Before dalgona coffee swept the internet, Japanese souffle pancakes were the fluffy culinary darling of Instagram—and their jiggly, puffy thickness still enchants. They’re much easier to make at home than you might think, too; it’s basically just a standard pancake recipe with the addition of whipped egg whites, ring molds, and steam during the cooking process. The guys at NYC’s Taiyaki showed us how it’s done.

Note: You can experiment with your dry mix; we use a blend of all-purpose flour and almond flour, but some people like to swap in cake flour or other types of flour. When you separate your eggs, be sure not to get a single speck of yolk in your egg whites or they won’t whip up fluffy.

Special equipment: You’ll need four 3-inch-wide-by-2 1/2-inch-high ring molds—or you can make DIY parchment or wax paper ring molds as shown in our video by Taiyaki NYC.

Ingredients (12)

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour (see note)
  • ½ cup almond flour (see note)
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs (separate yolks and refrigerate egg whites until ready to use)
  • 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • Nonstick cooking spray

Instructions

  1. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
  2. Whisk together the milk, melted butter, vanilla, and egg yolks in a medium bowl until combined.
  3. Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar in another large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes.
  4. Stir the milk mixture into the flour mixture until just combined (it’s OK if there are a few lumps). Stir one-third of the beaten egg whites into the flour-milk mixture. Then gently fold in the remaining egg whites until just combined (be careful not to overmix).
  5. Lightly spray the inside of ring molds with nonstick cooking spray (or make your own with parchment paper).
  6. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-low heat. Put the prepared ring molds in the middle of the skillet and fill each with 1/2 cup of batter (it should fill each ring mold about halfway). Add ½ tablespoon of water on each side of the ring. Cover the skillet with the lid and cook until the batter rises to the tops of the ring molds and is golden on the bottom, about 5 minutes. Release the bottom of the pancakes with a spatula. Grasp the sides of the ring molds with tongs to stabilize them and then carefully flip. Cover and cook until golden on the other side, about 5 minutes more. Transfer to a plate and remove the mold. Serve with butter and maple syrup. The pancakes should be eaten before they deflate.
  7. Lightly spray the ring molds and coat the skillet with nonstick cooking spray and repeat the cooking method with the remaining batter.