Basic Buttermilk Pancakes Recipe

While these pancakes may be pretty basic, developer Katie Rosenhouse says that this simple batter "cooks up moist, fluffy, and delicious" and has a "balanced flavor and light texture." The buttermilk she uses gives the batter what she calls "a light tang," and is something that she feels "makes a drizzle of maple syrup even more welcome." Of course, as the pancakes themselves are unflavored, you need not stick with butter and syrup. You can branch out into other toppings, as well. Rosenhouse suggests sautéed bananas, honey, and Nutella, adding that you could also go minimalist with "a simple dusting of confectioners' sugar." Conversely, you could also go in the other direction with whipped cream, ice cream, and chocolate syrup to turn the pancakes into a breakfast sundae.

To ensure the pancakes come out as fluffy as possible, Rosenhouse's top piece of advice is to avoid over-stirring the batter. "When the dry and wet ingredients are brought together," she says. "Resist the urge to mix until smooth." She goes on to reassure us that "a few lumps in the batter will work themselves out while the pancakes cook and help create additional lift."

Before you start stirring up the pancake batter, you'll need to round up the usual suspects: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and butter. You're also going to need some oil to grease the pan. Once you've got all 10 ingredients, you'll be good to go.

In a medium bowl, stir to combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a separate bowl, whisk to combine buttermilk, eggs, vanilla extract, and melted butter.

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients, and gently mix to combine, leaving some lumps; set aside.

Heat a medium nonstick pan brushed lightly with oil over low to medium heat.

Use a large ½ cup scoop or ladle to portion batter into pan (1 or 2 pancakes at a time depending on pan size).

Cook for 2 to 3 minutes on the first side until golden brown, then flip and cook 1 to 2 minutes on remaining side.

Transfer the pancake to a plate and repeat the process with the remaining batter.

Serve pancakes warm with butter and maple syrup, if desired.

If you don't really care for plain pancakes, there are plenty of ways to dress up this basic recipe besides adding the usual (or unusual) pancake toppings. You could always stir some mix-ins into the batter or, as Rosenhouse suggests, "While the first side of the pancakes cooks, feel free to dot on a variety of inclusions." Popular pancake add-ins include fresh or frozen blueberries, bananas, chocolate chips, shredded coconut, and nuts, while crumbled bacon in the pancakes would make for a trendy sweet and savory flavor combo. (Here's our pick for the easiest and best way to cook bacon.)

Yet another way to add flavor to your pancakes is to enhance the batter with an extra ingredient or two. Rosenhouse suggests "a sprinkle of spice," but also notes that cocoa powder would be good if you want chocolate pancakes. Different flavor extracts such as almond, peppermint, or lemon could also be used in place of or in addition to the vanilla or you could give the pancakes a citrusy tang by stirring lemon or orange zest into the batter.

This recipe makes about 8 6-inch pancakes, and Rosenhouse figures that 2 pancakes should make up a single serving. As a result, you may find yourself with leftovers, but this is no problem. Rosenhouse herself had leftovers (or planned-overs) too, and tells us, "After making this batch of pancakes, I froze the leftovers in an airtight container for an easy breakfast." She does, however, suggest that you separate the pancakes before freezing them so they don't stick together. Her preference is for using parchment paper, but wax paper, plastic wrap, or even butter wrappers will also do the trick.

As for reheating the pancakes, Rosenhouse suggests that you can bake them in a foil-covered pan at 325 F, which would be a good way to warm them up if you're doing an entire batch at a time. If you just want a pancake or two, however, you can either microwave them or stick them into the toaster or toaster oven. However you heat them, Rosenhouse says they should be "just as fluffy and delicious reheated as when they were made fresh."