Classic Buttermilk Pancakes - The Ultimate Guide

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Cooking With Anadi

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The Ultimate Pancake Recipe

Are you struggling to make the perfect classic pancakes? Can’t get them fluffy? Is the texture too firm? Too chewy? A lumpy batter? Your pancake broke while cooking? Butter burning?

Been there, done that with all of the above. I’ve made probably nearly a hundred pancakes during my time in Canada, and I’ve got so many fun recipes for you to choose from! Some are more tame, and some are more extravagant! But to make amazing pancakes, you’ll need the perfect base.

I know it’s discouraging when your pancakes just don’t turn out right! Granted, in my experience, I always look forward to my Saturday morning pancakes! If you follow me on Instagram, then you knew when Saturday morning rolled around, it was pancake time! It was a fun tradition, and I’ve had plenty of opportunities to experiment with different pancake recipes. Pancakes are just one of those blank canvases that allow you to be so free and creative. However, if the base of the pancake is not the way you want it, then how can you add in the mixins and let your creativity shine?

This buttermilk pancakes recipe is a classic that everyone enjoys for a comforting breakfast! If you're totally new to making pancakes or struggle to get them the way you want them, then fear not, this recipe will definitely help you out! After you've mastered these simple pancakes, be sure to check out my other pancakes for some inspiration on how to make some extremely epic pancake stacks for the best weekend morning breakfasts!

I also make several variations where you may use oat flour instead of all-purpose flour and even substitute buttermilk with regular milk.

I'm ready to help! Please share:

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…and more to come soon! Keep checking back here as I update this list when new pancake recipes come out! Of course, make sure to subscribe to the newsletter so you never miss a pancake recipe!

Be sure to watch the video to see how to make pancakes step by step! Also, please subscribe to my YouTube channel if you’re not already so you never miss a recipe video! I find that watching the video will help bring all the concepts together visually and tangibly, so you’re set up for success to make the perfect fluffy pancakes with buttermilk! Let’s get cooking!

Tools Needed for the Best Pancakes

The only equipment you will require is a good non-stick pan and a spatula. I can only recommend what I have used and tested personally. My favorite non-stick pan is the Madura Plus from Zwilling. It is a nice and heavy pan which until now, has had a great non-stick finish. As per the spatula, nothing gives me more confidence than using a thin fish spatula. This tool is great for so many other recipes too since it is so thin and has a wide base!

My go-to tools for pancakes:

• ZWILLING MADURA Plus
• Fish Spatula

If you’re making the pancake batter by hand, I recommend a good mixing bowl and a whisk, since you’ll need a good arm to combine everything together! However, if you’re going to make a big batch of pancake batter to make breakfast for a huge family or a party, then you may want to use a stand mixer. I recommend the KitchenAid stand mixer - it’s robust and it’ll mix all of your ingredients perfectly for a great batter!

Keeping the Pancakes Warm!

Since nearly Day 1 of my pancake making saga I’ve done this one thing to keep my cooked pancakes warm as I’m making the remaining ones.

Ready for this?

Put them in the oven!

Preheat your oven to 200 F before starting to make your batter. Get a large baking tray ready. No need to spray it or cover it in aluminum foil. After you’ve cooked the first pancake, using your spatula, take it off the pan and transfer it onto the baking sheet. Repeat with the other pancakes until they’re all done! Having the oven at 200 F won’t cook the pancakes even more, but they’ll be warm as if they were fresh off the pan!

Ingredients for Classic Buttermilk Pancakes

All you need are pantry staples to make the perfect Fluffy Pancakes. Remember to scroll to the bottom of this post for the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD! The recipe card has all ingredients and their quantities listed along with the recipe instructions.

DRY MIX

• 1 Cup flour - I use all purpose flour.
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 Tbsp granulated sugar - I occasionally substitute sugar for honey or maple syrup in other recipes.
• Salt (optional)

WET MIX

• 1 1/4 Cup buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• Madagascar vanilla bean paste - If you can find this ingredient then I strongly recommend you use it! It’s much more concentrated than vanilla extract, and it will give an incredible aroma to your pancakes! You only need a small amount since it is very concentrated, so it’ll last you a long time. You’ll basically get the essence of a vanilla bean pod but in liquid form! If you don’t have Madagascar bourbon vanilla bean paste, then you can substitute with double the amount of Vanilla extract.
• Butter

If you have a great nonstick pan as I have described above, then you won’t need any cooking oil to actually make the pancakes! By adding the butter into the batter, you get the flavor and the cooking fat to help the pancakes not stick to the pan. Furthermore, the butter will give the wonderful golden brown color. However, if you don’t want to add butter into your batter, you can add olive oil or spray oil to the pan to cook your pancakes.

Classic Fluffy Pancakes: How-to

First thing’s first - preheat the oven to 200 F so that you can keep your pancakes warm! As your oven preheats, you can begin making the batter for Fluffy Pancakes!

