We all know that there’s a lot more to cooking and baking than just following a recipe. The way you whisk your batter, whether you remember to preheat the oven, the quality of your ingredients – these things all have an effect on your final product. So if you have ever tried to make pancakes at home and weren’t fully satisfied with the result, here are some tips for your next batch.

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First (and this might sound obvious), check the freshness of your ingredients – particularly your baking powder. When it comes to pancakes, using expired baking powder means your pancakes will end up completely flat. It can be frustrating, especially if you don’t cook often, to have to buy new ingredients when you already have them in your pantry, but fresh baking powder is the secret to fluffy pancakes.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that you need to whisk your dry ingredients before adding the wet ingredients – but don’t overwhisk the batter once it’s all mixed. It may sound contradictory, but hear us out: mixing your dry ingredients before adding your wet ingredients ensures you won’t end up with a lumpy batter. However, once the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder are all mixed, you only have to whisk the wet ingredients until you have a homogenous batter. Overmixing your batter can result in many different things. It can aerate it – that is, incorporate too much air into the mixture -, or it can develop extra gluten, which will make your pancakes dense and gummy.