Perfect Pancakes on the Blackstone Griddle – Cinnamon Pancake Recipe

Cool fall and winter mornings are the best times for a hot cup of coffee and a steaming stack of pancakes. Pancakes are one of our favorite things to make on our Blackstone griddle. Light and fluffy, these pancakes are a hit on weekends. They also freeze well to make for easy breakfast options throughout the week. Getting the perfect pancake takes a bit of practice, but once you figure out a few tricks, you'll have the airy, sweet, delicious pancake of our dreams.

Tips For Making Pancakes

Getting the perfect pancake starts with having the right ingredients. You'll want to use a high-quality flour. You can use cake flour to make pancakes and they will be even lighter and fluffier than using white flour. There are even several really good one-to-one gluten-free flour options available these days that make excellent pancakes.

Use a fresh egg, real butter, and whole milk for the best results. You can make pancakes using plant-based milk, too. In fact, you can get creative by using almond milk or coconut milk to kick up the flavor. Pancakes can also be made with water instead of milk, but you'll want to increase the butter and sugar because you'll lose flavor.

Mixing the Ingredients Correctly

When making pancakes, you want to incorporate the wet and dry ingredients separately before mixing them together. This makes sure that everything gets mixed well since you don't want to over-mix pancake batter. Use a high-quality wire whisk to mix the dry ingredients, then whisk the wet ingredients together before folding the ingredients into the dry ingredients. Doing it this way ensures the batter is mixed well.

The Proper Way to Mix Pancake Batter

Over-whisking the liquid and dry ingredients will result in a tough pancake. You want to just combine the liquid and wet ingredients together. Your batter will have lumps of flour mixed in, which is on of the ways that you get fluffy pancakes. You can use a fine flour like cake flour to reduce the lumps and make mixing the batter easier.

Adding Fruit or Chocolate

If you want to add fruit or chocolate chips to your pancake recipe, wait until you put the pancakes on the griddle. Immediately after pouring the batter, sprinkle your add-ins. If you add them when the batter is in the mixing bowl, they will fall to the bottom and you'll end up over-mixing the batter to incorporate everything.

The Correct Temperature for Cooking Pancakes

The secret to really good pancakes is having the proper temperature throughout the process. One of the reasons we love using the Blackstone griddle is because of how well it holds at the temperature you want. When you start the griddle, you'll want to get it to a medium heat. Once the griddle surface is hot, reduce it slightly to a medium-low.

How to Tell You Have the Right Temp

The easy way to tell if your griddle surface is ready is to put a small drop of batter on the surface. The drop of batter should burn in about 20 seconds. If it burns too quickly, lower the temp and vice-versa if it takes too long to burn. You can also use a drip of water. Water should evaporate almost immediately on the right griddle temperature.

If your temperature is too high, the pancakes will burn on the outside without fully cooking the inside. You'll end up with bad flavors and a gummy texture that is unappealing.

Too low of a temperature will cook the pancakes too slowly. You'll end up with tough pancakes when cooking with too low a heat. Fluffy pancakes only happen when you cook with the perfect griddle temperature.

Grease the Griddle with Butter

Your griddle surface is naturally non-stick, but you'll still want to use a little butter when you make pancakes. Just a small pad of butter is enough, then spread it evenly. You aren't looking for pools of butter, just a light layer to encourage the pancake batter to brown.

Use a Measuring Cup

The best way to get consistent pancakes is to use a 1/4 cup measuring cup. This makes it easy to pour consistent pancakes on the cooking surface. Gently swirl the batter onto the cooking surface as you pour to get perfectly circular pancakes.

Flip Pancakes Only Once

You will want to keep an eye on the pancakes as they cook. You will notice small bubbles forming on the wet side of the pancake and the edges will begin to look dry when they are ready to flip. The bottom will be golden brown when they are ready. Flipping too soon will leave one side of the pancake under-cooked. You'll have to cook that side more, leading to dry, dense pancakes.

Don't press pancakes down on the griddle to speed up cooking. This will push air out of the griddle cakes and make them dense and tough to chew.

How Long Should it Take to Cook a Pancake?

Gauging the actual time per pancake can be difficult because there are a lot of variables. You can expect about two minutes per side, but you'll have better luck using your senses rather than a timer. Just keep an eye out for the little bubbles and drying edges to know when it's time to flip the pancakes.

Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Pancake Recipe

We know that there are thousands of pancake recipes on the internet, but there are no recipes like this special holiday version. We use our limited edition Cinnamon Swirl spice and pumpkin puree to take our favorite pancake recipe over the top. The pumpkin and spices mingle with the Cinnamon Swirl for a classic fall flavor. They are the most tasty pancakes we've ever tried.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour – substitute Gluten-free flour or cake flour
• 1 Tbsp white sugar
• 1 Tbsp Bearded Butcher Blend Seasonings Cinnamon Swirl
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• Small pinch of finely ground clove
• 1 cup of milk
• 6 Tbsp pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat griddle to medium
2. Place flour, sugar, Cinnamon Swirl, baking powder, salt, and spices in a mixing bowl. Whisk to fully combine.
3. Whisk egg briefly, then add milk, melted butter, and pumpkin puree.
4. Use a large spoon or a spatula to fold the wet mixture into the dry mixture until just combined. Don't over mix the batter. The batter will be thick and have lumps of flour.
5. Reduce griddle temperature slightly. Test with water or a drop of batter to make sure your griddle is the correct temperature.
6. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop batter. Gently pour the batter in a swirling motion to make consistent, round cakes.
7. Let the pancakes cook for about two minutes per side. Look for the top to develop small bubbles and the edges to look a little dry. Only flip once.
8. Serve hot with Bearded Butcher Blend Pure Ohio Maple Syrup.

These pancakes are a favorite around fall. You can use lots of different ingredients to amp up a basic pancake recipe. You can substitute coconut oil for the melted butter to add a tropical flavor. Almond milk adds a delicate, nutty flavor that goes perfect with our Ohio maple syrup. This recipe works as well on a cast-iron skillet on the stove top as it does on the Blackstone griddle. It's a perfect way to have an excellent breakfast with family and friends.

And you really like using your griddle, make sure to check out our top 5 Blackstone griddle recipes post.

The Bearded Butchers are dedicated to providing as much information as we possibly can to help you understand how to best process and prepare meats of all kinds. To help you, we maintain a blog and YouTube channel with lots of free, high-quality information. The Bearded Butchers and Beardedbutchers.com are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This means that The Bearded Butchers may receive a commission if you click on a link above and make a purchase on Amazon.com.