Photos show how common mistakes can drastically change homemade pancakes

Rachel AskinasiJul 16, 2020, 23:10 IST

Insider

I intentionally made common mistakes while making pancakes from scratch to see how they would affect each batch.
From doubling up on eggs to mistaking baking soda for baking powder, the margin for error with homemade pancakes is vast.
Adding too much milk made for a sweet, crepe-like pancake while leaving out most of the sugar made for a bland flavor.
Using baking soda resulted in a horribly metallic taste that left me with an inedible pancake.

I can count on one hand the number of times I've made pancakes from scratch. It's hard to mess up using a mix (Bisquick Shake 'n Pour is a pantry staple of mine), but there's a number of ways homemade pancakes could go wrong.

Curious to see what would happen to a batch of pancakes when something goes amiss, I deliberately made mistakes while working with the same recipe and documented the result. For the sake of consistency, I stuck to the same Martha Stewart recipe to make 14 batches of pancakes without any mix-ins. It's worth noting that I chose to use butter throughout the experiment — Stewart's recipe calls for unsalted butter or vegetable oil — with the exception of one batch made with oil.

From mistaking baking soda for baking powder to using too much milk, here's what happened.

Too much flour made for a tall and fluffy pancake.

Pancakes made using too much flour. Rachel Askinasi/Insider

On the contrary, not using enough flour made for a drippy batter that spread out over the pan.

Pancakes made using too little flour. Rachel Askinasi/Insider

The extra sugar I used for this batch came through in the flavor of the pancakes.

Pancakes made using too much sugar. Rachel Askinasi/Insider

Using less than the called-for amount of sugar made for a non-sweet pancake.

Pancakes made using too little sugar. Rachel Askinasi/Insider

Baking soda made these pancakes taste horribly metallic.

Pancakes made using baking soda. Rachel Askinasi/Insider

Using too much baking powder made my pancakes fluffier.

Pancakes made using too much baking powder. Rachel Askinasi/Insider

Too much milk left me with a uniquely sweet, ultra-flat pancake.

Pancakes made using too much milk. Rachel Askinasi/Insider

Not using enough milk made for a slightly dry, super fluffy pancake.

Pancakes made using too little milk. Rachel Askinasi/Insider

Adding extra egg cut out nearly all of the pancake flavor.

Pancakes made using an extra egg. Rachel Askinasi/Insider

On the flip side, leaving out eggs altogether left me with a perfectly sweet pancake.

Pancakes made without eggs. Rachel Askinasi/Insider

Leaving out butter left me with a chewy pancake.

Pancakes made without butter. Rachel Askinasi/Insider

To compare the difference between pancakes made with salted and unsalted butter, I followed the recipe without making a mistake for this batch which I made with unsalted butter.

Pancakes made using unsalted butter. Rachel Askinasi/Insider

To compare the difference between pancakes made with salted and unsalted butter, I followed the recipe without making a mistake for this batch which I made with unsalted butter.

Using salted butter made virtually no difference.

Pancakes made using salted butter. Rachel Askinasi/Insider

The recipe also suggested vegetable oil as a replacement for butter. Using the oil got me a pancake that was slightly creamier in texture inside.

Pancakes made using vegetable oil. Rachel Askinasi/Insider

I would be happy if I were given almost any of these pancake variations.

Small changes to ingredients can lead to big changes in pancakes. Rachel Askinasi/Insider

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Photos show how common mistakes can drastically change homemade pancakes

Too much flour made for a tall and fluffy pancake.

On the contrary, not using enough flour made for a drippy batter that spread out over the pan.

The extra sugar I used for this batch came through in the flavor of the pancakes.

Using less than the called-for amount of sugar made for a non-sweet pancake.

Baking soda made these pancakes taste horribly metallic.

Using too much baking powder made my pancakes fluffier.

Too much milk left me with a uniquely sweet, ultra-flat pancake.

Not using enough milk made for a slightly dry, super fluffy pancake.

Adding extra egg cut out nearly all of the pancake flavor.

On the flip side, leaving out eggs altogether left me with a perfectly sweet pancake.

Leaving out butter left me with a chewy pancake.

To compare the difference between pancakes made with salted and unsalted butter, I followed the recipe without making a mistake for this batch which I made with unsalted butter.

Using salted butter made virtually no difference.

The recipe also suggested vegetable oil as a replacement for butter. Using the oil got me a pancake that was slightly creamier in texture inside.

I would be happy if I were given almost any of these pancake variations.