yet pancakes came out proverbially flat. Not even the taste could compensate for this, so had no choice but to dump it in the bin. An absolute waste of ingredients…
So sorry that they didn’t turn out Fee. I know that’s frustrating.
I think the pancakes are the best I’ve ever had they were nice and fluffy. Thank you for sharing
Yay, so happy to hear that Emily!
I have the recipe a try, exactly as it was written. Pancakes were NOTHING close to diner style pancakes. Flat dense pancakes went into garbage. Very disappointed in ye results
Sorry they didn’t turn out for you. Did you let the batter rest for 15 minutes, and was your baking powder fresh?
Made these as per the recipe. Used whole milk. Oil works better than butter for me for mixing together wet ingredients Incorporated dry ingredients together before adding to wet. Don’t over mix! Letting the batter sit for a minimum of 15 minutes is important. Used a nonstick skillet on medium heat and all batches came out lovely. We thoroughly enjoyed the flavor and texture of the pancakes. Will definitely make again.
Glad you loved them Gay! And yes, over mixing will ruin just about any pancake. 🙂
these were gross and tasted like nothing
I guess everyone has different tastes, so sorry you didn’t like them. Did you follow the recipe exactly and use the malt?
These are the worst pancakes I’ve ever seen 👎they were so liquidy that they cooked like crepes! There isn’t enough flour in this recipe.
I agree. We waited the 15 minutes for the batter to thicken, but the pancakes were thin and crispy at the edges, not fluffy at all, way overly buttery (actually greasy) and did not taste good. I threw out the batter. This recipe might work for a pro, but don’t spoil your Sunday morning if you’re not 🙁
Sorry they didn’t turn out for you. Did you use the malt or substitute sugar?
I have chocolate malt powder. Does that work?
It would probably add a slight chocolate flavor, so if you think you’d like that, you could try it. I personally just use the regular malt powder.
i love your blog. Thanks for sharing!
Isn’t this the Kind Arthur Flour recipe?
Yes, I did get this recipe from the KAF website. That’s why I mentioned it in the post, and linked to their site.
How many people does it serve and how do I double or triple the recipe?
The recipe makes about a dozen pancakes. You can easily double or triple the recipe, just make sure you use a really large bowl. 🙂
Those are some of the best looking pancakes I have ever seen. Have my mouth watering.
Thanks Fred. They really are delicious, I hope you give them a try!
Hi,
Is the malt the same as malted milk powder? I’ve never used malt… just wondering.
Thanks!
K
Yes, it’s malted milk powder. 🙂