Make these fluffy, homestyle big batch pancakes about twice a month or once a week, and freeze the extra pancakes for an easy weekday breakfast later on. With a just few ingredients, it’s easy to throw together, freezes well, and makes 15 regular-sized pancakes. Why not save yourself some time by making this homestyle big batch pancake recipe once and enjoying it for breakfast twice or even three times depending on your family’s size.

This recipe makes about 15 pancakes. So with a family of three eating two pancakes each, you’d have 9 to put away in the freezer for another meal later on in the week. If you want to double this recipe, feel free! Especially if you have a large family or just want to freeze more at one time.

I make this recipe dairy-free, using almond milk instead. So when “doubling” this recipe, or substituting regular milk instead, just start with less and then continue to add until you hit the right consistency. You may need more or less of the “doubled amount” or when using regular milk. You want the consistency of the batter to look like the 4th photo below.

recipe ingredients with a red kitchen aid mixer

Using the simple & essential pantry mix

Although this may seem like an added step the first time you make these pancakes, it will save time, in the long run, to have this all ready to go in your pantry. You can find that recipe by clicking on this: Simple & Essential Pantry Mix. This provides a base for a lot of the recipes I make and will share on this blog; kind of like a homemade version of Bisquik without the yucky stuff.

So once the Pantry Mix is made, put 3 cups of it into a large bowl or your mixer. You can keep the rest on hand in your pantry for the next time you make this recipe.

red kitchen aid mixer with pancake ingredients

vanilla extract being mixed into recipe using a red kitchen aid mixer

Then continue to add the following ingredients to the bowl of pantry mix:

4 Tbsp. of sugar

2 eggs

2-1/4 cups of almond milk

1/2 – 1 tsp of vanilla depending on taste

Then mix until all ingredients have been incorporated.

cutting up strawberries and pancake batter

Fold in 1 cup of the fruit of your choice. This time I chose to do 1/2 C. of strawberries and 1/2 C. of banana because they are my son’s favorite fruits. But feel free to add blueberries or apples or something else that suits you!

cut strawberries to go into pancake batter

cut banana chunks to go into pancake batter

Start making the pancakes

pancake batter being poured onto griddle

On low to medium heat, warm up the griddle with some dairy-free butter (or regular butter if that is what you eat) to cook the pancakes on. I use an ice cream scoop to pour the pancake batter so I get evenly sized pancakes with less mess. Then, with the back of the ice cream scoop, I just push it out evenly to form the circles and allow for even cooking. Once little bubbles start to form closer to the center of the pancake, flip it over with a spatula and cook the other side until it is browned.

Once browned, take the pancakes off. Either put them on a plate to serve or put them on a tray in the oven, set to the warm setting. This allows you to finish making the whole batch of them before serving as it will keep the pancakes warm without continuing to cook them. Then you can serve every one all at once, including yourself!

pancakes sitting on a wooden cutting board

Serve up the pancakes

You can add more pieces of fruit on top or just add some butter and maple syrup to serve.

pancakes on blue plate with strawberries

Freezing the leftover pancakes

Once cooled, you can freeze the leftover pancakes for an easy weekday meal or two.

Put 4 pancakes spread out in a freezer baggie, then label and date. You can fold the baggie in half for easier freezer storage, while still keeping the pancakes separated. This is so they don’t freeze into one big pancake lump. Then repeat the process until they are all in baggies in the freezer.

pancakes in a large baggie to go into freezer

Make-ahead homestyle big batch pancake mix

Another thing you can do to make from scratch pancakes faster is to create pancake mixes to store in your pantry. Put the dry ingredients, the Simple & Essential Pantry Mix and the Sugar mixed together into a mason jar in your pantry. Stick a label on it that says what it is, when you made it, and the rest of the recipe written on the side. This makes it so easy to just grab it and make it.