How to Store Leftover Pancake Batter

Whether you are a morning person or not, there is something about pancakes that makes mornings better. Pancakes do not, however, have to be a weekend-only breakfast treat. Saving leftover batter in the fridge or freezer is simple and makes fresh, hot pancakes a flash to cook. Better yet, a few simple tips can help you take pancakes on the road when you freeze pancake batter for camping. All you need for this hack is premade pancake batter, a little hot water and a pan to cook them in, whether you're in the kitchen on Monday morning or next to a campfire on a weekend trek.

The only thing that makes this cooking hack faster is a quick and straightforward pancake mix recipe that will yield plenty of batter in a flash. Keep premixed homemade pancake dry ingredients on hand so when you're ready all you have to do is add an egg, 1 1/3 cups whole milk and 3 tablespoons of room-temperature melted butter to the dry ingredients and whisk in a medium bowl.

To make a batch of pancakes for two to four people, prepare the dry ingredients by combining 3 cups all-purpose flour, 3 tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons white sugar.

If you have a premade pancake batter or pancake mix that you usually use, that will work just as well for freezing pancake batter. Expired pancake mix, however, should be discarded and replaced with a fresh bag or box of mix or homemade pancake mix. Premade pancake mixes contain oil and other ingredients that will eventually spoil, so even though the pancakes would still be safe to eat, they will not taste very good.

Making pancakes from fresh mix will always provide you with a better batter texture and taste. Everyone wants pancakes to be delicious and warm, but apart from the taste, the texture is also quite important. Expired pancake batter will be very thick and will need significantly more liquid to accomplish the right thinner consistency. If the batter is too thick, the pancakes will take a lot more time to cook while absorbing the oil or butter that greased the griddle. The pancake batter should be thin enough that you can watch the bubbles form on the surface, which also lets you know it is time to flip the pancake.

There are two ways to store premade pancake batter, in the refrigerator or in the freezer. Storing pancake batter in the fridge does not allow you to store the batter for more than three or four days. Simply cover the pancake batter in its mixing bowl tightly with plastic cling wrap.

To store premade pancake batter in the freezer, pour and scrape the batter from the mixing bowl with a spoon into a gallon- or quart-size self-sealing plastic bag, depending on how much batter is leftover. Frozen pancake batter will last for up to one month without the taste or texture being altered, but is safe to eat for up to three months after being stored in the freezer.

To thaw the frozen pancake batter, place the bag in the fridge overnight. For a faster method, fill a large mixing bowl with hot water and place the bag of frozen pancake batter in the water. Once it is thawed and fluid again, snip a small corner from the bottom of the bag and pipe the batter out directly into a hot pan or onto a greased griddle.