Even though the early press runs of Top Secret Recipes excluded
buttermilk in this recipe — a very important ingredient if you
really want pourable batter — many figured out the missing
ingredient on their own and the error was quickly corrected in
later copies. Now we just like to call those copies of the book
the “Collector’s Editions.” For any of you who were lucky enough
to get one of the “Collector’s Editions” we’d liked to say
“Congratulations!” Now here’s the recipe, in its entirety, to
make pancakes just like those served every day at IHOP.
Nonstick Spray
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup cooking oil
pinch of salt
1. Preheat a skillet over medium heat. Use a pan with a nonstick
surface or apply a little nonstick spray.
2. In a blender or with a mixer, combine all of the remaining
ingredients until smooth.
3. Pour the batter by spoonfuls into the hot pan, forming 5-inch
circles.
4. When the edges appear to harden, flip the pancakes. They should
be golden brown.
5. Cook pancakes on the other side for same amount of time, until
golden brown.
Makes 8 to 10 pancakes.
carol says
Sorry, this recipe can’t be right and I even have the “correct” addition of the book (the main reason I bought the book was for this particular recipe). No way do you have the same amount of liquid as you do dry ingredients. These were simply awful! They were as thin as crepes and had absolutely NO flavor. I threw the entire batch away and made French Toast!
Tina Kistner says
Love pancake
Dawn K. says
Made these this am and I’m not sure if doing a double batch made a difference, but these turned out very badly. There are 7 in my family and the only ones who liked it were the 2 babies, but then again they don’t know any better either and were probably so hungry from waiting on them to finish. Normally, I would try again, but not so much this time.
sly says
if you really want to know,,e-mail me and ill tell you,its not complicated at all(really simple)goldmasterisme@yahoo.com
sly says
i work there and youre not even close
Colombia says
Great pancakes.6or those who complain about texture and overall quality,please check on quatities, lower on baking powder and it should do the trick.Also agree on not overstirring.
Michela C says
These are possibly the WorldS Best Pancakes! My whole family loves them! I’m 14 and I learned how to make these in Home ect, and came home with the recipe. To my surprise, everybody loved them! I just had to find the website to comment on this delious breakfast. Tomorrow is my birthday, and guess who wanted to make breakfast for EVERYBODY else? That’s right..ME! Ha Ha. I recommend this to everyone and anyone. It takes an easy 5 minutes. And they are very DELIOUS!! I hope everyone has as much fun making these as i did…ENJOY!! 🙂
justin says
Im not a business guy or a sales person but personal I love the idea of posting there recipe, but you still have to think of the actual business IHOP if everyone makes there pancakes for them selves it wouldn’t make its money. Eventually it will go bankrupt and shut down. Im not saying its wrong but i am saying it is something that people need to notice.
MissAstute says
These do make some very good and fluffy pancakes, but not quite IHOP. Thanks for this recipe!
doris says
TOO MANY INGREDIENTS FOR THE MORNING Aunt Jemima ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jay says
I love pancakes! great stuff ^^
Jim says
I love people who exclaim how good the recipe is; however, they changed this and that. BTW, this is a standard recipe as others have noted. Look at any cookbook. Too much sugar in this one!!! I agree with the persons who said to use 1/4 cup regular milk and 1 cup buttermilk. DO NOT OVER STIR. That makes pancakes tough.
Evelyn Kelley says
My daughter tried the recipe and said that they turned out very bad.
I can’t figure out what she could’ve done wrong.
Mine turn out good evert time.
Drea says
This recipe is great…i added a little vanilla nut butter flavoring and it made the already great recipe…amazing~
pancakes lover! says
delicious! very fluffy and the color was perfect! I used butter instead of oil. There were very delicious!! 😀
pancakes lover! says
delicious! very fluffy and the color was perfect! I use butter instead of oil. There were very delicious!! 😀
Evelyn Kelley says
Well everyone, I made them (IHOP pancakes) and my mom said that they taste just like hers.
They did taste very good. That person whose pancakes taste like fish, used old grease and to
much of it.
Thanks chef Jay.
Evelyn Kelley says
My mom makes great pancakes. I don’t cook like she can, so I’m going to try this out, and serve it to her for breakfast. I can’t tell her that it is IHOP’s recipe. She is 90 years old from old school and she would not eat it. She’s not to well right now so the kitchen is mine. Here goesssssssssss.
Ms. K
Chef Jay says
Why would you dare use a blender to mix your ingredients? You do realize that IHOP’s slogan in the kitchen is “Lumps are OK”? There are three key elements to IHOP’s recipe and those are, Baking Soda, Buttermilk and soft mixing which is somewhere between whisking and folding.
So if you’re looking for “magic” panacakes, just remember those 3 elements and you can’t go wrong… there’s no “secrets” in pancakes.
You can however add your own flavor using any variety of extracts; Almond being a particular fav. for my guests and with slivered toasted almonds dropped in. And tips for extracts are, just a hint to make people question it and you should have only the slightest aroma in your mix. Then you know you have enough.
MsPhilly says
This recipe was a bust. Pancakes were bland and heavy. Nothing like IHOP pancakes at all (no it was not user error). We threw them away.
