How to make the Queen's favourite pancakes (The Royal Pancake Recipe) (2024)

Learn the secrets to making Queen Elizabeth’s favourite pancakes – this royal pancakes recipe comes directly from the palace chefs! Simple to make British-style pancakes with a few different toppings to make sure you never get bored!

What is the Royal Pancake recipe?

You might be thinking that I’m joking when I say I got this recipe from Queen Elizabeth’s palace chefs. But I’m not. The royal pancake recipe was actually released on the officialRoyals websiteback in February 2021 to celebrate Shrove Tuesday/Pancake Day.

For the most part, this is a standard British pancake recipe (think: closer tocrepes, thanfluffy American pancakes), but what sets this one apart from others is the use of brown butter (beurre noisette) to add a little flavour and moisture to the pancakes.

While Queen Elizabeth has passed on, this delicious pancake recipe continues to make us smile.

What did the Queen have on her pancakes?

According to the royal chefs, there are three different toppings that Queen Elizabeth would regularly enjoy with her pancakes:

Classic Lemon & Sugar Pancakes

Simply dust your cooked pancakes with sugar, and drizzle on some lemon juice.

Jam & Cream

Once your royal pancakes have cooled, whip up some double cream (known as, heavy cream or whipping cream in North America). Start by spreading a layer of fruit jam (the Royal website suggests raspberry), and then spread some whipped cream on top. Fold your pancakes into quarters, garnish with fresh berries, and enjoy! (In case you haven’t guessed, this is my favourite version.)

Ham, Leek & Cheese

This is a savoury version of the Queen’s pancake breakfast. It changes things up by adding ham, leeks, chives, and gruyere cheese. It also involves a slightly amended pancake recipe. Overall, it’s so different from the other variations, that I consider it a different recipe.

Ingredients

The below shows the ingredients required for the pancakes only. If you choose to create one of the topping options, you may have a couple more ingredients!

• Plain (all-purpose) flour
• White sugar
• Salt
• Eggs
• Egg yolks
• Whole milk
• Butter

How to make the Queen’s pancakes

Making the royal pancake recipe is actually quite a standard process. The only thing that sets it apart from any other traditional pancake recipe is the inclusion of beurre noisette – I’ll walk you through how to make the pancakes as well as the butter.

How to make beurre noisette

Beurre noisette (which literally translates to “hazelnut butter” in French, but is better known as ‘brown butter’ in North America) is fairly quick and easy to make. It involves gently cooking your butter (just regular ol’ butter…no fancy substitutes please!) until it becomes lightly golden. This happens due to the water content being cooked off, and the milk solids separating to the bottom of the pan.

Lower your heat to cook gently (and be careful of the hot butter spitting up from your pan). Set aside to cool once you have a nutty brown colour.

How to make the royal pancake recipe

Making the queen’s chefs’ pancake recipe is a straightforward affair once your brown butter has been prepared. Start by preparing the pancake batter – gently mix the salt, flour, eggs, and sugar to prepare a smooth batter. Mix in the milk in stages, and finally stir in the prepared beurre noisette.

Scoop the batter into a hot pan with some melted butter, and cook on low-medium heat until cooked, flip gently and cook the other side.

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Royal pancake tips

One of my favourite things about this style of pancake is that they are generally less finicky than fluffy American-style pancakes. While you do want to be mindful when you’re preparing the batter, you don’t need to be as particular. Here are three top tips to making pancakes fit for royalty:

A smooth batter is not the same as a runny batter.While you don’t need to be super worried about accidentally overmixing this pancake batter, you still want to ensure you maintain some air. Simple answer: don’t blend your batter, just gently stir it together with a spatula. If you’re using a whisk, you should still be fine…just don’t go crazy. Okay, bestie?

Fresh ingredients are key.With all simple recipes, you want to use the freshest ingredients possible. So in this case, make sure to opt for nice fresh berries – it can make all the difference!

Whole milk please.You may be tempted to switch out whole/full-fat milk for skimmed milk or almond milk. Don’t. The flavour and texture that the fat in whole milk provides is unparalleled. Should you change the milk, will you still get pancakes? Yes. Just not as good.

Topping suggestions

While the royal chefs’ pancake recipe does provide three (or really, two) topping suggestions, here are a few more in case you really want to make this recipe your own:

• Instead of raspberry jam, opt for a layer of your favourite jam instead. (For me, that means, strawberry jam.)
• Melted chocolate works on just about any sweet breakfast recipe. And it’ll work here too.
• Lemon wedges (or lemon juice) aren’t the only citrus fruit out there. If you like a bit of tang but aren’t a lemon fan, try using orange zest instead.
• Feel free to add a little powdered sugar to any of the sweet variations. Or to swap out the granulated sugar in the lemon-sugar version to powder sugar. (This is actually what I did in the photos and recipe video. Why? Because I think it’s prettier.)
• If you fancy savoury pancakes, I’d recommend starting with something like theselentil pancakes.

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Luckily, it doesn’t take much equipment to make perfect pancakes. It is however a lovely feeling to have all the right equipment. Here are a few little things that might make your pancake-making experience just that much sweeter.

• Silver Dollar Pancake Pan – if you want your pancakes to all look exactly the same.
• Zwilling J.A. Henckels Marquina Non-Stick Frying Pan – a good pan is crucial to properly cooking pancakes, and this one is sure to please.

And that’s it for today. What are your thoughts? Are these pancakes fit for a king (or queen)? Let me know in the comments below.

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How to make the Queen’s favourite pancakes (The Royal Pancake Recipe)

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• Author:
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: 10 pancakes 1x
• Diet: Vegetarian

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Description

Learn the secret to making Queen Elizabeth’s royal pancake recipe. It’s easier than you thought, and comes right from the royal chefs!

Ingredients

Units Scale

• 125g Plain Flour
• 30g sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2 medium eggs (approx. 100g)
• 1.5 egg yolks (30g)
• 250ml milk
• 40g butter

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Instructions

How to make beurre noisette (brown butter)

Place butter in a saucepan and cook over low to medium heat until the water has cooked off. The butter will be gently golden. Lower heat once the butter begins to spit, and set aside once a nutty brown colour is achieved.

How to make Queen Elizabeth’s pancakes (the royal pancake recipe)

1. Mix the salt, flour, sugar, with the eggs (make sure to mix in the eggs in stages) until you create a smooth batter.
2. In stages, stir in the milk. Once the milk is mixed in, stir in the beurre noisette.
3. Melt a little butter in a saucepan over low-medium heat.
4. Scoop (I like to use a quarter cup scoop) your pancakes into the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes or each side, or until done. Serve, and eat like royalty!

Notes

Don’t forget to add whatever toppings you like. Lemon and sugar is a very easy option to start with!

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Category: Breakfast
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: British