Pancake Mix – plus 100% Whole Wheat Option

At a glance

What stands out: Replace your favorite boxed pancake mix with this straightforward from-scratch pancake mix. Whether your go-to is Aunt Jemima, Bisquick, or Krusteaz, we're willing to bet you’ll like these even better. Pancake mix is straightforward to mix, wholesome, and more economical than commercial mixes.

How long it takes: 5 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: bowl or container, storage container
Servings: makes 9 cups (which will make 54 pancakes)

Our mom has been making her own pancake mix for years and let us tell you, she makes a standby pancakes! Whenever our kids stay overnight at her house, they look forward most to the pancake breakfast they know they’ll enjoy in the morning. Of course, the toppings are unlimited: whipped cream (from a can, of course, because it’s the most fun!), chocolate syrup, maple syrup, fresh fruit, chocolate chips, applesauce, cinnamon sugar, etc. (often all piled on the same pancake)!

From-scratch Pancake Mix

Better for you than boxed mixes. Many “just add water” boxed mixes, like Aunt Jemima, Bisquick, or Krusteaz, have a long list of unpronounceable ingredients. We checked the ingredients on a box of a popular mix: bleached four, sugar, leavening, dextrose, nonfat dry milk, palm oil, salt, wheat gluten, calcium carbonate, corn syrup solids, sodium caseinate, mono and diglycerides, lactic acid, dipotassium phosphate, tocipherols, sodium metalsulfite. Wow, that’s just crazy, isn’t it? For a simple food like pancakes! It’s kind of disturbing.

Wholesome ingredients. We don’t know about you but we prefer not to eat food that we can’t pronounce. The from-scratch pancake mix recipe we're sharing today has FOUR ingredients, to which you’ll add milk, eggs, and melted butter. Making your own pancakes from scratch is a straightforward way to eliminate over-processed foods from your diet.

So straightforward to mix. Pancake mix is straightforward to prep in advance and store in an airtight plastic container, jar, or even a resealable plastic bag. It shouldn’t take you more than five minutes. The mix will keep for at least 2 months. P.S. If you like the idea of mixes that you make ahead, be sure to try our hot cocoa mix, too. It’s straightforward and so rich!

Pancake Mix Ingredients

We use whole wheat flour because we like that it contains extra fiber and nutrition. You could also use white whole wheat flour or unbleached white flour. A combination of flours works well, too. Our mom always substitutes cornmeal for part of the flour to add a little crunchiness and flavor. The kids love it.

This is what you’ll need: flour, sugar (not much), salt, and baking powder. That’s it! Mix those four ingredients together and store the mix until you’re ready to heat up the griddle!

How To Turn This Mix Into Pancakes

When you’re ready to make pancakes for breakfast (and we're not against serving pancakes for lunch or dinner, either!), get your griddle heating up on the stove.

Here’s what you’ll need:
As always, scroll down for a printable recipe!

• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons melted butter or oil
• ⅔ cup milk (more or less to taste)
• 1 cup dry from-scratch pancake mix

In a bowl, whisk up eggs and melted butter or oil. Add the dry mix and milk. Whisk it up, adding more milk to achieve the desired consistency.

Thick batter makes thick cake-like pancakes, thin batter makes thin crispier pancakes. Make ’em how you like them!

Pancake Yield

One batch will make around 6 pancakes, depending on size and thickness. If you think you’re going to need more pancakes than that, double or triple the recipe. This recipe for from-scratch pancake mix makes 9 cups of dry pancake mix. Do the math: that’s 54 pancakes!

When your griddle is nice and hot, pour ¼ cup batter onto the griddle for each pancake. Wait about 3 minutes or until you see bubbles forming on top, and flip, cooking for about 2 more minutes. They’re ready to serve with your favorite toppings! Keep reading for a bunch of topping ideas.

Keeping pancakes warm: If you’re making pancakes for a big crowd and you want to get a head start, preheat your oven to 200ºF. As you finish making a batch, put the pancakes on a baking sheet (with a wire rack if you have one) and keep them warm in the oven. Don’t cover them with foil because that will make them get soggy.

Ways to change it

• Combine different types of flour. We like to use whole wheat flour, as we mentioned, but you can use a mixture of flours (all-purpose, white whole wheat, unbleached, cornmeal, buckwheat, etc.). Bob’s Red Mill has a gluten-free 1:1 flour that you could try (but we haven’t tested that).
• Use oil instead of butter. Instead of melted butter, substitute a mild tasting oil, such as canola or corn oil. You can also use melted coconut oil, if you prefer.
• Add flavoring. Add a teaspoon of vanilla or ½ teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter. If you like, make chocolate pancakes by adding ¼ cup cocoa powder to 1 cup dry pancake mix. Increase milk to ¾ cup.
• Possible stir-ins. Add blueberries, bananas, or chopped strawberries to the batter. Our kids love chocolate chip pancakes, too!
• Not in the mood for pancakes? Try from-scratch French toast (we have tips for making a standby French toast ever) or muffins.

Keeping leftovers

Storing the pancake mix: The pancake mix can be stored in an airtight container for at least two months. If you used all whole wheat flour, you may want to store it in the refrigerator. We always refrigerate our whole wheat flour so it doesn’t become rancid.

Make-ahead idea: Why not make a big batch of pancakes? After they cool on a wire rack, put them in a large self-sealing bag and store them in the refrigerator or freezer. They are wonderful (just like freshly made pancakes!) reheated in your toaster oven or toaster on a low setting. You can also reheat them briefly (30 seconds) in the microwave but they’ll be softer.

Fun Topping Ideas

Toppings give everyone a chance to personalize their pancakes. Kids love this! Check out these ideas but don’t let this list limit your creativity.

• Fresh fruit (sliced bananas, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, sliced peaches, etc.)
• Straightforward apple compote with cinnamon
• Blueberry sauce
• From-scratch peach sauce
• Whipped cream
• Maple syrup (use the real thing, it’s so much better!)
• Chocolate syrup (add a sprinkling of cinnamon, it’s like Mexican hot chocolate)
• From-scratch caramel sauce
• Nut butters
• Instant Pot applesauce or crockpot applesauce, with a sprinkling of cinnamon (our dad’s favorite, like apple pie!).
• Mini chocolate chips

• Yield: 54 pancakes
• Prep: 5 minutes
• Total: 5 minutes

Ingredients

For Pancake Mix

• 8 cups whole wheat flour (see note)
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup baking powder
• 4 teaspoons salt

For Pancakes

• 1 large egg
• ⅔ cup milk (any type)
• 2 tablespoons oil or melted butter
• 1 cup dry pancake mix

Method

1. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt and put into an airtight container, such as a jar, lidded plastic container, or resealable plastic bag. Yield: 9 cups.
2. Heat a griddle over medium heat. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk egg, milk, and oil together until combined. Add 1 cup of dry mix and whisk until just combined. Some small lumps will remain.
3. When griddle is hot, pour ¼ cup of pancake batter onto pan and cook for 3 minutes or until bubbles appear and do not disappear. Flip and cook for another 2 minutes or until cooked through. The length of cooking time will depend on how hot your griddle is and how thick you made the batter.

Notes

Flour choices: Any type of flour can be used, or a combination. Try all-purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, cornmeal, buckwheat flour, etc.

Storage: we recommend storing whole wheat flour in the refrigerator because of the higher fat content to prevent it from going rancid. Because of this, we also recommend that this pancake mix also be stored in the refrigerator. If you don’t use whole wheat flour, the pancake mix can be stored in your pantry. It will keep for at least 2 months.