Perfect Buttermilk Pancakes Recipe (2024)

By Alison Roman

Perfect Buttermilk Pancakes Recipe (1)

Total Time
10 minutes
Rating
5(10,867)
Notes
Read community notes

Pancakes are the hero of the breakfast table, and their very taste can even be described as “deeply breakfasty”: eggy, salty, just this side of sweet. A little indulgent and yet still somehow appropriate first thing in the morning, those fluffy stacks with crisped edges, dripping with maple syrup, are everything you want, exactly when you want them. Here is how to get to them right every time, whether it's a lazy Sunday morning or a hurried weekday.

Learn: How to Make Pancakes

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

  • 2cups all-purpose flour
  • 3tablespoons sugar
  • teaspoons baking powder
  • teaspoons baking soda
  • teaspoons kosher salt
  • cups buttermilk
  • 2large eggs
  • 3tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • Vegetable, canola or coconut oil for the pan

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Make the recipe with us

  1. Step

    1

    Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and kosher salt together in a bowl. Using the whisk, make a well in the center. Pour the buttermilk into the well and crack eggs into buttermilk. Pour the melted butter into the mixture. Starting in the center, whisk everything together, moving towards the outside of the bowl, until all ingredients are incorporated. Do not overbeat (lumps are fine). The batter can be refrigerated for up to one hour.

  2. Step

    2

    Heat a large nonstick griddle or skillet, preferably cast-iron, over low heat for about 5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon oil to the skillet. Turn heat up to medium–low and using a measuring cup, ladle ⅓ cup batter into the skillet. If you are using a large skillet or a griddle, repeat once or twice, taking care not to crowd the cooking surface.

  3. Flip pancakes after bubbles rise to surface and bottoms brown, about 2 to 4 minutes. Cook until the other sides are lightly browned. Remove pancakes to a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet, and keep in heated oven until all the batter is cooked and you are ready to serve.

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10,867

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

J. Scott Wilson

As with any buttermilk batter recipe, this works best if you let the batter sit at room temperature for about a half-hour. The buttermilk will work its magic and thicken the batter, making for super-fluffy pancakes. By cooking immediately, you're completely defeating the purpose of using the buttermilk.

MMS

Any reason why the eggs aren't lightly beaten before adding to pancake mixture? I thought over mixing was to be avoided, and it seems that mixing whole unbeaten eggs would risk this. Thoughts from the pancake experts?

Stu

A generous teaspoon of Vanilla extract makes a big difference in my experience (or 1-inch+ scraped vanilla bean).

Jean

This is my new go to recipe. I don't make any changes, but I do find that the batter is thicker if you let it sit for about 10 minutes or so after mixing everything together. It spreads like crazy if you cook right away.

JLR

The unibowlness of this is sublime, but with volumetric measurements, it's something of a fallacy! If weighed in the bowl:

250 g APF
38 g sugar
1.5 tsp each of soda, powder and salt (even my drug-dealer scale isn't up to the task of weighing these)
600 g of buttermilk (or, as I did, about 550 g of buttermilk and 50 g milk)
2 eggs
45 g butter, melted in the frying pan or on the griddle

The butter's still on my hands as I type this —delicious!

Greg

This is my "go-to" Saturday morning pancake recipe. I kick it up with two teaspoons of vanilla in the batter.When I die, I want to be buried in a vat filled with Grey Goose vodka and the NYT buttermilk pancake batter.

cw

325? Some if my pancakes were more like cookies by the end. 200 degrees is plenty to keep pancakes warm. (And heat some plates to serve!)

Jane

I regularly cook in both the US and the UK, and I have made these pancakes several times in each place. In my experience, buttermilk can vary a lot in thickness. The buttermilk I purchase in the US is consistently thinner than in the UK. Reading the notes of other cooks, it appears that the thickness varies even within the US, since some cooks comment on the extreme thinness of the batter, while others find the opposite. Start with 1/4 to 1/2 c. less buttermilk, adjusting as necessary.

