My Best Buttermilk Pancakes

The best soft and fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes recipe that I finally nailed after so many trials! This will be your new favourite – promise! This recipe makes super delicious and tummy-filling buttermilk breakfast pancakes every single time! I have used full-fat Laban (buttermilk) and some homemade almond flour that makes the pancakes rich and indulgent while the eggs and leavening agents make them light and fluffy.  Now, all you need is to top the pancakes with some maple syrup or honey and some chopped seasonal fruits!

Fluffy stack of pancakes with golden crisp edges dripping with maple syrup is a guilty experience that is worth every calorie. Pancakes and breakfast are synonyms, don't you agree? My buttermilk pancakes are a little indulgent in a good way and so makes the best breakfast or brunch. Whenever I served this, we are not hungry for a long time. This recipe makes enough pancakes for 3 humans but if one of you is very hungry then only 2! I refrigerate the remaining for the weekday snack! You just have to microwave for 30 seconds or cover and warm-up on the stove. 

Though I have seen, read, watched pancakes being the breakfast norm in most of the American sitcoms, it was never a part of our breakfast table. Instead, we grew up having crepes, which mom made with flour and egg batter and drizzled some ghee and sugar before folding and serving with chai. Yes, a Malabari pre-breakfast food item. 😄 But a stack of pancakes with syrup all over and topped with fresh berries enticed me in my late 20s in the form of Betty Crocker's buttermilk pancake mix at a supermarket in Yanbu (2014). I was new to cooking for two which is never the same as cooking for self - right? The box-mix saved my weekend mornings as a new homemaker 🤣 But then I plunged into the food blogging world where a box-mix is deemed as less glamourous. Yikes!

I never bought a box-mix again ever but instead tried making pancakes from scratch which honestly never looked as good as box-mix pancakes. 😒 I have tried several recipe proportions and yet my pancakes all turned out flat, rubbery, and heavy. I gave up. How can such a simple recipe be challenging? 

For better or worse I took up "making perfect pancakes" as my pandemic lockdown project. And I always knew it has to be buttermilk pancakes for my love for laban. At first, I made comparative notes of my favourite chefs' pancake recipes (Joy of Baking, Ina Garten, Laura Vitale, and Martha Stewart) And then, I made notes to scale down the recipe a bit. Then I replaced some of the plain flour with some homemade almond flour because health you guys! My dry mix was ready but it took me a few attempts to find the liquid proportion that gave me perfectly fluffy pancakes. 

But what dawned to me was that the batter alone does not give fluffy pancakes, you need to have the right technique of cooking them too. I had to unlearn before I could adopt the right method. I used to cover and cook pancakes which I believed would fasten the quicking process and also wait until the topside is dry before I turned them so that I am sure it is cooked through. Both of this step was preventing me from achieving the trademark fluffy and light pancakes. So the secret is - Do not cover the pan and do not wait for the top to go dry. In other words, cook the pancakes open and flip before the top sets.  

Ingredients for buttermilk pancakes

• Flour: I have used both all-purpose flour and almond flour. You may replace the almond flour with the same quantity of wheat flour or use same all-purpose flour again.
• baking powder: there for a reason - do not get tempted to reduce the quantity. 
• baking soda: do not reduce the quantity.
• sugar: you may increase but don't reduce.
• salt: always
• eggs: again, do not cut down. use large eggs. 
• buttermilk: Full-fat laban or buttermilk is what is recommended here. I have used a mixture of Labneh (hung curd) and milk and that works great too. Details in the recipe section. 
• melted butter

How to make buttermilk pancakes?

Prepare the pancake batter:  The first step should be to melt the butter so that it can cool before we use it in the batter. Whisk together both the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl or jug, whisk together the buttermilk (laban), eggs, and vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients then fold until just combined. Now, make sure the melted butter is not too hot. Stir in the melted butter and take care not to overmix the batter. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes before you start making the pancake. You can take this time to prep the pan, fruits, syrup, plates etc. 

Make the pancakes: Heat a large non-stick or cast iron pan over low to medium heat. Stir the batter every time before you scoop. Scoop approx 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Pour as many pancakes your pan can hold. Flip the pancakes as soon the bubbles appear which may take less than 2 minutes. Cook the other side for another 1 to 2 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and stack the pancakes. Repeat until all batter is used. Grease the pan and stir the batter bowl between each batch of pancakes.

Serve:  Serve warm with maple syrup or honey and seasonal fruits. 

Storage: Avoid making the batter previous night or storing the excess batter as is. It is better to use up the batter and store any leftover cooked pancakes in the fridge or freezer. You can reheat in a microwave or oven or stove-top.

Best Buttermilk Pancakes Recipe

Makes 12 to 16 pancakes 

INGREDIENTS

Dry items

1 cup all-purpose flour (maida)

1/2 cup almond flour* 

2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 tablespoon sugar 

Salt to taste

* If you don't have almond flour, just pulse and grind a handful of almonds or use wheat flour or use more maida. 

Wet items

2 large eggs

1 and 1/4 cup buttermilk (laban) OR 1/2 cup labneh + 3/4 cup milk 

1/4 cup melted butter (add in the end)

a splash of vanilla

enough butter to grease the pan while making pancakes

INSTRUCTION

Prepare the batter

1. Take a large bowl and whisk together both the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt until well-combined.
2. Take another smaller bowl and whisk together eggs, buttermilk and vanilla extract.  
3. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients bowl and use a rubber spatula to gently fold and stir until just combined.  
4. Stir in the melted butter and take care not to overmix the batter. 
5. Rest the batter for 8 to 10 minutes. 

Prepare buttermilk pancakes

1. Heat a flat non-stick pan or cast iron pan on low to medium flame and grease with butter. 
2. Stir the batter every time before you scoop. Scoop approx 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. 
3. Pour as many pancakes your pan can hold. 
4. Flip the pancakes as soon the bubbles appear which may take less than 2 minutes. 
5. Cook the other side for another 1 to 2 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Remove and stack the pancakes. 
7. Repeat until all batter is used. Grease the pan between each batch of pancakes.
8. Serve warm with maple syrup or honey or butter and seasonal fruits. 

TRIED THIS RECIPE? 

I would love to hear from you. If you have made this recipe then do leave a comment below. If you like this recipe then do share the recipe link on Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Please do follow me on Instagram and mention @butfirstchaai or tag #butfirstchai so that I can see your creations!