The pancake batter is ready in the mixing bowl in 30 seconds, and then it needs to do absolutely nothing for half an hour. Sounds odd, but that is the whole trick. We have been making pancakes regularly for years, and the difference between “straight into the pan” and “rested for 30 minutes” is so noticeable that we never skip the resting time.
With 300 g of flour, 500 g of milk and 5 eggs we get 10 thin pancakes that stay pliable and do not tear when flipping. Below you will find four recipes: basic batter, sweet filling, rhubarb, apple. We can mix the basic batter in our sleep by now.
Apple Pancakes in the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 10 ✓
- 4 eggs
- 1 pinch salt
- 250 g milk
- 160 g flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp vanilla sugar
- 1 apple
- 4 tsp rapeseed oil
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
Instructions 0 / 5
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1
Add the eggs, salt and milk to the mixing bowl and mix for 10 seconds / speed 4.
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2
Add the flour, baking powder and vanilla sugar to the mixing bowl and mix for 20 seconds / speed 4.
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3
Quarter the apple, peel it, remove the core and stalk, and slice into thin pieces.
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4
Heat 1 tsp of oil in a frying pan each time, add 1/4 of the batter, top with 1/4 of the apple slices and cook until golden. Repeat for the remaining three pancakes.
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5
Mix the sugar and cinnamon together, sprinkle over the pancakes and serve.
Tip: If you want to serve the pancakes as a quick main course, simply double the ingredients and make eight pancakes for four servings.
Nutrition per serving
Why 30 minutes of resting time makes or breaks the result
Pancake batter without resting time produces tough, crumbly pancakes. With resting time it becomes pliable and thin. Between the two lies 30 minutes, nothing more.
The reason is flour mechanics. When the flour first comes into contact with the milk and egg, it has not yet absorbed the liquid. The starch granules need time to swell. At the same time, mixing develops gluten, and the gluten contracts like an elastic band. It is exactly this taut gluten that makes pancakes tough.
30 minutes of rest solves both problems at once. The starch absorbs the full amount of liquid and the batter becomes homogeneous. The gluten relaxes, and the pancakes turn out thin, soft and no longer tear when flipping. We simply leave the mixing bowl on the worktop and put the lid on. No extra bowl to wash, no transferring.
Before that, the Thermomix® handles the part that is genuinely annoying by hand: mix 300 g of flour, 500 g of milk and a pinch of salt for 20 seconds at speed 4, then add 5 eggs and mix again for 10 seconds at speed 5. Lump-free, without any whisk gymnastics. Anyone who has ever tried this with cold milk and a bowl will know the little flour pockets that form at the edges. In the mixing bowl they simply do not appear.
The ingredients and why the ratio works
Pancakes are a 4-ingredient recipe: flour, milk, eggs, salt. The rest is ratio. For 300 g of flour we use 500 g of milk and 5 eggs. More milk makes the batter too thin and the pancakes tear, less milk makes them thick and dense. Five eggs make the batter stable enough to flip without tasting like an omelette.
For flour we use Type 405 or Type 550. Wholemeal flour works too, but add 50 g of extra milk, otherwise the wholemeal absorbs too much. The milk can happily be at room temperature as it combines with the flour more quickly that way. Straight from the fridge is fine too, the Thermomix® compensates during mixing.
For the sweet version we add 30 g of sugar directly with the flour. For savoury pancakes we leave out the sugar and fill them afterwards with cream cheese, ham, smoked salmon or spinach. The basic batter stays the same.
Where pancakes go tough or tear
Batter straight into the pan after mixing
This is the main reason for tough pancakes. Without 30 minutes of resting time, the flour has not yet absorbed the milk and the gluten is taut. The result is rubbery rather than tender. Our solution: Simply leave the mixing bowl on the worktop for 30 minutes after mixing. That is the most important half-hour in the recipe.
Pancakes tear when flipping
If the batter falls apart when flipping, there is either not enough binding or not enough fat. Too few eggs make the batter unstable, and without properly hot fat the pancake sticks to the base. Our solution: Stick to the ratio of 300 g of flour to 5 eggs, and only grease the pan once it is hot. We use clarified butter or rapeseed oil as both handle medium heat better than butter.
Pancakes turn black or patchy
Butter looks lovely in the pan but burns even at medium heat. Black spots on a pancake usually come from burnt milk proteins in the butter. Our solution: We use clarified butter for flavour or neutral rapeseed oil when speed matters. Keep the heat at medium, no higher than that.