Katie

These didn't turn out right for me--too thin and liquidy. I feel fairly certain that was due to an excess of milk. Looking at other pancake recipes I regularly use, the quantity of flour and milk is the same, but here there's a 1/2 cup more of buttermilk. If I try these again I'd reduce the milk.

sarnor

I always beat the eggs and combine with the melted butter and buttermilk then add to the dry ingredients. If you read the "How to Make Pancakes" article cited above, the reason they are added directly to the dry ingredients is so there is one less bowl to clean.

Nuschler

Sorry, but as an MD I had to laugh. You don’t want butter, but you recommend “generous amount” of coconut oil?

Coconut oil is 92% saturated fat! We use fresh coconut oil right of husks for laxatives here in Hawai’i.

Stan

I have tried many recipes for pancakes, including some others from NY Times Cooking. This is by far the best-fluffy and full of flavor. I made the recipe for 2 people and added blueberries and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. Beautiful and delicious.

Dave Smucker

I fix a lot of pancakes - once a week breakfast for high school boys at church and Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper too. Want better lighter pancakes - change the flour. Use unbleached self-rising biscuit flour, not all purpose. You want soft wheat flour, not hard wheat flour. Want to make them really bad use bread flour. We use 10 percent sugar, and lots of butter. (That is about 160 pancakes each Thursday morning, and 1600 for Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper).

rose

Excellent recipe. My go-to for pancakes has always been the one in Joy of Cooking, which requires you to separate the whites from the egg yokes and then make an almost-meringue, before folding everything back into the batter. The result was unfailingly fluffy cakes. Was VERY skeptical about this method, but the result were amazing. This method is so much quicker, since there's no need to beat the egg whites.

Jen

I used yogurt for some of the buttermilk, and the pancakes were fantastic.Great with orange zest, marmalade and vanilla in the batter.

SLD

The word “perfect” in the title sounds presumptuous at first glance, but I can attest to its accuracy. I make this recipe pretty much every weekend and crave it during the week! I add pecans and blueberries to mine. I make half of the recipe and it is plenty for two hungry people. Let the batter rest for 30 mins or so after mixing.

Beau

This is so damned good! Making some of my own notes for reference later. Loved the comment by JLR with regard to ingredients by weight which makes putting this together MUCH faster and convenient.--250g flour38g sugar1.5 tsp each: Baking soda, baking powder, & salt.600g of buttermilk (substituted about 1:1 whole milk + tbsp vinegar + greek yogurt to total 600g. Play with ratio to taste)2 eggsVanilla splash45g butter: melt in pan or pyrex measuring cup-Cast iron low ~1min/side on butter

LL

Wow. So good and practically mistake proof.

Alana

Sub buttermilk with 1 part milk and 1 part yogurt

Gary S

Great recipe, as thousands have declared. Just be mindful of the salt. A bit less will not hurt.

C

This is my go-to pancake recipe! Most of the time, I have followed directions exactly and they are thick and fluffy. Today I didn't have buttermilk and substituted with 2% milk and 2.5 tblspns of vinegar (that I let sit for 15 minutes) as well as added 1 tablespoon flaxseed and although the results weren't as thick and fluffy, they still tasted amazing.

Tony

Silly thing to note but if you do not like eggs you probably will not like this. My partner hates eggs and could not get into it, me however loved it, its a great pancake base.

PMac

Great recipe in general but keeping these pancakes in 325-degree oven until every batch is finished cooking meant that every batch aside from the last one ended up completely dried out and deflated. I’m surprised no one else has mentioned this!!!

Dennis

This is a fool proof recipe. I have made it many times. Big, fluffy and they freeze very well.

CLewis

Crunch on the outside! Yum. I added 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. With the vanilla in, some family members skip syrup.

fluffy pancakes

I didn’t have buttermilk, so I used 1.5 cups of plain yogurt and a cup of milk. They turned out very fluffy and delicious. I think the 325 oven is intended to cook the pancakes through, if they haven’t cooked through on the stove top. I put my stove on low instead and kept them warm in a 200 degree oven. Probably takes a little longer this way.

sunny

Used 1 1/4 cup sour cream mixed with 1 1/4 cup water instead of buttermilk and used batter for waffles instead of pancakes and they came out fantastic. Froze extras and reheated for the next morning and they are just as great. Highly recommend!

adaption

ExcellentUsed 1/2 whole wheat flour Added one overripe banana Added blueberriesDouble next time

stella

The best pancakes ever. Easy to make. My kids and husband love them

Sean B.

