Fluffy Japanese Soufflé Pancakes

 These Japanese soufflé pancakes are super fluffy, jiggly, and pillowy soft! They are a delight to have for breakfast, snack, or dessert and will wow any lucky guests you invite for brunch! These pancakes are simple to make, but technique driven. Follow along our post below, with step by step photos, detailed instructions, and a troubleshooting guide to help you master making these ultra jiggly pancakes!

I've always looked forward to having pancakes for breakfast because my family grew up eating rice dishes like century egg and pork congee or plain congee with tomato and egg stir fry in the morning.

So when we learned about these fluffy Japanese soufflé pancakes, you know I could not resist! They were everything pancakes were meant to be, and a little more. They were fluffy, really jiggly, soft like cotton. It was like eating mini cakes! Especially when you topped them with whipped cream and and fruits. SO GOOD!

What are Japanese soufflé pancakes?

Japanese soufflé pancakes are like classic pancakes but fluffy, airy, light like cotton, and pillowy soft! They're made with basic ingredients you would use for making regular pancakes, but the secret to their iconic fluffy, jiggly signature is the eggs!

The soufflé pancakes heavily reply on the soufflé technique, where the egg whites are whipped to stiff peak and gently incorporated into the rest of the batter, like you would in a chiffon cake or our flourless chocolate soufflé.

The whipped egg whites incorporate air into the batter, which lighten up the batter. This makes the soufflé pancakes rise and gives them their fluffy, cotton-like texture.

Ingredients you will need

• Eggs - The main ingredient give our Japanese soufflé pancakes their fluffiness. The eggs will be separated into whites (for the meringue) and yolks (for the rest of the batter).
• Milk - We recommend whole milk for best flavor.
• All-purpose flour - To give our pancakes a little bit of chew for a balanced texture.
• Baking powder - Just a small amount to help the pancakes rise a little higher.
• Vanilla extract - A recommended flavoring extract, but who doesn't like vanilla pancakes?!
• Sugar - To sweeten the pancakes, but also make the egg white meringue stronger and to keep it stable a little longer. Make sure to use regular granulated sugar or caster sugar so that the sugar dissolved properly.
• Vinegar - A small amount of acid helps to stabilize the egg whites when making meringue. You could also substitute white vinegar with equal amounts of fresh lemon juice or a small amount of cream of tartar.

How to make these jiggly Japanese soufflé pancakes

Make the soufflé pancake batter:

1. Separate the egg whites and egg yolks into separate mixing bowl. Make sure to not break the yolk!

2. Into the egg yolks, add the milk and vanilla and whisk briefly until combined. Then, sift in the flour and baking powder. Whisk until no more dry flour is visible and everything is well combined. Set aside until needed.

3. Into the egg whites, add the vinegar or lemon juice. With a hand mixer, beat on medium speed until completely frothy. Then, add the sugar a little at a time while mixing.

4. Once all the sugar has been added, increase the speed to medium high and beat the egg white until it reaches stiff peak.

5. Add ⅓ of the stiff peak meringue into the egg yolk batter. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold the meringue into the batter until evenly combined and no more streaks are visible.

6. Add the remaining meringue to the batter and gently fold until combined and no more streaks are visible. DO NOT over mix or the batter will become too loose and the pancakes will not be tall and will deflate substantially.

7. Either prepare a large spoon, a large cookie scoop, or transfer the pancake batter into a pipping bag fitted with a large round tip (we used a Wilton 2A tip).

Cook the pancakes:

1. Heat a large nonstick pan over low heat and lightly grease the pan with oil.

2. Portion the batter into the pan to make two to 3 pancakes by either scooping the batter with the spoon or cookie scoop or pipping the batter into a mound with the pipping bag. Read more below under the "best tool to use for shaping soufflé pancakes" topic.

3. Cover the pan with a lid or heatproof bowl and let the pancakes cook for about 7 to 8 minutes, until the bottom side is golden brown. Gently flip the pancakes and recover the lid. Let the pancakes cook for another 5 to 6 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.

4. Serve the pancakes immediately with sweetened whipped cream, assorted fruits, powdered sugar, and/or maple syrup.

Recipe tips

• Don't over mix the meringue. Over mixing the meringue will deflate the batter and give you flat, deflated pancakes.
• Measure the flour properly. The ratio of liquid to flour is important so that the right batter consistency can be achieved. So when measuring flour, use a scale for the best accuracy, or fluff up the flour, spoon it into the dry measuring cup, and level the flour with a flat edge. Don't tap or shake the flour.
• Cook in a good nonstick pan on low heat. You want a nonstick pan so the pancakes don't stick and cook on low so the pancakes don't get too dark. The ideal temperature to cook on is between 285°F and 320°F (140°C to 160°C).
• Be gentle when flipping the pancakes. The pancakes are quite fragile and can tear easily. It will not completely deflate the pancakes if there is a tear, but it will shrink them a little.

Best tool for shaping soufflé pancakes

We tested quite a few different tools for transferring the pancake batter because it can affect how well the soufflé pancakes will turn out. Here are our top 3 recommendations:

• Large spoon - A spoon is one of our top choices because it's a utensil we all have at home. It gets the job done, however, the shape of the pancakes are not the best or most uniformed.
• Large cookie scoop - Our second recommendation is a large cookie scoop, preferably one at least size #10 or large. These scoops will give the most uniformed shape pancakes, however, the height will be slightly limited.
• Piping bag - The last and our favorite choice is a pipping bag. Even better with a large round tip (we used a Wilton 2A tip). This gives you the freedom to pipe the batter as tall as you want, of course the taller, the more practice you'll need to succeed. The only give to using a pipping bag is that the pancake may not be as uniform as using a scoop. But again, practice makes perfect!