Why You Should Make Your Pancakes With Yogurt Instead Of Milk

Whether you're making a batch from scratch or using a packaged, store-bought mix, pancakes are a breakfast favorite that come together quickly to please a crowd. While traditional pancake recipes tend to use milk as the main wet ingredient, chef and content creator Violet Witchel thinks you ought to make them with yogurt instead of milk for the fluffiest results. "There's less liquid and the acid in the yogurt can help activate the leavening agents a bit more," Witchel asserts. "I would use traditional plain or vanilla unsweetened yogurt."

Plain yogurt will almost act like buttermilk by bringing both fluffiness and a subtle tang, while vanilla yogurt will be a sweetener and aromatic upgrade to the batter. "Greek yogurt will make the batter too thick," Witchel adds, though you can always use it in conjunction with a splash of milk to thin it out, as we do in this recipe for high-protein chocolate pancakes. After all, both milk and yogurt are staples that are bound to be in your fridge.

We probed Witchel for more textural tips, and while resting cake batter will result in a flat cake, she notes that it's an important to ensure the fluffiest pancakes. "Allowing your pancake batter to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes prior to cooking will make softer and fluffier pancakes," she says, "since the gluten can relax and the starches can hydrate." In fact, this is good advice for cookie dough, too.

If you're swapping milk with yogurt in your next pancake recipe, you'll need a cup of yogurt per cup of all-purpose flour. Of course, yogurt will also ensure fluffy gluten-free pancakes if you'd prefer to use oat flour. For vegans, you can use a plant-based yogurt like coconut yogurt instead of dairy-based yogurt. Whichever type you use, you'll still need to thin out the yogurt with either water or milk.

Depending on whether you use whole or non-fat yogurt, you'll end up adding between a fourth and a third of a cup of liquid. Witchel's picks are more neutral, plain and vanilla flavored yogurts, but you can always buy flavored yogurts for both a texture and flavor upgrade. Many Greek yogurt brands come with a fruit compote that you stir into it, which you can utilize as a mix-in. Plus, flavored yogurt won't weigh down your pancakes as much as whole blueberry mix-ins.

If you're looking for more tricks to making the fluffiest pancakes, we've got methods galore. And many of them don't require extra ingredients. For example, the game-changing method for the cloud-like fluff is to whip the egg whites separately from the yolks, folding them into the batter as the final step before pouring them over a griddle. Ensure your leavening agents are fresh and take the extra minute to sift your dry ingredients to aerate them. Whatever you do, don't overmix your batter!