How to Use Leftover Pancake Batter

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

You've likely heard of popular ways to use leftover pancake batter, such as making muffins. The good news is, you can use pancake batter for all sorts of other recipes, including other sweet options such as pancake cakes and doughy biscuits. There are great savory options too, including potato pancakes and tortillas.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Baking Sweets

1
Make mini muffins. Muffins are the go-to baked good for extra pancake batter. Mini muffins are especially fun to eat, as they can be dipped in syrup or other sauces. Regardless of the size you’re going for, add milk, sugar, and oil to your batter until it resembles a runny cake mix. Try adding a cup of sugar, a cup of oil, and three cups of milk. Thinner pancake batter may need some flour too.^{[1]
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- Feel free to add blueberries, chocolate chips, or another favorite treat to the muffins.
- Grease a muffin tray or line with cupcake paper before pouring batter into each cup.
- Bake on medium heat. Smaller muffins will be done in 15 minutes.
2
Whip together some sweet, fluffy biscuits. Yorkshire "puddings" are a type of biscuit that can be topped with sweet or savory ingredients or eaten on their own. Add an egg to the pancake batter and then add flour until it has the consistency of thick cream. If the batter is thicker than cream after adding an egg, add milk to thin it. Place your batter in a receptacle you can pour from.^{[2]
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- Add about a teaspoon of oil to each cup of a muffin tin. Bake the tin at about 220 degrees F (105 degrees C), or until the oil is smoking.
- Carefully fill each of the cups with the batter. Wear hand, eye, and arm protection, as the oil will pop as you do so.
- Put the tin back in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Do not open the oven during this period. The biscuits will puff up and turn golden brown.
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3
Heat up a pancake-cake. If you have enough pancake batter to make a few extra pancakes, you can use them to make to a multilayered cake. Choose ingredients to layer in between the pancakes, as well as a frosting or another topping. For instance, you could layer pancakes with crumbled pretzels and caramel sauce, and cover it all with chocolate frosting.^{[3]
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- Start by laying a room temperature pancake in a pie pan. Layer with caramel sauce or whatever else you’ve chosen before stacking another pancake on top. Continue alternating pancakes and non-pancake layers.
- Once done layering, cover the stack in tin foil and bake on the center rack at low heat. The cake will be warm throughout after 15-20 minutes.
- Remove the foil and frost the cake or top with another topping, such as cut-up strawberries and whipped cream.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Including Pancake Batter in Savory Recipes

1
Bake sausages into the batter. A classic British dish called "toad in the hole" is a perfect option if you have a good amount of leftover batter. After adding an egg, add either flour or milk to the batter until is has the consistency of heavy cream. Pierce some sausages with a knife, toothpick, skewer, or fork, and roast them in a large pan until the sausages are fully cooked.^{[4]
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- If there is not a thick layer of fat in the bottom of the pan after cooking, add oil or lard until there is.
- Heat the pan on an oven burner set to high. Wearing arm and eye protection, pour the batter directly on top of the sausages quickly and carefully. Be aware that oil will likely pop out of the pan and may burn you if you're not protected.
- Put the pan back in the oven and bake at about 220 degrees F (105 degrees C) until the batter rises and the top becomes crispy.
- Serve with gravy and caramelized onions.
2
Make potato pancakes if you only have a bit of extra batter. Add your preference of flour, milk, and/or egg until your pancake batter has the consistency of a thick custard. Grate potato and onion into the batter and stir periodically until the consistency is similar to that of cole slaw. Try to use three times as much potato as onion.^{[5]
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- The precise consistency doesn’t matter as long as there is enough batter to coat the pieces of potato and onion.
- Add small amounts of salt, pepper, and garlic to taste.
- Shape the mixture into patties that have roughly the same diameter as a softball.
- Fry your patties in a well oiled pan, flipping periodically until they’re crispy and golden brown.
3
Make pancake batter tortillas. Especially if you made pancake batter with buckwheat or another heavier type of flour, it can be used to make great tortillas. The batter should be the consistency of heavy cream, so add milk or flour as necessary. Add salt and pepper to taste, and put the batter in a receptacle you can pour from.
- Put enough olive oil on a non-stick pan to coat the entire surface and warm the pan over high heat. When the oil begins to smoke, pour in enough batter to cover half of the pan's base.
- Immediately begin swirling the batter in the pan until the entire base is evenly coated with a thin layer of batter.
- Cook your tortilla for about 45 seconds and flip it over. Cook another 45 seconds and place the tortilla on wax paper to cool.
- Use these as you would any other type of tortilla. Make as many as your leftover batter allows.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Storing Leftover Pancake Batter

1
Store batter in the fridge for up to two days. Cover your bowl of extra batter with plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge for a day or two. Alternatively, consider storing your extra pancake batter in a plastic container with a resealable lid. An empty milk carton is perfect, as your can dispense the batter directly from the container.^{[6]
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2
Freeze for up to three months. Use an airtight freezer bag to store any extra pancake batter you want to keep for more than one or two days. Make sure zip-top bags are designed for freezer storage, or double bag them. Squeeze the air out of the bags before sealing them.^{[7]
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3
Freeze portioned amounts into pancake-dispensing cones. Freeze just enough batter to be used the next time you want to make pancakes in its own bag. Once the batter starts to freeze, take it out of the freezer and roll it into a cone, with one end at one of the bag’s bottom corners. The next time you want to make pancakes, thaw the cone and snip off the corner at the pointy end. You can then squeeze batter out of the bag and directly onto your pan.^{[8]
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