Fluffy Yogurt Pancakes

Written by
Molly Watson
An award-winning food writer and cookbook author, Molly Watson has created more than 1,000 recipes focused on local, seasonal ingredients.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Molly Watson
Tested by
Diana Rattray Reviewed on 03/22/21 by
Southern-cuisine expert and cookbook author Diana Rattray has created more than 5,000 recipes articles in her 20 years as a food writer.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Recipe Testing Panel
Diana Rattray
Updated 04/09/21
Stack of yogurt pancakes with butter and maple syrup

The Spruce 
Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 10 mins
Total: 15 mins
Servings: 4 servings
Yields: 8 pancakes
Nutritional Guidelines (per serving)
270 Calories
10g Fat
35g Carbs
9g Protein
See Full Nutritional Guidelines Hide Full Nutritional Guidelines
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories 270
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 10g 13%
Saturated Fat 2g 10%
Cholesterol 96mg 32%
Sodium 386mg 17%
Total Carbohydrate 35g 13%
Dietary Fiber 1g 3%
Total Sugars 10g
Protein 9g
Vitamin C 0mg 2%
Calcium 207mg 16%
Iron 2mg 12%
Potassium 201mg 4%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Yogurt pancakes are fluffy, a snap to whip together, and a great way to work some extra nutrition into the most important meal of the day. Oh wait, did we assume you were making these for breakfast? No need to be so conventional. These pancakes are tasty as a fun, simple dinner, or even served as a dessert with the right toppings (such as ice cream and strawberry sauce).

Once you've made homemade pancakes truly from scratch, you may wonder why you've been letting a pancake mix take up valuable cupboard space—you've been paying for someone to mix some flour and sugar together for you. These fluffy pancakes are really easy and only take a few pantry staples. Yogurt is a healthy addition as well as a great substitute when you don't have buttermilk handy. It adds the same hint of tang that you want from buttermilk pancakes and functions in a similar way as buttermilk.

This recipe is easy to halve or double as your breakfast—or dinner—needs demand.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour, or 3/4 cup (90 g) all-purpose flour plus 1/4 cup cornmeal, or other flour

  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

  • 1 cup plain yogurt, full fat or non-fat

  • 2 large eggs

  • 2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter, or vegetable oil

  • 1/4 to 1/3 cup whole milk, optional

  • Salted butter, maple syrup, honey, and/or jam, for serving

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for yogurt pancakes
    The Spruce 

  2. Heat a griddle or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Rotate it regularly to make sure it's evenly heated.

    Heat a griddle or cast-iron pan on medium-high heat
    The Spruce

  3. Once it's hot, turn down the heat to medium and maintain a hot surface. (You want a drop of water to bounce or dance on it but not splatter or explode—that's too hot). Adjusting the heat and maintaining an even pan temperature is the key to evenly cooked pancakes.

    Water sizzling on a hot cast-iron pan
    The Spruce

  4. While the griddle or pan heats up, make the batter. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.

    Dry ingredients for pancakes whisked together in a glass bowl
    The Spruce

  5. In another medium bowl, whisk together the yogurt and eggs.

    Yogurt and eggs whisked together in a bowl
    The Spruce

  6. Add the yogurt-egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir to combine.

    Yogurt and egg mixture added to flour mixture for pancakes
    The Spruce

  7. Stir in the melted butter or oil. If the batter is too thick (which can happen based on the consistency of the yogurt that is used), slowly add 1/4 to 1/3 cup milk.

    Melted butter stirred into pancake batter
    The Spruce

  8. Brush or spray oil onto the hot griddle or pan. Spoon the batter into even cakes and cook until bubbles form on the surface of the cakes, about 2 minutes.

    Yogurt pancakes cooking in a cast-iron pan
    The Spruce

  9. Using a spatula, flip the cakes over and cook until they are golden brown on the other side—about another 2 minutes. Working in batches, only cook as many pancakes as will fit on your pan without touching.

    Yogurt pancakes flipped over and cooking in a cast-iron pan
    The Spruce

  10. Transfer the pancakes to a platter or individual plates.

    Cooked pancakes on a tan plate
    The Spruce

  11. Serve pancakes hot, with butter, maple syrup, honey, or jam as you like.

    Pancake stack with maple syrup and butter
    The Spruce

How Do You Know When to Flip a Pancake?

Flip the pancake when you see bubbles over the surface; the edges will appear set and slightly dry.

What's the Perfect Size for a Pancake?

The perfect size for a pancake is around 4 inches in diameter. Use a 1/4- to 1/3-cup measuring cup for uniform pancakes.

What Is the Ideal Consistency for Pancake Batter?

Pancake batter should be pourable, but should not be runny. If the batter is too thick, stir in small amounts of milk—about 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time—until the batter consistency is improved. If too thin, add small amounts of flour.

Why Aren't My Pancakes Fluffy?

There are numerous reasons why pancakes don't turn out fluffy. It might take a little troubleshooting to determine, but here are some possibilities:


Old ingredients: Old flour won't perform as well, nor will leavening agents that have expired or are open and older than six months, such as baking soda and baking powder.


Overmixing: It's OK to have some lumps in your batter. Overmixing the batter can result in tough and rubbery pancakes because the gluten becomes overworked.


Flattening them: You may not even realize you're doing this when you flip them, but if so, it could also contribute to your pancakes not achieving their optimal rise.


Forgetting an ingredient: Even leaving out something like sugar can make a difference, as a little bit of sugar helps make for a softer pancake.

Recipe Variations

  • Pancakes are delicious on their own, but consider adding 1/4 to 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips to the batter or 1/2 cup blueberries (frozen or fresh). Or fold in half a mashed banana or a few tablespoons of chopped nuts such as pecans or walnuts.
  • Instead of plain yogurt, try making them with a flavored yogurt, such as vanilla, blueberry, or another fruit flavor.
  • For even fluffier pancakes, separate the eggs; beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and set them aside while you prepare the batter with the egg yolks. Fold the beaten whites into the final batter and cook as directed.