Batter too thick or too thin
Sometimes the flour absorbs more liquid than expected, especially with wholemeal flour. Sometimes the eggs are extra large and the batter turns too thin. Our solution: For batter that is too thick, add 30 g of milk and mix for 5 seconds at speed 3. For batter that is too thin, add 20 g of flour and treat it the same way.
Sweet with cinnamon sugar, savoury with spinach
The basic batter suits any direction, and we vary it depending on mood and what is in the fridge.
- Classic sweet: Add 30 g of sugar with the flour, then sprinkle the finished pancakes with cinnamon sugar and a squeeze of lemon. Works well with apple sauce or jam too.
- Sparkling water variation: Replace 100 g of the milk with sparkling mineral water and add the water only after the resting time, then mix for 5 seconds at speed 3. Makes the pancakes extra fluffy.
- Apple in the batter: Slice 2 Boskop apples thinly, lay them in the pan and pour the batter over. For this version, whip the egg white separately until stiff and fold it in at the end, otherwise the apple slices will not support the batter.
- Savoury with smoked salmon: Leave out the sugar, spread the finished pancakes with cream cheese, add smoked salmon and dill, roll up and slice into pieces.
- Spinach and cream cheese: Again without sugar, spread with cream cheese, top with spinach and a little grated Parmesan, roll up like a wrap.
- Oven pancakes for a crowd: Preheat the oven with the baking tray to 200 °C, grease the tray with butter, pour on the batter and bake for 10 minutes. Saves standing over the pan when the whole family is hungry.
If the batter comes out too thick, the pancake gets torn apart, dusted with icing sugar and served with a little apple sauce. That brings us to the improvised Kaiserschmarrn, which is incidentally one of the best accidental baking recipes there is.
Pancake relatives made in the Thermomix®
Once you get into pancakes, the Thermomix® has a few close relatives right next door. For the wafer-thin version with a French tradition there is the recipe for Crepes in the Thermomix®, noticeably thinner than our pancakes but larger. For the thick, fluffy version at breakfast, Buttermilk Pancakes are worth trying as they become light through buttermilk and baking powder rather than egg whites.
If there is batter left over after making pancakes, it goes straight into Pancake Soup: cut into fine strips and serve in hot broth. A classic from the leftover kitchen. Anyone who likes something hearty can use the batter for a Minced Meat Pancake Bake, where the pancakes are layered with mince and cheese and gratinated.
1 day in the fridge, frozen for 1 month
Finished pancakes keep for about 2 days in an airtight container in the fridge. To keep them warm straight after cooking, we place them in the oven at 50 °C fan on a baking tray lined with baking paper until everyone is ready to sit down.
Freezing works very well. We stack the cooled pancakes with baking paper between each layer and put them in a freezer bag. They keep for about a month without sticking together. To reheat, place them in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat, about one minute per side, until warm and pliable again. The microwave works too, though they come out a little softer.
We do not leave raw batter in the fridge overnight. After 8 hours of chilling it loses elasticity and the pancakes turn flatter and slightly tough. Better to mix fresh, rest for 30 minutes, then cook.
Our four pancake recipes
We start with the basic batter. The other three recipes are the variations we make most often.
Pan, heat and the right moment to flip
We use a non-stick pan on level 6 of 9, so just above medium heat. Test: a drop of water must sizzle and evaporate immediately in the pan, then it is hot enough. Only then do we add half a teaspoon of clarified butter and spread it thinly across the base with kitchen paper. A ladle of batter into the centre, then immediately swirl the pan in a circular motion until the batter reaches the edges. Anyone who spreads it with a spoon ends up with streaky pancakes. After about a minute the edges visibly lift from the pan base and the top of the batter loses its sheen. That is the moment to flip. The second side only needs 30 to 40 seconds.
More cakes and bakes from the Thermomix® can be found in our cake collection.
Goes well with: Apple sauce, strawberry jam and vanilla sauce.
You might also like: Germany Glass Dessert Thermomix®.
Basic Pancake Recipe
Pancakes with Sweet Filling
Rhubarb Pancakes
A summer recipe from rhubarb season. We serve the rhubarb pancakes with homemade Buttermilk Lemon Ice Cream, which gives a lovely balance of sharp and sweet.
Apple Pancakes with Boskop
When Grandma’s apple tree drops Boskop apples in late summer, they become apple pancakes. The pancakes need to be a little thicker here, otherwise the apple slices will not hold. The trick is to whip the egg white separately until stiff and fold it in at the end, then they become fluffy enough for the amount of apple.
If you fancy more sweet treats: our Thermomix® Rice Pudding is also ready in 30 minutes, and the Banana Caramel Layered Dessert only takes a few minutes and goes perfectly with leftover pancakes.
