Simple trick that will ensure you always make perfect pancakes

We’re some way past Shrove Tuesday in 2025, but there’s no law forbidding you from enjoying pancakes year-round.

Seeing as a fair share of us will limit our pancake intake to the pre-Lent splurge, it’s fair to say most people don’t get much practice where making them is concerned.

As with carving pumpkins, wrapping Christmas presents and hunting Easter Eggs around the local parish, there’s a proper artform to pancakes that only the most committed fans every tap into.

But, if you’d like to get better at knocking a pancake together and perhaps find good cause to eat some year-round, we’ve got a simple trick that will send their quality up by a few notches.

The classic English pancake isn't quite as satisfying as a French crepe or American pancake (Natalia Van Doninck/Getty Images)

Pancakes needn’t be completely flat and lifeless, relying on toppings for satisfaction – by making a tweak to your pancake mix, they can take their rightful place as the main event.

All it takes is sparkling water. Add around five tablespoons to a four-pancake mix will do the trick, adding fluffiness and body.

The fizz in sparkling water comes from a high carbon dioxide content, and it’s those bubbles that blend with the batter to expand it as it heats up. This gives the pancakes more flavourful and light whilst adding a little more satisfying bite.

Experts at Radnor Infusions have revealed the bubbles in the sparkling water infuse into the batter, which expands when heated, giving the pancakes a soft lift and making them flavourful and light.

Chris Sanders, hydration expert at Radnor Infusions, explained how it works: "As sparkling water is carbonated, it naturally aerates the batter. Sparkling water retains fizz for much longer, so when this gets in contact with heat it will form small bubbles in the heat-setting mixture to create fluffy pancakes."

The hack has proven successful with the TikTok faithful, with several users sharing their successes with it on the platform.

"Did anyone hear about putting sparkling water in pancakes dough?" asked one user, to which another replied: "Yes sparkling water is a must!"

"Wow that sounds amazing!" added another.

American pancakes with blueberries and maple syrup are a cut above the rest (Sarka Babicka/Getty Images)

Another said: "This is so good!"

Of course, pancakes come in a few different varieties. For a chunkier option, the American style is another great option. Self-raising flour and baking powder give them the lift, and you can drop a few frozen berries into the mix as you cook them to get some embedded deliciousness with the final product. Drizzle some maple syrup over that and you’ve got yourself a pretty stellar breakfast.