Anything but plain, these flavorful homemade buttermilk pancakes don’t need any add-ins to taste special (though I won’t fight you on adding chocolate chips!). Soft and fluffy with just the right amount of sweetness, they’re an ideal base for your favorite pancake toppings. Try them with homemade honey butter or cinnamon butter, whipped cream, and/or a cascade of maple syrup—pancake perfection!
Can you think of a better way to start your day than with a stack of classic buttermilk pancakes? (Well, homemade cinnamon rolls are in the running too, obviously.)
This is my go-to buttermilk pancake recipe. It’s the one I use time and time again when I crave a stack of classic, diner-style pancakes. This simple recipe makes the fluffiest, softest, most tender buttermilk pancakes… that taste anything but basic.
I love it so much that I’ve also created variations on this base recipe to make strawberry buttermilk pancakes, birthday cake pancakes, and even included a blueberry version in my first cookbook, published over a decade ago (page 35)!
About the strawberry buttermilk pancakes, which is the same base as today’s, one reader, Julie, commented: “These are INCREDIBLE! I love how fluffy and tender they are—and I love that I don’t have to beat the egg whites separately. SO SO SO good. ★★★★★“
Ingredients You Need for the Best Buttermilk Pancakes
These are all very basic ingredients, but each one has an important job to do to make sure your pancakes turn out amazing, so I don’t recommend any substitutions here.
- Melted Butter: Melt the butter first, to give it a chance to slightly cool before you mix it into the other wet ingredients.
- Flour: All-purpose flour is the base of these pancakes. If you’re looking to use whole wheat flour, my whole wheat pancakes are thick, fluffy, and have lots of wonderful reader reviews.
- Sugar: Use granulated sugar to lightly sweeten.
- Baking Powder + Baking Soda: Both give these pancakes some serious fluffiness. (More on this below.)
- Salt: Flavor.
- Eggs: 2 eggs bind the ingredients together and add lift and structure.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk’s lactic acid, as well as its subtle tangy flavor and ultra-creamy texture, is required for buttermilk pancakes. Though I often suggest a DIY buttermilk substitute using regular milk and vinegar/lemon, I highly recommend using real buttermilk in these pancakes. You can use either low-fat or full-fat buttermilk.
- Vanilla: This pancake batter benefits from a dose of pure vanilla extract, which gives it the best flavor. Same as when you make a white cake, when vanilla is the main flavor you’ll taste, it’s best to use the pure stuff.
Why Both Baking Powder & Soda?
Remember when I taught you about baking powder vs baking soda? Well, we are using both in today’s pancakes. In this recipe, buttermilk is used partly for its unmistakable tangy flavor. If we used only baking soda in the pancake batter, the soda could neutralize all of the buttermilk’s acid. And we’d lose that tanginess! So, by including baking powder as well, some of the buttermilk’s flavor is left behind, and there is still enough leavening to yield the fluffiest of fluffy pancakes.
How to Make the Best Buttermilk Pancakes
Preparing the batter takes just a couple minutes. Whisk the dry ingredients in 1 bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients in another, then pour wet into dry and whisk together to combine. I like to use a large mixing bowl with a pour spout. Makes pouring the batter onto the pan/griddle much easier.
Success Tip: Let Your Batter Take a Nap
Let the batter rest for a few minutes while you preheat your griddle/pan. This gives it a chance to thicken up, which makes for even fluffier pancakes.
Expect a thick batter; a few small lumps are OK. Do not be tempted to whisk away all of the lumps. To avoid flat, dense pancakes, avoid over-mixing pancake batter.
The best temperature for cooking pancakes is 375ºF (190ºC). If you’re cooking on an electric griddle, you can simply set it to heat to that temperature. If you’re cooking in a griddle pan or large skillet on the stove, allow the pan to preheat for several minutes over medium heat. Don’t be tempted to crank the heat up to high; that will lead to unevenly cooked, burnt pancakes.
To test if the pan is ready, flick a few drops of water from your fingers onto the pan. If they sizzle in place and disappear, it’s not quite hot enough yet. If they “dance” around on the surface before sizzling out, your pan is good to go!
While these pancakes are flavorful on their own, feel free to fold your favorite add-ins— such as chocolate chips, berries, or chopped nuts—into the batter before cooking. Sprinkles are a fun addition for a birthday breakfast!
Many pancake recipes instruct you to flip when you see bubbles forming on the surface, but you’re actually looking for holes. Your pancakes are ready to flip when the bubbles are popping, forming little holes in the surface. Cook until the edges look set and you notice holes in the pancake’s surface around the border, about 2 minutes. Flip, then cook for another minute.
Before you flip, look for holes in the pancake’s surface:
For more pancake-perfecting tips, read this article on 10 Pancake Common Mistakes—and How to Avoid Them.
Favorite Pancake Toppings
And at the very frequent request of my children, here’s one of the best ways to enjoy them: with lots of chocolate chips. 😉 Happy flipping!
If you happen to have a waffle maker, try my favorite buttermilk waffles next!
More Pancake Recipes:
- Melt the 6 Tablespoons (85g) of butter first. Microwave or stovetop—either is fine. Set aside to slightly cool until step 3. You don’t want it piping hot.
- In a large bowl, preferably with a pour spout, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together until combined. Set aside.
- In another large bowl, whisk the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla extract together until combined. Whisk in the melted butter. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently whisk to combine. Make sure there are no patches of dry flour at the bottom of the bowl. The batter is thick and a few lumps are fine. Set aside as you heat the stove.
- Heat a griddle or large skillet over medium heat. Coat generously with butter or nonstick spray. Once it’s hot, drop/pour a heaping 1/4 cup of batter on the griddle. Cook until the edges look set and you notice holes in the pancake’s surface around the border, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook the other side until cooked through, about 1–2 more minutes. Coat griddle/skillet with butter or nonstick spray, if needed, for each batch of pancakes.
- Keep pancakes warm in a preheated 200°F (93°C) oven until all pancakes are cooked. Serve pancakes immediately with your choice of toppings.
- Cover and store leftover pancakes in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Pancakes freeze well up to 3 months. Reheat frozen pancakes in the microwave. Or you can reheat frozen pancakes in a 350°F (177°C) oven. Place pancakes on a lined baking sheet and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 6–8 minutes or until defrosted and warm.
- Can I make the batter the night before? No, I don’t recommend it. Baking powder is activated once wet. You can, however, mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients together and keep them separate and covered in the refrigerator until the morning. (But do not add the melted butter until ready to cook, because that will solidify in the refrigerator.)
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Mixing Bowls (preferably with a pour spout) | Whisk | Electric Griddle, Griddle Pan, or Shallow Skillet/Pan
- Can I use whole wheat flour? I recommend making my whole wheat pancakes instead.
- Buttermilk: Though I typically suggest a DIY buttermilk substitute using regular milk and vinegar/lemon, I highly recommend real buttermilk. I used low-fat buttermilk, but full-fat works too. I do not suggest any substitutions. You can use any extra buttermilk you have leftover in any of these recipes.
- Can I make waffles instead? Absolutely. Use this batter and follow the same cooking instructions as these gingerbread waffles.
- Extras/add-ins: While these pancakes are flavorful on their own, feel free to fold your favorite add-ins—such as chocolate chips, berries, or chopped nuts—into the batter before cooking.
- Adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction cookbook Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes recipe (page 35).
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