Buttermilk Pancakes

  • 42 comments
  • December 27, 2011
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The best recipe for buttermilk pancakes that are so tender and fluffy. They are so easy to make and are the best treat to make for your family on weekend mornings.

The fluffiest and most tender buttermilk pancakes.

What’s a better way to enjoy a leisurely weekend breakfast than with buttermilk pancakes? You can whip up the batter in a matter of minutes and cooking takes no time at all if you use a griddle.

I am always searching to perfect each different type of food that I like. I will try many different types of recipes, variations, ingredients until I reach success. Even though I like most of the recipes that I try, I still like to try different recipes, hoping to find something even better or just have another way of making something. However, when I find a recipe that I LOVE, and am completely satisfied with it, I am no longer even tempted to try another version, simply because I know, that this is “the one”.

What I’m trying to say is that this is my ultimate buttermilk pancake recipe. It is so fluffy and tender, it just melts in your mouth. Often I will make double the amount on Saturday morning and keep the rest of the pancakes for the coming week. An easy way to heat them up and revive them is to toast them and they come right back to life with their golden, airy goodness.

How to Make Buttermilk Pancakes Video:

Ingredients For Buttermilk Pancakes:

  • all purpose flour – I use unbleached all purpose flour
  • granulated sugar – this will sweeten the pancakes, but they won’t be too sweet either
  • baking powder and baking soda – you need to use both in this recipe to make them puff up and become really fluffy and light.
  • salt – a small pinch of salt will
  • buttermilk – this is a key ingredient in the pancakes. The buttermilk activates the baking soda and baking powder creating that incredibly airy texture. It also gives the pancakes a wonderful flavor.
  • egg
  • oil – you can use just about any oil in this recipe. My favorite is avocado oil, for both the batter and to grease the griddle.
  • vanilla extract – this is often not on the ingredient list for most pancake recipes, but it gives such a great flavor to the pancakes. Don’t miss it – you will love the aromatic taste.
Ingredients for buttermilk pancakes

Buttermilk Substitutions:

Buttermilk is one of the most important ingredients in these pancakes. It gives them a pleasant acidic tang but also activates the baking soda and makes the pancakes really tender and airy. Substituting plain milk will not work.

However, if you don’t have buttermilk on hand, one of the easiest substitutions is a combination of milk and vinegar/lemon juice. Pour 1 1/4 cups of milk into a bowl, take out 1 Tablespoon of milk and replace it with one Tablespoon of plain distilled white vinegar or lemon juice. Allow it to stand for 5-10 minutes, stir and then use in the recipe instead of buttermilk. The lemon juice or vinegar will sour the milk and give it that nice acidic tang.

Another great option is to use a combination of milk and sour cream or yogurt instead of the buttermilk. Mix 3/4 cup sour cream or yogurt with 1/2 cup milk until smooth. Use instead of buttermilk.

How To Make Buttermilk Pancakes:

  1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl. Mix until they are evenly combined.
  2. Whisk the wet ingredients together. (I like to whisk them all in a liquid measuring cup.) 
  3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. 
  4. Whisk together just until combined. Do not overmix. It’s ok if there are a few lumps left.
  5. Preheat the griddle or skillet, adding a bit of oil to cover the surface. The griddle should be about 375 degrees Fahrenheit, but adjust it based on your griddle.
  6. Pour the batter onto the griddle, using a ¼ cup measuring cup or an ice cream scoop.
  7. Flip the pancakes when you see little holes all over the surface of the pancakes.
  8. Serve the pancakes hot with butter, maple syrup, honey, fruit, jam, etc.
Buttermilk pancakes tutorial

Helpful Tips For the Fluffiest and Most Tender Pancakes:

Don’t Overmix the Pancake Batter

Overmixing will make your pancakes tough. It’s perfectly normal for the batter to be a little bit lumpy and to see some flour in the batter. Stir the batter just until blended, this is why you DON’T want to use a mixer and to make these by hand.

Let the Pancake Batter Rest For 5-10 Minutes

As the batter stands, the buttermilk and baking soda will start reacting and you will get a much more fluffy and airy pancakes. I mix up the batter and then start preheating the griddle. While it’s preheating the batter is resting.

What buttermilk pancake batter should look like

Cooking the Pancakes:

Make sure to preheat the griddle or skillet before pouring the pancakes batter on it. If you’re using a griddle, it should be about 375 degrees Fahrenheit. The griddle is the best option for cooking pancakes, because it’s a large surface, you can cook more pancakes at once and it also gives plenty of space in between the pancakes. Plus, it’s easier to flip the pancakes. You can also use a nonstick skillet or a well seasoned cast iron skillet for pancakes. Do not use a stainless steel skillet for pancakes.

Don’t Crowd the Griddle/Skillet

Leave enough room around the pancakes so they have enough space to spread out, otherwise they will merge onto each other and stick together. They will also cook more evenly and will be easier to flip if there is enough space around them.