Judi says
OK I tried these pancakes and they were not as good as Ihops lol although hubby liked them
Wolfie says
To Hungry Diabetic who asked for a recipe “which does not contain added sugar”. I’ve read a lot of recipes and this is pretty basic except for the HUGE quantity of sugar in this one. Just don’t add any sugar and it’ll make a great pancake.
TIP: Instead of 1 1/4 C buttermilk, use only 1 cup and add 1/4 regular milk. This smoothes out the batter and still gives good buttermilk flavor.
Hungry Diabetic says
The above recipe (which calls for 1/4 cup sugar) is definitely NOT the same as the one at IHOP, which does not contain added sugar (only their syrups do). So for diabetics like me, do you have another recipe that’s closer to the one that IHOP actually uses?
rachel says
This is great….I loved the pancakes……
Schantel says
This pancake recipe made look like a culinary master. I loved the way they turned out the first time out and my husband and toddler ate so many I was shocked. And my son will hardly eat anything. This recipe is what’s up. Awesome! Thx a million for posting.
Keasha says
I think its great i just finish eating it, it was awesome ppl i am telling u, u have 2 try dis ppl…..
Becky says
First batch was no good, as always :/ second and third batch tasted almost just like IHOP (I made smaller pancakes and ended up with 18). The key was definitely the real butter on top. I used land o lakes whipped butter (in the tub) and that is a great copycat of that big ball of butter they put on your stack in the restaurant. On a side note, this is almost the exact recipe of Betty Crocker’s favorite pancakes, except there’s a quarter cup more flour and buttermilk and ten times more sugar. I never would have thought it was the sugar ratio that was IHOP’s secret…
Charlie says
One more note: If you beat the egg whites and fold them at the last minute (for waffles or pancakes) they are unbelievably light. Enjoy.
mike says
these were awesome, sooo similar to ihop and better, only reason ihop has a different taste i believe because they buy their ingredients in bulk and cheap. by using quality ingredients and this recipe it’s like having a gourmet ihop pancake. and to the dude who had “fishy” pancakes. WASH YOUR FRIGGEN UTENSILS, PANS & DISHES!
Sean J says
The vegetable oil is the only ingredient that needs some clarification. It works fine in this recipe, but ihop uses a proprietary blend of oils, with coconut oil being the primary base in the blend.
donni says
Why would you use old fish oil to make pancakes? Disgusting use fresh oil or butter. duh!!
sergioroman says
I never thought this recipe would work. But those are some really good pancakes. I made soem for my mom on mothers day and my mom loved them. I told her this website and she found all these great recipes. Thanks
Melenie says
Great recipe!! My kids loved it and I am hooked. Thanks
amgelmarie says
this is the best send me some more recipes will ya
cherie says
LOL, Steph, what grade are you in?
missy says
Thanks for posting this its great!!!!
Matt says
Luv this recipe…been using it for years. Try substituting half wheat flour in the recipe, add a nutty flavor!
reggie says
GREAT PANCAKES
ihoplover says
GREAT pancakes! I’ve never made, my daughter is making them too!!!!
Teresa says
Dave – I agree with Cathey! I was thinking the same thing! You must have used some old fish fry oil! YUK! I have made these and they are GREAT! For those of you who care, my favorite IHOP syrup was Boysenberry. BUT…they do not have that flavor anymore. So, I found some Boysenberry syrup at the grocery made by Smuckers and it REALLY tasted like IHOP to me. I also use “real” butter. That’s an added secret to making them taste more like IHOP.
Sorry DAVE!!!
Cathey says
Dave – greasy and fishy? Sounds like user error to me. Maybe you need to check the date on your ingredients or use vegetable oil instead of rancid grease left over from last weeks fish fry…
This recipe, while not 100% ihop tasting, is definitely an OUTSTANDING pancake recipe, and I can’t double it ENOUGH to keep my family happy – if I made 8x the batter they would still want more – they eat the pancakes plain even, they’re so good.
But greasy and fishy? Not sure what in the world you could have ever done to produce those results, but one thing is for sure, its not the recipe!!!!
Tbooks says
I haven’t tried this recipe but know for sure that if you add 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice and a few dashes of baking soda to any pancake batter they will be light and fluffy.
Dave says
Sorry but this was a bust. Didn’t taste like IHOP at all, to us. Greasy, fishy flavor. We threw them away.
Lisa says
This recipe was so easy and the pancakes came out great!! Very Similar to IHOP. Definitely a keeper!!
Darla says
Love the recipe. It was a big hit for the Christmas breakfast this year. My husband likes them so much, he says that they are better than IHOP. Plus it is great being able to treat the whole family.
Mike says
Steph, you need to learn that spending 8 dollars to buy enough to make more than one batch, is a lot more cost efficient that going to IHOP and spending double that for half of one serving. And if you can make IHOP pancakes on your own, why bother going to IHOP to pay for them!
steph says
my friend showed me this website and she was really fascinated because she loves ihop. but seriously like i dont care because my mom makes pancakes. she doesnt use the ihop recipe but thats okay because if i want ihop id rather go and spend like 8 dollars instead of just going to the store and spending like four bucks on ingredients so i can just make them at home. also last time i went to ihop someone threw up. but still i’d rather go there and risk someone puking again and ruining my meal.