I bet you have a go-to pancake recipe. I bet you can make it without even looking at the recipe. I sure do. Weekends are all about pancakes at our house. As I mixed ours last weekend, using the same ingredients and the same old technique,  I thought my go-to recipe was due for an upgrade. So on a noble quest for the very best recipe, I tried the top five on Allrecipes and let me tell you—it was a close match. 

The ingredients for pancakes are generally pretty similar: flour, eggs, leavening, liquid. I wondered what exactly it would take to make my pancakes even more special. The perfect pancake is light, fluffy and tender with a subtle tanginess and gentle sweetness. As far as technique goes, there are three that tend to work every time. 

Leave the lumps in your batter. Overmixing leads to dry pancakes. 

Let your batter rest for about 10 minutes after mixing. This allows your leavening to get to work and results in taller, fluffier pancakes, regardless of the recipe. 

Once your pancakes are on the griddle, watch for bubbling around the edges. This is when you know when to flip them. 

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This is the perfect recipe to choose if you’re just starting out on your personal pancake journey. The instructions are as simple and straightforward as it gets, and it calls only for items you probably already have on hand. Dry ingredients get whisked together and wet ingredients are whisked into the dry ones, just until the batter comes together. These had a really nice flavor and texture, and I certainly would not complain if a stack of these landed on my plate. 

True to its name, this recipe yielded the tallest pancake of the bunch. For chemistry nerds, like yours truly, this recipe is pure magic. Kris calls for a combination of vinegar and milk in place of buttermilk. Dry ingredients include flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Not only does the vinegar sour the milk, it also interacts with the baking soda to create extra bubbles, resulting in extra tall pancakes. I just love it. The flavor of this batch was good, and although the texture was a bit on the dry side, this recipe is a good starting point if height is your goal. 

This is a wonderful, basic pancake recipe that’s big on nostalgia. Jackie uses canola oil in place of butter, which contributes to its homey flavor. Canola oil also ensures that the end result stays moist, even when left out on the counter all morning. The flavor and texture of this batch was the closest of all to diner-style flapjacks. 

There is something epically comforting about a good buttermilk pancake, and this recipe does not disappoint. The developer calls for combining flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. To this they add buttermilk, melted butter, and eggs, whisking just until combined. The results are heavenly. Buttermilk adds tenderness and a light tang to these pancakes that pairs well with just about any topping you can think of. I’m calling this recipe the runner up, because I’ll make these again soon. 

Although it was a close race, this recipe was the unanimous favorite among my family members. Kelly’s recipe calls for flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt, which is sifted together into a large bowl. Milk, one egg, and melted butter are then added to a well in the center of the dry ingredients and whisked until combined. Right off the griddle, these pancakes are just perfect. They stand up tall and are as delicious on their own as they are with maple syrup. They are tender and fluffy and strike the perfect sweet-to savory balance. As a die-hard buttermilk pancake gal, this recipe really challenged my assumptions about what makes for a great pancake. This is the recipe we’ll make for many Saturdays to come.