Inspired by the famous Amangiri skillet pancake, these have a crispy golden crust, a light and fluffy inside, and a subtle caramel flavour from Mexican Coke. It’s a simple and satisfying simple recipe that’s easy to make and really delicious!
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I first heard about the viral Amangiri pancake after watching The Reluctant Traveler with my family. Eugene Levy digs into this thick, golden skillet pancake that was pulled out of a wood-fired oven at Amangiri. It looked so good and I just couldn’t stop thinking about it—I had to figure out how to make it myself.
Maybe it’s weird to be the sort of person who gets obsessed with a skillet pancake, but here we are! This recipe was a true labour of love for me—over about 2 years I’ve tested it over a dozen times. Even though there are recipes for it posted online, none of them worked for me. The head chef at Amangiri even posted his recipe on YouTube, and I tried it more than once, and it turned out too dry every time. I found a couple other versions of this recipe online, but none of those worked out for me either.
Over more than ten recipe versions and dozens of rounds of testing, I tried just about everything. I separated the eggs so I could whip the whites into a meringue with the sugar to make them as fluffy as possible—and ultimately decided that didn’t make enough of a difference to warrant the added effort. I even made a batch in my outdoor wood-fired pizza oven to make it as true to the original resort version as possible. After all that trial and error I landed on this version that’s tall, fluffy, crisp-edged, addictive, and super easy to make using your home oven. Since my hotel budget is way more Lowbrow than it is Fancy I can’t claim it’s just like the original Amangiri pancake, but it’s definitely delicious and very thoroughly tested!
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What Makes This Skillet Pancake Recipe Special?
- Tall and fluffy with a crisp golden crust.
- Subtle caramel flavour thanks to the Mexican cola.
- Oven baked so you don’t have to babysit pancakes on the stove.
- Flexible size. Make a few mini personal-size pancakes using a small cast iron skillet, or make a giant pancake in a large cast iron skillet for everyone to share!
- Easy recipe that uses only basic equipment you probably already have
- Great for brunch, breakfast, or dessert
Pssst…If you like baking stuff in a skillet, you should try my chocolate chip skillet cookie recipe for two!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Granulated sugar to make the pancakes crisp and golden brown, and add just enough sweetness.
- Citrus zest and juice for tossing the berries in and balancing their flavour. You can use lemon, lime, or orange.
- All-purpose flour provides structure for the pancakes
- Fine sea salt enhances the flavour
- Baking soda & powder provide lift, making the pancakes nice and fluffy
- A large egg binds the batter together and adds richness
- Buttermilk adds a delicious tangy flavour to balance out all the sweetness. The acidity also keeps the crumb tender, and reacts with the baking soda to provide lift.
- Mexican Coca-Cola is made with real cane sugar, and adds a subtle caramel flavour to the pancakes. Its carbonation and acidity also help make the pancakes light and fluffy. You can substitute regular cola if you can’t find Mexican.
- Unsalted butter adds richness.
- Clarified butter or ghee is used in the hot cast iron skillet to help crisp up the outside of the pancake and prevent it from sticking. You can use a different neutral-flavoured fat that has a high smoke point instead, like peanut, avocado, or refined coconut oil. Whatever you do, don’t use regular butter—the milk solids burn easily and will quickly fill your oven with smoke.
- Powdered sugar & maple syrup for sprinkling and drizzling on your hot pancakes to make them extra delicious!
To Serve
- Fresh berries, or frozen in a pinch.
- Granulated sugar to macerate the berries (i.e. draw their juices out and soften them).
- Citrus zest and juice to toss the macerated berries in and balance out their flavour.
- Maple syrup to drizzle on your fresh pancakes. Use real maple syrup if you can!
- Powdered sugar AKA confectioner’s or icing sugar.
How to Make Skillet Pancakes Step-by-Step
- Preheat your oven to 450˚F (230˚C). Place your skillet or mini skillet in the oven while it preheats. Add the berries to a bowl and toss with the sugar, citrus zest, and juice. Leave to sit while you prepare the batter.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, cola, egg, and melted butter until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Leave the batter to rest for 15-30 minutes.
- Add about a tablespoon of ghee to the hot skillet (or 2-3 tablespoons if using a large skillet). Fill the skillet about a third of the way up the sides with batter.
- Bake for 4-5 minutes for a mini skillet, or 6-7 minutes for a large skillet, or until the pancake has puffed up and the top is no longer shiny.
- Carefully flip the pancake onto a plate and return it to the pan to bake the other side. Cover the pan with a piece of aluminum and bake for another 4-5 minutes until the top side is golden brown.
