The Unexpected Liquid That Will Take Your Pancake Mix Up A Notch

A lazy Sunday morning and a delicious homemade breakfast go together like peanut butter and jelly. There's something so luxurious about waking up in the morning, and not feeling the need to scarf down a piece of toast or a bowl of cereal. If you have a sweet tooth, a lavish weekend breakfast might entail a homemade croissant or a Belgian waffle. But if you are going for the quintessential American breakfast experience, nothing beats a stack of pancakes. Light and fluffy, slathered with butter or drizzled with maple syrup, pancakes are a classic breakfast food for a reason. And name another breakfast food that's socially acceptable to eat in stacks? We'll wait.

To top that off, there are so many ways to spice up this versatile food, whether you choose to add bananas and blueberries or dress your pancakes with Nutella and whipped cream (via Insanely Good Recipes). Trying to keep your morning meals healthy? Food and Wine recommends substituting white flour with whole-wheat, rye, or buckwheat, or adding in ground nuts and seeds. If you're out of milk, or looking for the secret ingredient to add some extra fluff to your hotcakes, there's one surprising beverage that can take your pancake mix to the next level.

One of the best thing about pancakes is they are fairly easy to make. All you need is some flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, milk, eggs, and butter, a voila — you're good to go. The last thing that you would ever think to blend in with these baking essentials? A nice cold beer.

Bear with us a minute. While the idea of adding beer to pancake batter might sound odd, there's a reason this boozy ingredient pairs well with this morning meal. This idea originated with Josh Scherer, the mastermind behind "The Culinary Bro-Down Cookbook." According to Thrillist, Scherer's beer in pancakes idea was inspired by something he saw on a cooking show. "I saw someone on the Food Network put seltzer into pancake batter once, and I just thought that Natty Light was so close to seltzer that this could work," Scherer explained to Thrillist.

The fluffiness of pancakes can be attributed to baking soda, which acts as a leavening agent. Another leavening agent? Beer. "The carbonation of the beer is going to act like a leavening agent...and it gives the dish a nice funk that deepens the flavor," Scherer shared. According to Science Made Fun, if you increase the amount of leavening agents included in your batter, your pancakes will only get fluffier. You know what that means? Bring on the beer!