Break The Rules On Your Boxed Pancake Mix By Breaking An Egg

A quick weekend brunch calls for boxed pancake mixes, ready-made for the sake of convenience. But you don't need to sacrifice taste for convenience; food should still taste good. Sometimes boxed pancake mixes are lacking. Perhaps the flapjacks don't puff up the way they do at your favorite diner, or they turn out cakey and gluey. It's okay to break the rules and add ingredients to improve those pancakes – like an egg. 

Adding an egg to your boxed pancake mix will add a bit of richness thanks to the egg yolk, which has a good amount of fat and proteins in it. Besides richness, this added fat will provide a subtle flavor and a bit of color to the pancakes. If the box already calls for eggs, try adding an extra yolk on its own, as it will make the pancake batter more luscious. If tossing that extra egg white seems a bit wasteful, you can whip all the egg whites into stiff peaks and gently fold them into the batter — think of a dacquoise sponge and channel your inner Mary Berry. The whipped eggs will help the pancake rise and stay fluffy, taking your boxed pancake mix from boring and flat to tall and fluffy.

When it comes to boxed pancake mixes, eggs are used as binders and a liquid — flavor and protein are close a close second. However, an egg's most important job in pancakes is for maintaining the structure of pancakes. Because pancakes have such little gluten the egg ensures they don't collapse. Eggs make sure those little air bubbles you see in a pancake stay put by trapping that air. As the pancakes cook the proteins form a network and tense up, becoming rigid and providing that structure. A word of caution though — if you add too many eggs you'll end up with a loose pancake batter that will need to be balanced with more pancake mix.

If you're vegan or allergic to eggs, there are a few ingredients you can use to substitute an egg. Unsweetened applesauce or mashed bananas are a common swap as they act as a flavorful binder. If you have it, you can also use ground flaxseed mixed with water for a flaxseed egg.

Eggs aren't the only thing that can amp up your pancake brunch. If your boxed pancake mix splashes "Just add water!" on the packaging, don't. By replacing the water with milk your pancakes will taste and eat richer. You can even go one step further and replace the liquid with buttermilk. It'll add a slight acidic tang, but also activate the leaveners in the pancake mix. The results might just remind you of pancakes at grandma's.

If diner-style pancakes are what you're after, you can elevate store-bought pancake mix with malted milk powder. If your pancake mix is already sweetened, be cautious with how much you add — a tablespoon or two should be enough. Besides malted milk powder, add-ins like spices, berries, chocolate or butterscotch chips, even some canned pumpkin will go a long way in making your Sunday brunch feel more special.

One of the top tips for making better pancakes is to not overmix. The more you stir it the higher chance of gluten developing, which is what we don't want in a pancake. Gluten development in a pancake leads to flabby, rubbery pancakes. Pancake batter should be stirred until just mixed — lumps are totally okay.