How To Know When To Flip the Pancakes:

Flip the pancakes when there is an even distribution of small holes on the surface of the pancake and edges are dry. The bubbles should be all over the surface of the pancakes before you flip them. Don’t flip them too soon or the pancakes will spread our too much, be thinner and won’t be as fluffy.

Don’t Flatten the Pancakes With Your Spatula

This is tempting, but will make your pancakes dense, thin and tough.

Store the Cooked Pancakes in a Single Layer

A nice way of keeping pancakes fluffy, is placing them on a clean kitchen towel in a single layer and covering with another kitchen towel to keep warm. This way, you won’t smoosh the pancakes too much with the weight of the other pancakes.

The most tender and fluffy buttermilk pancakes with strawberries and maple syrup.

Storing and Reheating

Pancakes reheat and freeze really well, so I like to make a big batch so we can enjoy them for more than one meal.

Store the pancakes in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. Freeze the pancakes for up to 3 months. Place some parchment paper between the pancakes so that they don’t freeze solidly together and are easy to separate.

Thaw the pancakes and reheat in the toaster, the oven or the microwave. We love using the toaster to reheat pancakes because it warms them through but also crisps them up on the outside.

Close up shot of fluffy buttermilk pancakes.
Print

Buttermilk Pancakes

The perfect buttermilk pancake recipe that results in the most fluffy and tender pancakes.

  • Author: Olga’s Flavor Factory
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 15 mins
  • Total Time: 20 mins
  • Yield: 12 pancakes 1x
  • Category: Breakfast

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 level teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 ¼ cup buttermilk
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ cup oil (any oil will work, my favorite is avocado oil), plus more oil for the griddle/skillet
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients together, the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  2. Whisk the wet ingredients, the buttermilk, egg, oil and vanilla extract together. Whisk the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt) in a large mixing bowl.
  3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients.
  4. Whisk together just until combined. Do not overmix. It’s ok if there are a few lumps lefts.
  5. Using an ice cream scoop or ¼ cup measuring cup, pour onto heated, oiled griddle or skillet.
  6. Flip the pancakes when there is an even distribution of bubbles on the surface of the pancake and edges are dry.

Notes

Buttermilk Substitution:

If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can easily substitute with milk and vinegar/lemon juice. Pour 1 1/4 cups of milk into a bowl, take out 1 Tablespoon of milk and replace it with a Tablespoon of plain distilled white vinegar or lemon juice. Allow it to stand for 5-10 minutes, stir and then use in the recipe instead of buttermilk.

Other Flavor Variations:

You can add berries, chopped peaches, grated apples or pears, nuts, chocolate chips, M&Ms or bananas to the pancakes. Make the batter just as you would plain pancakes, pour the batter onto the griddle, then add the other ingredients all over the surface of the pancakes before you flip them.

Our favorite pancakes are Blueberry Pancakes. The sweet, slightly tart and juicy berries are perfect with the fluffy pancakes.

Keywords: buttermilk pancakes, the most fluffy pancakes, how to make homemade buttermilk pancakes, homemade pancake recipe, easy pancake recipe

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42 Comments

  • Ulyana Klyuchits

    Я очень люблю пробовать новые рецепты, но всегда есть небольшой страх, а получится ли? И что вы думаете? Получилось!! Очень вкусные, еле мужа оттащила ( в 9:00 вечера:))

    • olgak7

      Hi Inna,
      No, I wouldn’t save any unused batter. The baking powder will become flat and the pancakes won’t turn out nice and fluffy. You can mix the dry ingredients together ahead of time and then just add the dry ingredients in the morning. Even though I usually make pancakes for just my husband and me, I still make the whole batch and store the leftovers in the refrigerator. You can stick them in the toaster and they will still taste great. They will also be just a bit crunchy on the outside but still fluffy on the inside. Works great!

  • nelly

    THE BEST pancake recipe ever! i tried them making them today for breakfast.i doubled the recipe but then was short on buttermilk by 1 cup so i substituted milk with sour cream and they tasted perfect. i don’t have a griddle just the skillet. they burned fast so what worked for me was heating up the skillet then turning temperature down to 1 (max 2) and melting very small piece of butter then adding the batter to fry.it does take a little longer on low heat but it’s worth it. they turned out light in color and fluffy:) home-made raspberry jam and little syrup on top is yummy. THANK YOU OLGA!

  • Natasha Yelfimov

    Olga, thanks for the great tip for keeping pancakes warm by placing them on the towel and covering with a towel!

  • Irina

    Thank you Olga for posting these great pancakes, this is my ultimate pancake recipe. I do however make a healthier version like add ground flax seeds or use spelt, oat or buck wheat flowers, and they still turn out great. Thanks again!