Make the Pancake Batter

How to Make Batter Using a Stand Mixer

1. In the bowl of the stand mixer, add the flour and baking powder. In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients - buttermilk, egg, sugar, melted butter and the Madagascar vanilla bean paste.
2. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and using the whisk attachment, whisk at the lowest setting until you get a thick but runny pancake batter.

How to Make Batter by Hand

In a large mixing bowl, add the flour and baking powder.

In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients - milk, egg, sugar, melted butter and the Madagascar vanilla bean paste.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and begin whisking using either a whisk or a stand mixer, until you get a thick but runny pancake batter.

Cook the Pancakes

Heat a pan to medium heat. Scoop out about 1/4 cup of pancake batter onto the pan. Cook for about 2-3 minutes, until the pancakes start forming bubbles at the surface.

Then, flip the pancake and cook the other side. Once both sides are cooked, transfer the pancake onto a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven. Repeat these steps for the remaining batter.

To serve, stack the pancakes on your serving plate and finish with toppings of your choice. Serve hot and enjoy!

Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them!

• Keep the dry and wet ingredients separate: Whisk the dry and wet ingredients separately before combining the two together. This helps ensure that the ingredients are evenly distributed while cooking the pancakes.
• Over-mixing = Bad: Don’t over-mix the pancakes to work out the lumps. Lumps are actually not an issue when it comes to pancake batter and only adds to the texture and tastiness.
• Maintain reasonable heat: Make sure the pan is not too hot otherwise the pancakes will become too brown and crispy. A good way to test for this is when you add butter to the pan it should remain white. If it turns brown and nutty instantly, take the pan off the heat for a minute or so.
• Time the flip: Let one side of the pancake cook well before flipping to avoid breaking the pancakes. If the surface of the pancakes has small bubbles, this is a good indication of when it is time to flip. Any time before that, you run the chance of creating pancake scramble.

FAQS

Other Delicious Breakfast Recipes!

• Chocolate Peanut Butter Overnight Oats
• Salted Caramel Mocha Oatmeal Bowl
• Strawberry Banana Nutella Crepes
• Tim Horton’s Farmer’s Breakfast Wrap
• Mashed Avocado Toast with Fried Egg
• Make-Ahead Breakfast Sandwich
• Cheesy Sautéed Mushrooms on Toast

There Is No Baking Soda in This Batter

Most buttermilk pancake recipes reach for two leaveners: baking powder and baking soda, with the soda in there specifically to react against the buttermilk's acidity. This one uses a single leavener. Two teaspoons of baking powder, and no soda at all. Baking powder already carries its own acid, so it lifts on its own and does not need the buttermilk to activate it. That leaves the buttermilk doing what it is actually best at here, which is flavour and tenderness rather than chemistry, and it makes the batter far less fussy about being mixed a minute or two before the pan is ready.

The rest of the quantities are worth reading closely, because they are smaller than people expect. It is a pinch of salt, not a teaspoon of salt. It is one and a half tablespoons of sugar. It is 1 large egg, not large eggs plural. And it is 1 and a quarter cups of real buttermilk. If you do not have any, the recipe card gives two buttermilk substitutes: 1 cup of whole milk with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, left to rest for 5 minutes, or plain yogurt thinned with milk until it pours. A teaspoon of white vinegar does the same job as the lemon juice if that is what is open.

Mixing: Where Buttermilk Pancake Batter Goes Wrong

Dry ingredients go in a large bowl: the cup of all-purpose flour and the baking powder. The wet ingredients go in a separate bowl: the buttermilk, the egg, the sugar, the melted butter and the teaspoon of Madagascar bourbon vanilla bean paste. Two to three teaspoons of butter is all the recipe needs and the microwave is the quickest way to melt it, though give it a moment to stop being hot before it meets the egg. Vanilla extract stands in at 2 teaspoons, or half a scraped vanilla bean.

Then the wet goes into the dry and you whisk, either with a whisk or in a stand mixer, until the buttermilk pancake batter is thick but runny. That phrase is the entire target. What you are not trying to do is make it smooth. Small lumps are fine and expected; the only thing you actually want gone is the dry flour streaks. Every stroke past that point develops gluten, and gluten is what gives you a chewy pancake instead of perfect fluffiness. If you know you tend to overmix, a wooden spoon is more forgiving than a whisk. One more thing worth saying: this is a pancake batter and not a waffle batter. Waffles need noticeably more fat and sugar to crisp up in an iron, and this mixture is deliberately lean.

Cooking, Toppings and the Numbers

Step one is not the batter, it is the oven. Preheat it to 200 F before anything else, because that is where the finished pancakes wait. Heat a pan or a griddle to medium, then scoop about a quarter cup of batter per pancake. Give it 2 to 3 minutes, until bubbles start forming across the surface, then flip and cook the other side. Each finished pancake goes onto a baking sheet and into that 200 F oven while you work through the rest of the batter. That is the whole trick to getting all five to the table hot at the same time instead of the first one going cold while the last one cooks.