Pancake day is just around the corner, meaning it is almost that time of year to tuck into golden, fluffy pancakes that are slathered in your favourite toppings.
Whether you love a sweet or savoury pancake, there is no denying that there is something for everyone when Shrove Tuesday officially lands next week.
Me, personally, I tend to have a bit of a sweet tooth, so I usually end up loading my pancakes with either sugar, maple syrup or chocolate spread.
Not to mention, they are ridiculously easy to whip up in the kitchen - just grab yourself flour, eggs, milk, butter and sugar and you are good to go.
And, while we all know that nothing beats a good 'ol fashioned homemade pancake, sometimes going down the route of pre-made pancake mix is the best option for some families.
It's less time consuming, easier and a little bit more cost effective as well - so, it is understandable why they have become quite a popular choice for Pancake day over the years.
For many, and I am including myself here, making pancakes from pre-made mix can often feel like you are cheating, but like I said, it's sometimes the only and easy option for some.
So, I couldn't help but wonder if I could take the hassle out of making own pancakes by switching to a pre-made mix?
Which is exactly why I decided to visit a few different supermarkets and retailers to pick up a few different bottled pancake mixes, with the intention of finding the best.
I visited M&S, Sainsbury's, Tesco and B&M and pitted their mixes against one another to see which offering would stand out.
What pancake mixes were tried?
As mentioned above, I visited three supermarkets and a popular budget retailer for different pancake mixes and, if you're noticing that one is not like the others - you are absolutely correct.
I do realise that B&M might seem like a weird choice considering the other three options are supermarkets, but it was the only other option that was close to me.
Also, many places stock their own pancake mixes, not just supermarkets, so it seemed like a decent replacement.
To make it a fair test, I tested each against how easy they were to cook and tried some without any toppings on first test to really see how the pancakes turned out without anything else masking the taste.
Here were the four pancake mixes I tried.
- Tesco pancake shaker mix - £1.00
- M&S pancake shaker mix - £1.00
- B&M Betty Winters shake to bake pancake mix - 79p
- Sainsbury's pancake mix - £1.00
The verdicts
M&S pancake shaker mix
As I was not testing homemade pancakes, I could pretty much pick any of the four choices to start with, but I ended up picking M&S as the first choice because, well it's M&S and they are rarely a misfire.
All the supermarket were also prepped exactly the same way, which was easy as I only had to pour in some water and shake the mixture together until smooth.
Also, the mixes themselves said use water, so don't consider me a pancake blasphemer.
I'm going to be completely honest here by saying that M&S' pancake mix really surprised me - and, not in a good way.
First of all, the batter itself didn't really mix well and I found that the mixture was still pretty lumpy even after mixing it together for quite a while.
As for the pancake itself, well it took a few goes of greasing the pan to get the mixture to cook properly and, even then, the third attempt wasn't the best.
Did it taste bad, no it didn't, and it was light enough to work well with my usual topping of maple syrup, but I did find that it was slightly saltier than I would have liked.
Overall, I was slightly disappointed with M&S' mix, mainly for how difficult it surprisingly turned out to be.
Sainsbury's pancake mix
Next to be whipped up and popped into the pan was none other than Sainsbury's, the supermarket that is known for quality and freshness.
Costing also £1 like the other supermarket options, I could hardly complain at the price.
The immediate difference I noticed between this one and M&S' mix, was the Sainsbury's mixed up a lot better and didn't leave behind any lumps in the batter.
It also cooked a lot easier in the pan, but I I did find that the mixture was pretty thin and I had to use a lot to get a decent sized pancake.
Once it had all set and been dished up, I did notice that it remained slightly on the thinner side and it did have a few crispy bits near the edges.
As for the taste - well, it wasn't bad. Not as salty as M&S, which was a plus, but it still didn't have the sweetness that I was looking for to balance it out.
Overall, not bad, but still not something I am rushing to buy again.
Tesco pancake shaker mix
Next up and the last of the supermarkets was Tesco, which is a brand that is stocked in a lot of households due to its reputation for good value and quality.
For their pancake mix, I am sad to say that this is not the case.
It was easily the worst of the bunch for prep, taste and appearance and it lacked pretty much everything I love about pancakes.
While the mixture mixed together quite-well and lump free, it actually took me a few attempts to get a good pancake out of it as they kept breaking apart when I tried to dish them up.
Once one was dished up, it was quite greasy and doughy, leading to a chewy sort of pancake - meaning no fluffy goodness and I was sorely disappointed.
The pancake batter itself also wouldn't take on that golden tone, the flavour was virtually non-existent after one bite and no amount of maple syrup could save this one.
Easily the worst of the bunch and wouldn't buy again.
B&M Betty Winters Shake to Bake Pancake Mix
The final competitor on the list was not a supermarket, and it was my last hope for pre-made pancake mixes.
By this point I was feeling pretty beaten, but to my absolute surprise, B&M 79p pancake mix was not only the cheapest, but the only one to make the good cut.
This could be because the mixture said to use milk - instead of water like the rest - so it resulted in a much fuller and creamier mixture that I missed with the other offerings.
The mixture? lump free. The pancake? golden and fluffy. The taste? balanced with the hints of sweetness and vanilla that the others sorely lacked.
It was also the only one that was the easiest to whip up, settle easily in the pan and actually cook on both sides, so kudos there.
Other supermarkets should take note.
Overall thoughts
Out of all the choices, it's pretty obvious that there was only one clear winner, as B&M managed to knock it out of the park with their 79p pancake shaker mix.
If you're looking to take the hassle out of whipping up pancakes in the kitchen, or if you don't want to take a trip to the supermarket for missing ingredients you don't have, then it's a worthy substitute.
It was the only pancake mix out of the bunch to give me a pancake that resembled a homemade one.
M&S' was alright, but it left me disappointed as it lacked that M&S star quality that I have come to know and associate with them.
Sainsbury's also was not bad but I wouldn't rush out to buy it again, and Tesco's was the one I found to be the worst.
The real question is, as good as B&M's pancake mix was, would I prefer it over homemade pancakes?
Going to be absolutely honest and say no, because homemade pancakes have never given me such stress before, but the retailer's pancake mix gave it a good go.
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