This recipe is nails. Thank you to J. Scott Wilson for his tip on letting the batter sit for 30 minutes before cooking, too.

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Perfect Buttermilk Pancakes Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why baking soda in buttermilk pancakes? ›

Pancakes and waffles typically both contain baking soda, which causes them to rise. As soon as the baking soda is combined with the wet ingredients (which contain an acidic ingredient, like often buttermilk), it starts producing carbon dioxide gas bubbles that cause the batter to rise.

Why are my buttermilk pancakes not fluffy? ›

If your batter is too wet, all your mix could be missing is a little extra love in the form of flour (via My Recipes). If, however, achieving the right flour-liquid balance isn't the issue, you're probably looking at a baking powder and baking soda complications.

Why do restaurant pancakes taste so good? ›

Additionally, griddles ensure the cooking surface stays perfectly heated both before and after the batter hits it — resulting in an evenly-cooked, griddle-kissed final product. Years of cooking on a griddle may also imbue it with that unique, indescribable flavor that comes with diner food, like a cast-iron frying pan.

What is the secret to a fluffy pancake? ›

Whether you are making your own batter or using a pancake mix, the the secret to fluffier pancakes rests in air pockets. Yes—air pockets. Air pockets make the difference between a pancake and crepe, which means it's crucial that you get the perfect amount of bubbles in your batter to form a fluffy pancake.

Is baking soda or powder better for pancakes? ›

Baking soda is essential for baked goods, but baking powder is really what makes pancakes and biscuits rise and become so super fluffy. Double-acting baking powder, which is the kind that you'll find in the grocery store, produces bubbles in two ways: when it is mixed with wet ingredients and then when it gets heated.

Should I use baking soda or powder in pancakes? ›

Baking powder is most often used in pancakes because regular pancake batter doesn't contain acid that would activate baking soda. However, this fluffy pancake recipe uses both baking powder and baking soda. The baking soda is activated with the acid in the buttermilk.

What happens if you add an extra egg to pancake mix? ›

As the pancakes cook the proteins form a network and tense up, becoming rigid and providing that structure. A word of caution though — if you add too many eggs you'll end up with a loose pancake batter that will need to be balanced with more pancake mix.

Do you cook pancakes on high or low heat? ›

The ideal temperature for cooking pancakes

Either way, it's obvious that delicious pancakes require an ideal griddle temperature (and a little bit of patience) to get that nice, fluffy texture. Simply put: the best temperature for cooking pancakes is 375°F on a griddle or medium to medium high heat on the stove.

Why are IHOP pancakes so delicious? ›

Marie Grimm, IHOP's vice president of culinary innovation, revealed to Delish that to make a killer batter, the wet ingredients should be "ice cold." Using cold eggs, milk, butter, oil, and water prevents the ingredients from prematurely heating the gluten in the flour, explains Grimm, which is responsible for creating ...

Why are diner pancakes so much better? ›

While the griddles themselves likely vary from one diner chain to the next, diners are pretty much all working with a waffle iron or griddle that's already piping hot. IHOP, for instance, requires its pans to be heated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and uses Crisco instead of butter to grease them, says Grimm.

How does Gordon Ramsay make his pancakes? ›

Instead of using a boxed pancake mix, Gordon mixes his own ratio of flour, milk, and eggs with a whisk before letting it sit for about 15 minutes to thicken. Then, using a hot nonstick pan and cooking spray, he'll spoon about a ladle full of the pancake batter mixture onto the center of the pan.

What is the most important ingredient in pancakes? ›

Flour is the main ingredient to any pancake. It provides the structure. Different types of flours alter the structure because some flours absorb more moisture or create more gluten (which binds the structure together) than others.

What makes fluffier pancakes milk or water? ›

Milk helps make pancakes fluffier than water. Since milk is thicker than water, it creates a thicker batter. Further, if you use whole milk or low fat milk, the fat content helps yield tender, fluffy results.

Is it better to add milk or water to pancake mix? ›

Pancake lovers' biggest complaint when adding water instead of milk is that the flavor seems to change. Pancakes aren't as richly flavored with water. There are a few ways to improve your batter when you've used water, including: Add extra butter.

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