Two-Ingredient Ice Cream Pancakes

The next time your child asks if they can have ice cream for breakfast, surprise them by saying, “Yes, of course you can!” Then, whip up this mind-boggling viral TikTok recipe for ice cream pancakes.While countless versions of the recipe exist, the one we were dying to try is made with just two ingredients: ice cream and self-rising flour.

In the viral videos, creators mix melted ice cream with a little flour and pour the batter into a hot skillet. The perfect, golden pancakes look every bit as delicious as our best pancake recipes (you know, the ones made the old-fashioned way). The recipe has us asking so many questions. What type of ice cream do we need? Do the pancakes taste like ice cream? And (most importantly) why didn’t anyone tell us this was possible sooner?

Can you really make pancakes with melted ice cream?

This ice cream pancake hack works like magic! Well, perhaps not in the Harry Potter sense, but in the food science sense. You see, most ice cream recipes contain the same ingredients used in pancake batter: dairy, sugar and vanilla. Many also include eggs or egg yolks (especially frozen custard ).

Once melted, the ice cream creates a rich pancake base that’s just a few ingredients shy of becoming pancake batter. All you need to add is a bit of flour and a leavening agent (like baking powder), and you’re ready to fire up your griddle.

We really couldn’t believe how amazing these pancakes turned out. They’re fluffy, tender, subtly sweet and have an incredible vanilla aroma and flavor. Forget about ice cream sundaes; we may start buying ice cream just to make these ridiculously tasty pancakes! (Although we might save some to make ice cream bread , too.)

Ingredients for Ice Cream Pancakes

• Ice cream: The best ice cream brands make the best ice cream pancakes! Ice cream without corn syrup or other artificial ingredients will yield the best results. Our selected brand was made simply with cream, vanilla and sugar, plus a touch of perfect-for-pancakes buttermilk.
• Self-rising flour: To keep the recipe as easy as possible, self-rising flour is the best type of flour for this two-ingredient recipe. It already contains baking powder, so there’s no need to add a chemical leavener to make your pancakes soft and puffy.
• Pancake toppings: After cooking your ice cream pancakes, top them like any other pancake recipe. We went for maple syrup, butter, whipped cream and fresh berries.

Directions

Step 1: Melt the ice cream

In a large mixing bowl, melt 1-1/2 cups of ice cream. You can remove it from the freezer and let it melt at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes, or melt it in the microwave in 20-second intervals.

Editor’s Tip: If using the microwave to melt the ice cream, melt it until it is almost completely melted. Then, stir until it’s smooth. The ice cream should still be cool at this stage; don’t allow it to get steaming hot.

Step 2: Add the flour

Add 1 cup of self-rising flour to the melted ice cream. Stir until just combined and a few lumps remain.

Editor’s Tip: If you want fluffy, tender pancakes, resist the urge to mix your pancake batter until it’s perfectly smooth. Recipe tests have revealed that a slightly lumpy pancake batter yields better flapjacks every time.

Step 3: Cook the pancakes

Preheat a greased skillet or griddle over medium heat. Pour the batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto the hot surface. Cook until the pancake bottoms are golden brown and the tops have bubbles that form and pop.

Flip the pancakes and cook until the second side is golden brown. Remove the pancakes to a plate and repeat until all the batter is used.

Editor’s Tip: Serving cold flapjacks is a common pancake mistake . We like to keep our pancakes warm by placing them on a sheet pan or oven-safe plate and storing them in a warm oven while we cook the rest of the batter.

Step 4: Finish with toppings

Serve a short stack of ice cream pancakes with toppings like butter, maple syrup, whipped cream and fresh berries. Prepare to be amazed!

Ice Cream Pancake Variations

• Flavored ice cream pancakes: You can make this recipe with any ice cream flavor you enjoy. Just keep in mind that ice creams with small mix-ins will cook better than those with super-chunky additions.
• Chocolate chip ice cream pancakes: For the easiest chocolate chip pancakes , sprinkle each pancake with mini chocolate chips before flipping them.
• Blueberry ice cream pancakes: For blueberry pancakes , top each ice cream pancake with a few fresh blueberries before flipping them.

Ice Cream Pancakes Tips

Does this ice cream pancakes recipe need eggs?

Ice cream pancakes don’t need eggs. Eggs are typically added to pancake recipes because the yolk enriches the batter with extra fat to keep it soft and tender, while the egg white helps strengthen and stabilize the pancakes as they cook so they hold their shape and height. Or, a recipe might call for whipped egg whites to make souffle-like Japanese pancakes .

In this ice cream pancakes recipe, the ice cream provides plenty of fat thanks to the inclusion of cream (rather than the milk used in most regular pancake batters). That keeps the pancakes tender. Meanwhile, most ice creams contain stabilizers like guar gum or xanthan gum, which thicken and improve the ice cream’s texture. In this case, those stabilizers function as a suitable swap for egg whites.

How many pancakes does this ice cream pancakes recipe make?

We used 1-1/2 cups of ice cream and 1 cup of self-rising flour to make 10 pancakes in this basic ice cream pancakes recipe.

What should you serve with ice cream pancakes?

Add your favorite pancake toppings and serve ice cream pancakes with other brunch and breakfast recipes. Keep things classic with scrambled eggs and fruit salad, or opt for other viral TikTok recipes like twisted bacon or whipped coffee .

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