  • Tanya

    Olechka,
    You never sees to amaze me. Every time I make one of your recipes, they always come out really good and my family raves about them. I absolutely loved these pancakes and my 4-year old daughter said that they were very goood!!!! She is a picky eater and I always have to battle with her to get her to eat something. Today, I made these for the first time and she ate 4 of these pancakes (topped with maple syrup and strawberries), and asked them again for lunch!
    I told her that before she can eat these pancakes again, she has to eat roasted baby potatoes and a fresh cucumber, everything topped with a little salt and fresh dill. It was a success, she ate everything!!! Yay!!!!
    I also wanted to ask you if you could post a recipe for a marinated baby cucumbers with garlic and dill? You know the ones that are typically served for the weddings. I really appreciate you and your husband for all of your hard work that you put into this blog. I also appreciate that you not only so willingly share your “secret” recipes, but also tell us your techniques and tips. May God reward you for everything your family has done for everyone else.

    • olgak7

      Aww… Thanks so much for such a warm comment, Tanya. I’m so happy to hear that the recipes are working for you and that your daughter loves them too. I know that it can be quite a battle to get kids to eat. You made my night with your comment. Comments like this really encourage me and make me smile. It’s my greatest pleasure to share my recipes with others, especially when I hear that they are loved by other families as well.
      I don’t have a recipe with pictures for the dill cucumbers, but they are really easy to make and I’ll explain it to you as best I can.
      Cut the cucumbers into spears. If the cucumber isn’t too fat, I cut it into four pieces, but if the cucumber is bigger cut it into more pieces. Place the cucumbers in a ziptop bag, add fresh minced dill, salt and pepper to taste and a few smashed garlic cloves. Close the bag and mix it all together. Place in the refrigerator for about 15-30 minutes, or even longer if you’d like. You can make these a few hours ahead of time. I have found that if you mince the garlic or press it through a garlic press, the garlic will be too overpowering, but if you smash it with your knife (like they do on the cooking shows), it is very mild, but still gives the falvor of garlic to the cucumbers. You shouldn’t have too much of a garlic breath either, which a a huge plus for me. Hope that makes sense. I love these cucumbers in the summer. Especially when they are from my Mama’s garden. Yum!

  • Tanya

    Thank you so much for replying! Your response and comment really touched my heart. Thank you!
    I thought that you’d probably wanted to know, my daughter declared that she fell in love with these pancakes, and again asked for these for dinner. She refused to eat anything else, she wanted her pancakes! I know it’s not good, but I felt comfortable feeding her again, because I knew that these pancakes didn’t have any additives and most importantly, her belly was full and happy!

    Wow, I didn’t know that my favorite dill cucumbers were so easy to make!!! Thank you so much!!! Since I can’t wait for the summer,I am going to try to make these tomorrow using Sam’s Club baby cucumbers. Thank you also for the tip regarding garlic. I too love garlic, but sometimes when garlic is too over-powering the food doesn’t have that right taste. I’ve tried using dried garlic, but it’s not the same. So, I will be using your tip in preparing other foods as well. Thank you, again and again!!! You are the best!!!! Thank you so much for taking your time to reply!

  • Olya

    Olichka! How many pancakes come out in one batch???
    And i wanted to thank you for all your receipes so far all of them are loved by my hubby:) and i of course. Thank you

  • Mariya

    Made these pancakes few days ago, with some chopped apples added to the batter, and they were super yummy!! Thanks so much for your delicious recipes Olichka!’ 😉

  • alla

    I usually dont comment on blogs but this recipe was so amazing that I had to comment! This is definitely the best pancake recipe that I have tried!!! Thank you so much! I made them plain, with blueberries, and with chocolate and all of them were amazing!

  • olga

    How do you freeze these? do you wrap them individually or throw them together into a ziplock bag? thx! these were AMAZING!

  • blueberry

    These were the best! I wanted to try with fruits but every time I make them, I don’t have any on hand. Last time I had strawberries but I wasn’t sure if that will work so I put strawberries with sugar in blender and served that strawberry puree with pancakes. Turned out way too good!!!

    P.S. Thanks for cucumber recipe in the comments! I did them twice already! Love them! Olga, you can’t even think of how you make my life easier! Your step by step recipes are just right for me! Having two little kids just like you, I wonder when do you have time for everything? I’m glad you keep your posts… May God give you strength! You are in my prayers!

    • olgak7

      Thanks, blueberry, for such a sweet comment:).
      I absolutely love serving pancakes with strawberries, exactly the same way that you did!
      I’ll have to actually do a recipe post for those cucumbers.

  • Nataliya

    I love this recipe for pancakes, but when I first tried them my hubby didnt wanna eat them because baking soda is very stong in this recipe, in my opinion its way to much, so I tried putting only 1/4tsp and they are still fluffy and we all love them, and husband don’t taste any baking soda. Thank you Olga for this great recipe!

  • Vera

    I made these today for the first time, everyone loved them! The recipe is definetely a keeper!
    The pancakes were very fluffy and soft!
    Thanks for the video, my kiddos and I enjoyed watching it.

  • valentina tsvor

    this is the best recipe of pancakes . I tried multiple recipes before, and this one became my favorite!! When I make them, they disappear from the plate immediately. Even my 1 year old loves them!

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