Shrove Tuesday: 5 Chefs Share Their Favourite Pancake Recipes

We’ve all got our favourite toppings when it comes to pancakes, but how do the top chefs like theirs? Ahead of Shrove Tuesday tomorrow, a handful of chefs have shared their signature pancake recipes, from classic American-style to an Ottolenghi-style savoury twist and French-inspired crêpes. Impress your friends by whizzing up a stack tomorrow.

5 Pancake Recipes For Shrove Tuesday 2025

Silver Dollar Pancakes

Sandia Chang, Co-Founder of Kitchen Table

‘On a typical Shrove Tuesday, I make American-style “silver dollar” pancakes for my kids in the morning. They’re named after their small size and are really fun to stack up. We normally serve them with maple syrup and have them for breakfast that day. Then, in the evening, my husband James (chef James Knappett, co-founder of Kitchen Table) will make us traditional English pancakes for dessert after dinner. He serves them classic, with sugar and lemon juice.’

Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 eggs, separated

Method: 

1. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to a large bowl. Whisk to combine.
2. In another bowl (or I use a large liquid measuring cup) combine the milk and vegetable oil. Add the egg yolks to the milk and whisk to break up the yolks.
3. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and mix to combine. There will still be small lumps.
4. Place the egg whites in another bowl and beat until they have stiff peaks.
5. Add about 1/3 of the stiff egg whites to the pancake batter and stir it in to combine and lighten the batter. 
6. Add the remaining egg whites and gently fold until no white streaks appear.
7. Heat a griddle or skillet over medium-high heat. Grease with butter or with nonstick cooking spray.
8. Pour about the size of a “silver dollar” of batter onto the hot griddle. Let the pancakes cook until bubbles form, then flip and continue to cook until browned and cooked through.
9. Continue with the remaining batter until all of the pancakes are cooked.

 

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Grilled Pancakes With Harissa Cabbage And Taleggio

Yotam Ottolenghi, founder of Ottolenghi

‘On days when lemon and sugar simply won’t do, I’d rather devote my attention to fun fillings than to flipping – melty, gooey cheese and a spicy paste from a jar, say. Good-quality, shop-bought pancakes make the whole process so much easier, but I find that they can be a bit brittle, so heat them slightly, and gently, before filling, which will keep them pliable and stop them from cracking.’

Ingredients:

• 100g unsalted butter
• ½ white cabbage, cut into 3mm-wide strips
• 250g chestnut mushrooms, finely sliced
• 200g baby leaf spinach
• 3 rosemary sprigs, leaves picked and finely chopped, to get 2 tbsp
• Fine sea salt and black pepper
• 2 tsp rose harissa paste, plus ½ tsp oil from the jar, for serving
• 4 shop-bought plain or sweet pancakes
• 150g taleggio, or camembert or brie, cut into 4 slices

Method:

1. Put the first five ingredients in a large frying pan, add a teaspoon of salt, and cook on a high heat, stirring often, for about 20 minutes, until the vegetables have softened but not taken on any colour. Add the harissa paste and a good grind of pepper, cook for another minute, then turn down the heat to medium-low.
2. Meanwhile, turn on the grill to its highest setting. Lay one pancake on top of the cabbage mixture and leave it there for 30 seconds, to soften. Transfer the pancake to a 20cm x 30cm baking tray lined with greaseproof paper, spoon a quarter of the cabbage mixture over one half of the pancake and fold over the other half to cover the filling. Move the filled pancake to the edge of the tray, then repeat with the remaining three pancakes, softening them first on top of the cabbage mix before filling and nestling them together on the tray. Top each pancake with a slice of taleggio, then grill for a minute or two, until the cheese melts and starts to brown.
3. Remove from the oven, drizzle the harissa oil all over the top of the pancakes, add a good grind of pepper and serve straight from the tray.

Puffy Pancakes

Emily Cuddeford, co-founder of Twelve Triangles

Ingredients:

Makes 9 large or 14 little ones

• 220g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 40g caster sugar
• A pinch of salt
• 3 eggs
• 150g buttermilk (the thick stuff from the supermarket) 
• 30g butter

Method:

1. Weigh the dry ingredients into a bowl.
2. Melt the butter in the frying pan you will use to cook the pancakes, then wipe off the excess with kitchen roll.
3. Whisk the eggs and buttermilk with the melted butter. Add this into the dry ingredients and whisk to mix, it will be quite thick and start to bubble as the bicarb starts to react with the acid from the butter milk. 
4. On a medium heat, drop spoonfuls of the batter into the frying pan and cook for a few minutes on each side, you will see bubbles start to come through the batter and you are looking for them to be a nice deep golden colour on each side. 
5. Serve with yoghurt, roasted rhubarb and sweet dukkah for some crunch. These are also great with butter and jam if you have leftovers.

American Pancakes

Shaun Rankin, Chef Patron at Grantley Hall

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs 
• 170g of caster sugar 
• 140g of unsalted butter, melted 
• 340g of plain flour, sifted 
• 1/2 tsp baking powder 
• 450ml of skimmed milk 
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

To serve:

• 120ml of maple syrup
• 150g pecan nuts, chopped

Method:

1. Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add the butter, flour, baking powder, milk and vanilla essence. Mix all ingredients together to make sure there are no lumps.
3. Place a dry crêpe pan over a medium heat. Once hot, pour in half a ladle of batter, immediately tilting the pan with your other hand to spread the batter evenly.
4. Cook until the edges begin to colour and you notice small bubbles appear all over the surface, and then flip the pancake.
5. Cook for a few moments on the other side and then slide onto a plate. 
6. If you would like to serve straight away, keep warm until all the pancakes are cooked.
7. To serve the pancakes, top with chopped pecan nuts and drizzle with maple syrup. Dish up and enjoy.

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Chocolate And Banana Pancakes

Cyril Lignac, Founder of Bar des Prés

Ingredients:

For the pancakes

• 250g of flour 
• 30g caster sugar 
• 17g baking powder 
• 1 pinch of fine salt 
• 2 organic eggs
• 65g butter
• 30cl whole milk 
• Grape seed oil 

For the accompaniments

• 1 banana 
• 12.5 cl of full liquid cream with 35% fat, very cold 
• 15g vanilla sugar 
• A few spoonfuls of spread

Method:

1. Place a bowl in the freezer to cool it, it will be used to mount the Chantilly cream. Melt the butter in the microwave.
2. In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and fine salt. Add the eggs, mix gently, then pour in the previously melted butter, slowly pour in the milk, stirring gently without whisking too much, if there are any lumps left, it does not matter. Leave to stand for 15 minutes at room temperature. The device must not be smooth and especially not fall.
3. Peel and cut the banana into slices 0.5 cm thick and place them on a plate. In a chilled bowl, pour the very cold cream, start whipping it, then add the vanilla sugar. When the whipped cream is firm, keep it cool.
4. In the pan, spread a little oil with a paper towel to avoid excess fat. Pour the batter little by little into discs 10 cm in diameter, place a tablespoon of spread in the center, pour over a second layer of pancake batter to cover the spread, then leave to color overheat medium and, when bubbles begin to appear on the surface, flip the pancakes using a spatula. Let brown on the other side for about 1 minute.
5. When the pancakes are golden on both sides, put the pancakes on the plates. Cover them with banana slices and a quenelle of whipped cream.