- If making a mini pancake, flip it out onto a plate. If you’re making a giant pancake, you can serve it inside the skillet. Drizzle on some maple syrup, pile on some berries, and dust on some powdered sugar, and dig in!
Tips for Skillet Pancake Success
- Don’t skip resting the batter! 15-30 minutes of rest time helps the flour hydrate thoroughly, and gives the baking powder and baking soda a head start on puffing the batter up. Both are key to getting beautifully light and fluffy pancakes!
- Reheat the skillet if you’re making mini pancakes or multiple large pancakes. Put the skillet back in the oven empty for 5–6 minutes between batches so it can come back up to a high temperature. This ensures your pancakes will get a nice crispy crust and gret oven spring. Even better if you can rotate between two skillets, so you always have an empty one getting hot in the oven.
- Use enough clarified butter or ghee to thoroughly coat the bottom of the pan without it being so much your pancake essentially deep fries. I found that one tablespoon is a good amount for a mini skillet, and 2-3 tablespoons is good for a large skillet.
- Flip the pancake out carefully onto a plate, and return it to the pan so the other side can get brown. Before flipping, sure the top of the pancake looks set (i.e. it’s no longer shiny), or you risk breaking the pancake. Cover the pan with a couple layers of aluminum foil so the pancake can cook through without the top burning.
Ideas for Serving Skillet Pancakes
- Strawberries & Cream Top the pancake with whipped or clotted cream, and pile on fresh sliced strawberries or strawberry
- Banana split Add a few scoops of your favourite ice cream, banana slices, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and a cherry on top
- Churro Style Spread some butter onto the pancake and sprinkle on some cinnamon sugar and add a drizzle of dulce de leche or caramel sauce
- Pancake Bar For a memorable brunch, put out bowls of fresh sliced fruit, jam, sprinkles, chocolate chips, chocolate sauce, maple syrup, or anything else you can imagine wanting to put on a pancake, and let everyone top their own!
FAQs
I don’t recommend it. These pancakes bake at a high temperature, which can break down the coating on nonstick pans. Cast iron pans hold a lot of heat which help the outside of the pancakes get beautifully brown and crispy. Cast iron pans are relatively expensive (you can even get them secondhand and refurbish them if rusty), they basically last forever, and are worth having in your kitchen arsenal!
Use a 10-12″ cast iron skillet, and heat it in the oven until it’s very hot. Add 2-3 tablespoons of clarified butter or ghee, then pour in enough batter so it comes about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way up the sides of the pan. Bake for a couple of extra minutes per side. Before flipping, make sure the top of the pancake looks set and is no longer shiny.
You can make the batter the day before, and rest it in the fridge overnight.
Technically yes, you could freeze baked and cooled pancakes, and then refresh them in a toaster when ready to eat. These are truly best eaten fresh out of the oven though, so I don’t recommend making any more than you plan to eat right away.
Best-Ever Cast Iron Skillet Pancake (Baked in Oven)
Ingredients
Method
- Place 3 cups fresh berries in a bowl. Slice any larger berries (like strawberries) into about half-inch pieces or slices. Toss with zest & juice of 1 lemon, lime, or small orange and zest & juice of 1 lemon, lime, or small orange and leave at room temperature while you make the pancakes. The berries will release their juices, making a delicious sauce with the citrus zest and juice.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together 135 g all-purpose flour, 40 g granulated sugar, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and ½ teaspoon baking powder until combined.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together 1 large egg, 110 g buttermilk, 65 g Mexican cola, and 40 g unsalted butter (melted and cooled) until completely smooth. Add the dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Let the batter rest covered at room temperature for 15-30 minutes while you preheat the oven and skillet.
- Preheat the oven to 450˚F (230˚C). Place an empty skillet or two in the oven to heat up. Use a 5-6" skillet (12.5-15.25 cm) for mini personal-size pancakes, or an 8-10" (20.3-25.5 cm) skillet for a large pancake.
- Add about 1 tablespoon of ghee or clarified butter to the hot skillet. Pour in enough batter to come up about ⅓ to ½ of the way up the side of the pan. Bake for 4-5 minutes for a mini pancake, or 6-7 minutes for a large pancake (or until the top looks set and no longer shiny).
- Carefully flip the pancake onto a plate, and slide it back into the skillet so the other side can get brown and crispy. Cover with a couple layers of aluminum foil so the pancake can cook through without the top burning. Return to the oven for another 4-5 minutes or until cooked through.
- If making mini pancakes, flip onto a plate and return the skillet to the oven to get hot again. You can serve a large pancake directly in the skillet. Top with a drizzle of maple syrup, pile on some macerated berries, and dust on some powdered sugar. Serve immediately.
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