Not Oil, Not Milk - Pancake Mix Is 10X Better With A Dollop Of This Staple

a stack of hot, delicious pancakes is hard to resist, and enthusiasts of the dish have no shortage of tips, tricks, and hacks for making them even more delectable. One way to make your pancake mix 10X better involves not oil, not milk, but a dollop of a pantry staple you might not have considered: mayonnaise.

This might seem counter-intuitive, as we commonly think of mayonnaise as deeply savory, a world away from the sweetness usually associated with pancakes. But the more you think about it, the more sense it makes to include mayo (after all, it's one of the 15 tricks we suggest for making the fluffiest pancakes). Mayo is predominantly an emulsification of eggs and oil, which already feature in many pancake batter recipes. 

Mayo isn't just a convenient substitute for the eggs and oil. It also makes pancakes softer, richer, and fluffier — so much so that a recipe for American pancakes on Hellmann's official website promises, "you won't know whether to eat them or use them as a pillow." In pancake recipes that call for mayonnaise, some — like the aforementioned Hellmann's recipe — do still call for a little oil, while others replace the oil and eggs entirely with mayo, so you may need to experiment before finding a recipe you prefer. One example is to lightly beat 2 tablespoons of your preferred mayo into ⅔ cup of milk, then pour in a sifted mixture of 1 ¼ cups of all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of baking powder. After combining, your batter will be ready for the griddle.

While many people worry this hack will leave the pancakes with a lingering mayonnaise flavor, those who've tried it insist you cannot taste it. On the subreddit r/CastIronCooking, one commenter admitted to finding the thought of mayonnaise in pancakes to be "really really off-putting," only to be met with numerous responses eager to assuage such concerns. "Don't knock it till you try it. You won't even know it's there," one user replied. They went on to point out that mayonnaise, in addition to its emulsifying properties, also gives pancakes more volume and helps activate any baking soda in the mix thanks to its acidity.

While a mayo-spiked batter is perfect for making the kind of pillowy, American-style pancakes you'll recognize from any good diner, the trick has also been widely embraced in Japan, where pancake recipes often call for Kewpie brand mayo (one of our favorite flavor upgrades for creamy salad dressings). Made with only egg yolks, Kewpie is even richer than the mayonnaise you may be used to, and that extra richness carries over to the pancakes. These Japanese soufflé pancakes are a uniquely sweet treat, and can be so intimidatingly tall and fluffy they make their American equivalents look as flat as ... well, you can guess where I'm going with this.