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Buttermilk Pancakes
Serves 12 Prep 15 min Cook 15 min Total 30 min Type Meal Origin American

Buttermilk Pancakes

Fluffy American-style pancakes: tall, soft, the colour of caramel. The buttermilk reacts with baking soda for the lift; stand mixing optional, fluff is structural. Stack high, drown in butter and maple syrup.

Serves 12 Prep 5 minutes (plus 10 minutes batter rest) Cook 15 minutes Units Rate

Overview

Tall, soft, caramel-coloured pancakes that pour into the kind of weekend breakfast you don't rush. You whisk the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet (buttermilk, eggs, melted butter, a thread of vanilla) in another, then combine briefly and stop while lumps are still visible. Smooth batter develops gluten and gives you chewy, dense rounds rather than the cloud-soft stack you're after. Ten minutes' rest lets the baking powder and bicarb start working with the buttermilk's acid, which is where the lift comes from. You cook them on a medium-low pan with a small knob of butter, and you flip when bubbles dot the surface and the edges look set. Stack three high, drown in butter and maple syrup, scatter berries if there are any in the fridge. Sunday breakfast, slow morning, second pot of coffee.

Ingredients

  • 250 g plain flour
  • 2 tablespoons caster sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 350 ml buttermilk
  • 2 eggs (large)
  • 50 g unsalted butter (melted, cooled slightly)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Butter (or oil for the pan)

To serve

  • Butter
  • Maple syrup
  • Fresh berries (or sliced banana)

Method

Stage 1 - Dry mix

  1. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a bowl.

Stage 2 - Wet mix

  1. In another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla.

Stage 3 - Combine and rest

  1. Pour the wet into the dry; whisk briefly with a fork - STOP while there are still lumps. Overmixing = chewy pancakes.
  2. Rest 10 minutes.

Stage 4 - Cook

  1. Heat a wide non-stick pan over medium-low heat. Wipe with a tiny knob of butter.
  2. Ladle 80 ml of batter for each pancake (about a third of a cup).
  3. Cook 2-3 minutes until bubbles appear across the surface and the edges look set.
  4. Flip; cook another 1-2 minutes until puffed and golden.
  5. Stack on a plate; keep warm in a low oven if making several batches.

Stage 5 - Serve

  1. Stack 3 per plate.
  2. Top with butter, maple syrup and berries.

Notes

  • Lumpy batter is the goal: Smooth batter develops gluten and gives chewy, dense pancakes. Mix until just combined.
  • Medium-low heat: Too hot and the outside burns before the inside cooks. Patience.
  • Buttermilk is structural: The acidity reacts with the bicarb for the rise. Substitute with milk + lemon juice if needed but real buttermilk is better.

Storage

  • Best fresh. Keep 1 day refrigerated; reheat in a toaster or hot pan.
  • Freeze 2 months, separated by parchment.

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