This Taste Test Found the Best Pancake Mix

Pancakes

On the weekends, many of us have the same morning ritual: easing into the day with a good old-fashioned homemade breakfast. The go-to?Fluffy pancakes. Without the a.m. rush, there’s usually more time to carefully measure ingredients and even dabble with some of these new mix-ins and flavors. On weekdays, though, the kitchen scene is much differenttheres hardly enough time to down a cup of coffee, much less break out the measuring cups. Still, you can get golden-brown pancakes on the table without putting your morning into hyperdrive.

How, you ask? Use box pancake mix, and thenwham-bam!a stack of pancakes is ready to devour. Its one of the easiest cooking shortcuts. The hardest part is selecting the right mix. With so many brands on the market, its difficult to know which one will produce fluffy, golden-brown delights and which will fall flat.

Editor’s Tip: Imagine thick, fluffy, delicious pancakes that you dont even have to flip. Heres how this popular TikTok pancake hack worked out in real life.

To solve this problem, pancake lovers from across our sister siteTaste of Homegathered to take part in a blind taste test, putting six popular brands of buttermilk pancake mix up for judgment. With each brands product hot off the griddle, the judges were able to critique the pancakes solely on their flavor and texture without any marketing claims, fancy packaging, or price tags in the way! Curious to know which mixes made the taste testers flip? Read on to find out.

#6: Market Pantry Buttermilk Complete Pancake Mix

Average score: 2/10

It tastes like a plain gummy bear.

No flavor.

Was this a frozen pancake?

At the bottom of the packor should we saystackwas Market Pantry, Targets generic brand. The taste testing panel was unenthused by its artificial flavoring and chewy-sticky texture. Compared to other brands, this pancake was devoid of that sweet, salty, buttery taste we all know and love. The directions on the box were simple enough (just add water), but Id set my alarm a few minutes earlier if it meant making cakes with more flavor.Market Pantry redeemed itself in this salsa taste test, though!

#5: Aunt Jemima Buttermilk Complete Pancake & Waffle Mix

Average score: 3.25/10

This one is pretty uneventful.

It tastes much better with syrup.

Boring.

Similarly, this pancake didnt have much flavor; as with Market Pantry, Aunt Jemima only needed water to prepare. Our team of taste testers agreed: These pancakes were much better doused in maple syrup. Now, before you start thinking this could be a marketing scheme designed to sell Aunt Jemimas superstar syrupknow thatallof the brands pancakes tasted better with a drizzle of the sweet golden stuff. (For the sake of kitchen science, naturally, we had to try them with maple too.)

#4: Hungry Jack Complete Buttermilk Pancake & Waffle Mix

Average score: 4.75/10

This one is my favorite, flavor-wise.

Sweet but super sticky.

The flavor is good.

Jumping up in our rankings was Hungry Jack. Our tasters were divided on these just-add-water pancakes. Many remarked that the flavor was there. It was one of the sweeter pancakes of the bunch!

However, the overall ratings suffered because of the consistency of the cakes. The golden brown rounds were chewy and rubbery. (Psst! Though the Test Kitchen experts prepped each pancake batter with the utmost care, overmixing is the number-one cause of chewy pancakes.) If you pick up a box of Hungry Jack, be sure to stir the wet and dry ingredients together just until moistened.

#3: Bobs Red Mill Buttermilk Pancake & Waffle Whole Grain Mix

Average score: 5.5/10

Its more like a flapjack than a pancake.

Its more dense and wheaty.

It tastes healthierin a good way.

Though youre likely to find Bobs Red Mill products in the specialty food aisle of your store instead of alongside the blockbuster box mixes, we were curious to see how the high-fiber, whole-grain pancakes stacked up against the competition. After a single bite, it was clear this was a healthier product, as the whole-wheat flavor was very apparent. While some tasters enjoyed the heartier spin, others gave it low marks. Its also worth noting that the mix had a very dense consistency. A stack of these would definitely fill you up until suppertime.Check out15 other quick, hearty breakfast options.

#2: Betty Crocker Buttermilk Pancake & Waffle Mix

Average score: 6/10

Theres more salt in this one.

Its got the texture of cake!

There isnt a ton of flavor, but its still enjoyable.

In second place came a pancake that was pillowy-soft on the inside and a heartwarming golden brown on the outside: Betty Crocker. The brand delivered a stack that had a consistency much like tender, fluffy cake. There was a hint of salt that really boosted the flavor in these cakes. Surprisingly, this was another just add water mix. You’ll want to memorize these 12 ideas for a quick and easy breakfastas well.

#1: Bisquick Original Pancake & Baking Mix

Average score: 7.75/10

I like the appearance of these the most.

Big and fluffy. Yum!

I love the big buttery flavor.

Surging to number one on the scoreboard was Bisquick (a Betty Crocker brand). Testers said these tasted almost like the from-scratch cakes they make at home. One judge exclaimed, As a kid, Id definitely want my mom to make this kind! The pancake had the perfect texture and crisp golden appearance you look for in your Sunday stack. The creamy, buttery flavor gained high marks as well. Its safe to say, our hungry taste-testers flipped for these pancakes!

Recap:

The contenders, listed from least favorite to most loved, were Market Pantry, Aunt Jemima, Hungry Jack, Bobs Red Mill, Betty Crocker, and our winner, Bisquick.

A few final takeaways

Take a gander at the ingredients

If youre looking for a true quick-fix pancake, opt for a box mix that calls for only water. For that, the testers recommend Betty Crockers Buttermilk Pancake Mix. (If you like it as much as the testers did, you can get a value pack on Amazon.) But if youve got a few minutes to spare, brands like Bobs Red Mill and Bisquick offer a lot more flavor with the addition of simple ingredients like milk, oil,and eggs.

Make sure your heat is nice and even

Before you go forth with your newfound pancake knowledge, make sure your griddle really is pancake-ready. For instance, during our made-to-test set up, we had some minor snafus with the griddles temperature. For the perfect pancake, ensure that the surface youre cooking onbe it griddle or skilletis producing even heat. Heres a trick I learned from my mom: To tell if the cooking surface is ready for pancakes, splash a few drops of cold water on it. If the water bubbles and evaporates immediately, its time to get cookin!

Toppings matter

As icing is to cake, syrup and butter are to pancakes. Theres just something missing if you dont have a pat of butter melting on top of your stack. Butter, syrup, andother tasty toppingscan enhance the flavor of any pancake. So whether you use Market Pantry, Bobs Red Mill, or Bisquick, theyll taste similar if youre prone to sprinkling fresh fruit or chocolate chips on top (or stirring them into the batter). Just make sure you aren’t making any of these15 common mistakes everyone makes when cooking pancakes.

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