Take Your Boxed Pancakes To The Next Level With One Simple Swap

It's Sunday morning, and you're in the mood for something sweet. Perhaps pancakes? Soft stacks piled high, drenched in maple syrup, dusted with powdered sugar, and topped with fresh fruit. The breakfast staple sounds delicious, but the hassle of mixing together an array of ingredients to make the meal might not be as appealing. If you'd rather spend more time enjoying breakfast than cooking it, pre-made pancake mix belongs in your pantry. But if you're worried that the store-bought stuff can't compare to the real deal made from scratch, don't be. There are plenty of ways to make boxed pancakes as light and fluffy as homemade ones, from letting the batter rest before pouring it into a pan to adding buttermilk into the mix.

It's no secret that boxed pancakes are quick and easy to whip up. All you need to do to make the batter is to combine the dry powder with a liquid, usually water or milk. But to really take the pre-made mix to the next level, it's worth stirring in buttermilk instead. While it looks almost indistinguishable from regular milk, buttermilk is much thicker and tangier. The sourness is why it's common in baking everything from biscuits to muffins, but not for the reason you might expect. Buttermilk's acidity causes a chemical reaction with leaveners like baking soda to help batters rise. When used for boxed pancakes, buttermilk results in fluffier (and tastier) stacks that will rival any diner's flapjacks.

Buttermilk has a rich history dating back centuries. While the creamy drink doesn't actually contain butter, its name instead indicates how it has historically been made. A byproduct of butter, traditional buttermilk is the liquid leftover after churning and sitting at room temperature for several hours. Thickened and soured by bacteria that ferment it over time, this type of buttermilk remains common in Nepal, India, and Pakistan but not in most Western countries. Nowadays, buttermilk found on store shelves in the U.S. is standardly made by adding lactic acid-producing cultures directly to milk.

The cultured aspect of buttermilk is key to improving your pancake breakfast. When the lactic acid in the fermented liquid comes into contact with baking soda, a leavening agent present in many pre-made pancake mixes, bubbles form. The reaction creates carbon dioxide, which helps the batter rise, resulting in fluffier and taller pancakes. Thanks to its alkaline properties, baking soda's interaction with buttermilk neutralizes its acidity, so your flapjacks won't taste tangy.

However, if the boxed mix includes baking powder, a leavener with its own reactive acidic agent, buttermilk can also add depth to the pancakes' flavor. You won't be left with outright sour stacks; instead, the tanginess of the buttermilk balances out the sweetness of the pre-made mix. After cooking and carefully executing the technique for splatter-free pancake flips, the final product will be fluffy and have a more complex flavor that pairs sweetly with your preferred toppings.

While you probably won't be able to track down traditional buttermilk easily, its cultured counterpart can be found in the dairy aisle, usually located in the back of the supermarket. But if you don't already have some at home, a trip to the grocery store defeats the convenience of boxed pancakes. Fortunately, it's easy to make a buttermilk substitute at home, so there's no need to give up hopes of starting off your day with an extra tall stack.

While it's possible to make homemade cultured buttermilk with a starter, similar to baking sourdough bread from scratch, a simpler solution is to combine milk with lemon juice. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to a measuring cup and then fill it to the 1-cup line with milk. After stirring and letting it stand for 5-10 minutes, it will thicken slightly and be ready to add to your pancake mix. This buttermilk substitute can also be made with vinegar or cream of tartar, but lemon juice offers a fresh, light flavor ideal for a sweet breakfast. For a dairy-free alternative, use plant-based milk thickened with yogurt of the same variety instead of cow's milk. Whether you use store-bought buttermilk or an acidic milk substitute, this one ingredient will leave you with delicious boxed flapjacks that are comparable in fluffiness to homemade buttermilk pancakes.