Scotch Pancakes

A recipe for Scotch Pancakes! These light pancakes or drop scones come together easily with simply a bowl and a few minutes on the stove.

Secret Recipe Club

Time for another Secret Recipe Club! For those who haven’t seen my previous Secret Recipe Club posts, this club includes a group of bloggers who are assigned a different blog each month and secretly make a recipe to post on their reveal day.

I look forward to my assignment email every month and discovering new blogs. It is also fun to see what someone chooses from your blog.

I was so excited to find I was assigned to Karen’s blog, Lavender and Lovage, this month (she also had my blog last month!). For those who haven’t come across her blog yet, definitely check it out. The photos alone are absolutely gorgeous.

Karen was born in South Africa and has lived all over the world (Britain- Northumbria, Cornwall, Berkshire, Lincolnshire, Hampshire, Scotland, Herefordshire; Hong Kong; USA; Cyprus; and Germany). She now lives in North Yorkshire and Southwest France.

In addition to food writing and photography, she gardens (particularly lesser used herbs), has a cooking school with workshops in France, and is the author of Lavender & Lovage: A Culinary Notebook of Memories & Recipes from Home & Abroad.

On her blog, Karen has some interesting series such as the Wartime Kitchen and Rationing and plenty of recipes for those looking for food from Great Britain. I finally decided to try the Scotch Pancakes (Scotch Griddle Cakes).

Others I have saved for later include Zuri’s South African Picnic Bread, Newfoundland Toutons, Nanny’s Pan Haggerty, Glamorgan Sausages (Selsig Morgannwg), and Finkadella.

Scotch Pancakes

Scotch pancakes (also called drop scones) are a bit similar in appearance to American-style pancakes, but are smaller in size.

They come together with only a handful of ingredients, one bowl, and less than 30 minutes. No resting of the batter is needed.

Simply combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, then mix in the eggs and milk to for a slightly thick batter.

Drop large spoonfuls of the batter into the hot skillet (take care to not overcrowd) and cook until lightly golden and set on each side.

Serve with butter, honey, and/or jam. The kids love them with fresh berries.

Looking for more pancake recipes?

Try my:

• Dark Chocolate Pancakes
• Silver Dollar Pancakes
• Vanilla Bean Buttermilk Pancakes

A Few Pancake Tips

Karen used self-rising flour for her Scotch Pancakes. Since I often can’t find it, I added some baking powder and salt to all-purpose flour to make my own.

Do not pack the flour into the measuring cup. When spooned into the cup and leveled with a knife or spatula, 2 cups should equal about 250 grams flour.

Adjust the amount of milk if needed. To create a slightly thickened batter, you may need more or less than 1 1/4 cups (300 milliliters) based on the exact size of the eggs and how you measured the flour.

Take care not to overmix the batter. Blend together until just combined with no lumps or streaks.

These pancakes are traditionally made on a girdle (griddle) or hearthstone. I used a heavy cast iron skillet.

Adjust the heat between medium low and low as needed to allow the pancakes to cook through without burning.

Grease the pan with vegetable oil or butter as needed. A thin layer will help create crispy edges.

Do not flatten the Scotch Pancakes with a spatula after flipping. This will keep them from becoming light and fluffy.

To keep the pancakes warm while you are preparing the rest of the batter, arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet and place in a 200˚F (95˚C) oven. Just don’t keep them in there too long (no more than 15 minutes) or they will start to dry out.

Have extras? Once they have cooled to room temperature, arrange in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet and place in the freezer.

Once frozen, transfer to a freezer-safe bag and store in the freezer for up to two months. To reheat, place in a 350˚F (180˚C) oven until heated through, about 10 minutes.

Check out what everyone else made!

• Stromboli from Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Chicken Cole Slaw Wraps from Shockingly Delicious
• No Knead Jalapeño Cheesy Dutch Oven Bread from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Amazing Apricot Bars from Bewitching Kitchen
• Baked Mini Cheese & Onion Omelettes from Lavender and Lovage
• Bacon Sweet Potato Chili from Burnt Apple
• Bengali Aloo (Black Pepper Potatoes) from Chocolate & Chillies
• Midwest Loco Moco from The Spiffy Cookie
• Pumpkin Spice Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins from Making Miracles
• Pumpkin Banana Bread from I am a Honey Bee
• Nacho Cheeseburgers from Fantastical Sharing of Recipes
• Frittata from Our Good Life

This recipe was originally posted in September 2015 and updated in September 2023.

Scotch Pancakes Recipe

Adapted from Lavender and Lovage

Print Pin

5 from 4 votes

Scotch Pancakes

A recipe for Scotch Pancakes! These light pancakes or drop scones come together easily with simply a bowl and a few minutes on the stove.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine Scottish

Keyword breakfast, drop scone, pancake, Scotland, Scottish

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

0 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 20 Pancakes

Ingredients

• 2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (50 grams) superfine (caster) sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups (300 milliliters) milk
• Vegetable oil or butter for greasing the pan
• Butter, honey, and/or jam for serving

Instructions

• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until well combined.
• Lightly beat the eggs and and fold in while slowly adding milk until a smooth and slightly thick batter forms.
• In a large skillet, lightly drizzle a very thin layer oil over medium low heat.
• Once the skillet is heated, drop in a large spoonful of batter in a circle, gently smoothing the top. If the pan is large enough, you can add more than one, but take care to not overcrowd.
• Cook until the batter start to set on the edges and bubbles appear in the center. Flip and cook the other side until golden. Repeat with remaining batter, greasing the pan as needed.
• Serve with butter, honey, and/or jam.