The Best Buttermilk Pancakes Ever

Paaaaaaancakes!  Specifically, buttermilk pancakes.  When they’re good (and not that terrible IHOP pre-fab stuff), they are one of my favorite foods. Hot and fluffy, a little gooey center, nutty whole grain taste, and slathered in peanut butter and syrup. It pretty much doesn’t get any better than that.

They’re also one of the easiest things in the world to whip up, and endlessly versatile.

I realized a while back that—while I had posted whole grain pancakes, healthy apple cinnamon pancakes, ricotta pancakes, gingerbread pancakes, cinnamon polenta pancakes, and bourbon banana pancakes—I had never posted the recipe that started it all, my awesome basic buttermilk pancakes.

Does anyone else put peanut butter on their pancakes and waffles? We always did it, and I assumed everyone else did.

But going to summer camp growing up, I found out that this was considered somewhat weird.  It’s so good, you have to try it! It’s my goal to convert the entire Southeast to the gospel of peanut butter on pancakes.

In all my focus on trying and posting new recipes, I’ve neglected some of my tried and true favorite recipes, so I’m working on rectifying that.  My mom’s lasagna, simple coffee cake, buttermilk Belgian waffles, chocolate chip cookies, and our family buttermilk pancake recipe.

It’s not an exaggeration to say we made these the majority of my sabbath mornings growing up. Occasionally we’d throw in some waffles, french toast, or biscuits, but mostly we made delicious, fluffy pancakes!

Okay, you’re 15 minutes out from buttermilk pancake awesomeness.  Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.  I always use at least partly white whole wheat flour, at least 50% of the total.  I like the flavor it gives, plus the extra fiber and complex carbs.  While sometimes waffles that are totally whole wheat can be dense gut bombs, it makes pancakes awesome and retains the fluffiness.

Add about a cup of buttermilk, the egg, and then the melted butter.  It’s important to do the buttermilk first, or the hot butter could cook the egg (gross).

Gently stir the ingredients together, then continue adding buttermilk until it’s the right consistency.  You want to almost fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, not vigorously stir them. You want it to pour and easily fall off the spoon (i.e. not be thick like cookie batter) but not be runny and just drip.

Heat a griddle or pan to medium, and wait til it’s good and hot.  Cast iron griddles are awesome for pancakes, but non-stick and stainless steel can work well too.  Spoon batter into the pan in the shape and size you want.  Cook the pancakes for a minute or two on each side, and flip when bubbles start to form in the batter.

The first pancake will always look terrible. It’s like a rule or something.

Eat ’em hot and keep ’em coming.

Serve your buttermilk pancakes with peanut butter and maple syrup.  Or fruit and whipped cream.  Or whatever the heck you want.  These make great leftovers, and I recommend putting them in the toaster to re-heat…keeps them crispy!

If you’re looking for a gluten-free pancake option, these almond flour pancakes are BOMB (and keto/low-carb).

Other brunch goodness you’ll love:

• Kale & Bacon Egg Casserole
• Bittersweet & Indulgent Dark Chocolate Waffles
• Cherry Almond Scones
• Healthy Apple Pie Scones
• Cheesy Sausage & Grit Breakfast Casserole

The Best Buttermilk Pancakes Ever

Yield: 7-ish pancakes

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

These delicious buttermilk pancakes are so easy to make and the perfect breakfast any day of the week!

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Ingredients

• 1 cup of flour (I often use either half or entirely white whole wheat flour)
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 3/4 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1-2 tablespoons of melted butter (or oil)
• Low-fat buttermilk (probably 1 1/2 to 2 cups, possibly more)

Instructions

1. Mix the dry ingredients together. 
2. Add about a cup of buttermilk, the egg, and then the oil or butter (if you melted the butter, make sure to add the buttermilk first, so it doesn't cook the egg!). 
3. Gently stir the ingredients together, almost folding the dry ingredients on the bottom into the wet ingredients.  Add enough buttermilk until it’s the right consistency---you want it to pour/fall off the spoon easily enough but not be runny.
4. Heat a griddle or pan (cast iron griddles are awesome, and I've used stainless steel as well) to medium heat, and cook the pancakes for a couple minutes on each side (flip when bubbles start to form in the batter).  Serve immediately.

Notes

• This recipe makes enough for a couple people, so double or triple as needed; my hungry family (7 adults) ate a quadruple batch along with eggs and potatoes