Homemade Buttermilk Pancakes
Make these Homemade Buttermilk Pancakes this weekend and enjoy light, fluffy, tall and completely nostalgic pancakes! Serve them up with maple syrup, strawberries, or fresh whipped cream.
If you're looking for more indulgent breakfast recipes, check out Buttermilk Pumpkin Waffles, Baked Chai Donuts with Sourdough Discard, Apple Pie Cinnamon Rolls, Eggless Apple Cinnamon Waffles, or 12 Cozy Fall Breakfast Recipes.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Homemade Buttermilk Pancakes
- Ready In: 20 minutes
- Makes: 10 pancakes
- Main Ingredients: salted butter, all purpose flour, buttermilk, eggs
- Flavor Profile: tangy, vanilla bean pancakes
- Dietary Info: no seed oils
- Difficulty: Easy!
- Why You’ll Love It: nostalgic, fluffy pancakes
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Nostalgic: I love these organic pancakes because they are so nostalgic! Using buttermilk in pancakes gives them that nostalgic taste just like Buttermilk Pumpkin Waffles.
- Light & Fluffy: This recipe for Homemade Buttermilk Pancakes creates light and fluffy organic pancakes that are the perfect vessel for your favorite toppings like maple syrup, whipped cream, fresh fruit, and more.
- Easy: This recipe is a simple one bowl recipe, meaning you can mix it all up in just one bowl with a whisk.
- Organic Pancakes: While you can buy boxed pancake mix at the store, it's so much more fun and tastier to make your own from scratch at home. Also, try Meyer Lemon Pancakes.
Ingredients
- All Purpose Flour: My favorite is Cairnspring Mills.
- Baking Powder: I prefer baking powder here, this helps pancakes rise and become fluffy! Check out my post the Difference Between Baking Soda and Baking Powder for more info on leavening.
- Vanilla Bean: I love using organic ground vanilla bean as it brings so much depth of flavor to recipes. If you don't have this, you can use vanilla extract in its place, but double the amount as vanilla extract is not as strong as vanilla bean.
- Cloves: I use organic ground cloves for just a hint of spice.
- Buttermilk: Organic Valley Buttermilk is a great choice if you are buying it. If you don't have buttermilk, you can easily make your own with my Organic Buttermilk Recipe.
- Olive Oil Cooking Spray: I use organic olive oil cooking spray because if you use butter, then it can brown sometimes when cooking.
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Tips for Homemade Buttermilk Pancakes
- Make sure that your skillet is hot, but not too hot. We like to use the water test — once you think your skillet or griddle is good to go drop a drop of water on it. If it sizzles, then it's ready. If it doesn't sizzle, then it's not.
- Make sure to wait for pancakes to be ready to flip before you flip them. This is where I struggle, as I always want to check them or think I'm burning them. But, patience is key here. Pancakes are best when you cook them one time on each side, they don't brown or cook as much if you flip them over and over again.
- Clean your skillet or griddle in between pancakes. I use a paper towel and wipe out the skillet each time, then make sure it's greased again with a high heat oil.
How to Make Homemade Buttermilk Pancakes
- In a large bowl, add the flour, cane sugar, baking powder, vanilla bean, cloves and sea salt.
- Whisk together and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, add the butter and melt completely. Remove from heat.
- Add the buttermilk, egg, and melted butter to the flour mixture.
- Whisk to combine completely.
- In a large skillet over low to medium heat, grease it well with olive oil cooking spray. Use ⅓ cup to drop the pancake batter into the skillet. Wait for the top of the pancake to start bubbling, about 1 to 2 minutes. Flip the pancake and cook until done, about another 1 to 2 minutes on the second side. Repeat until batter is gone.
Topping Ideas
- Maple Syrup
- Homemade Organic Whipped Cream (and rainbow sprinkles)
- Fresh Fruit like berries or bananas
- Homeamde True Caramel Sauce
- Homeamde Chocolate Ganache
Serving Ideas
- Add Fluffy Scrambled Eggs With Sour Cream as a side.
- I love adding breakfast sausage like Maple Turkey Breakfast Sausages, Homemade Pork Breakfast Sausage Patties, or Everything Bagel Turkey Breakfast Sausages.
- Enjoy with a smoothie like Lemon Blueberry Smoothie, Tropical Bone Broth Protein Smoothie, or Creamy Vegan Chocolate Smoothie With Almond Butter.
Recipe FAQ's
I always just say that buttermilk makes pancakes and waffles taste nostalgic. But really, it's science working per usual. The acidity in buttermilk can leave a tang in recipes. This is something that you wouldn't necessarily think you need in pancakes, but it really makes all the difference in combination with the other ingredients. And, if using baking soda in a pancake recipe, buttermilk reacts with baking soda. But, I always prefer to use baking powder in pancakes as I believe it provides a better more fluffy, tender pancake.
Yes, you can totally substitute milk for buttermilk in pancakes. The main thing you'll need to check if you do this is what type of leavening the recipe calls for. If the recipe calls for buttermilk and it also uses baking soda, then substituting milk won't work as that baking soda won't have anything to react with. But, if it calls for baking powder, then you'll be fine. Baking soda and baking powder are not interchangeable. You usually need to use more baking powder than you would baking soda, so subbing one for the other will not always work. Also, baking soda needs to have something to react with in order to work, so if you change ingredients that can also mess with your recipe.
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Homemade Buttermilk Pancakes
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- Small Pot
- Mixing Bowl
- Whisk
- Cast Iron Skillet
Ingredients
- 191 grams all purpose flour
- 28 grams cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground vanilla bean
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 113 grams salted butter (melted)
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- olive oil cooking spray
- strawberries (for serving)
- maple syrup (for serving)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the flour, cane sugar, baking powder, vanilla bean, cloves and sea salt and whisk together. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan, add the butter and melt completely. Remove from heat.
- Add the buttermilk, egg, and melted butter to the flour mixture and whisk to combine completely.
- In a large skillet over low to medium heat, grease it well with olive oil cooking spray. Use ⅓ cup to drop the pancake batter into the skillet. Wait for the top of the pancake to start bubbling, about 1 to 2 minutes. Flip the pancake and cook until done, about another 1 to 2 minutes on the second side. Repeat until batter is gone.
- Serve immediately with maple syrup.
Video
Notes
- Make sure that your skillet is hot, but not too hot. We like to use the water test — once you think your skillet or griddle is good to go drop a drop of water on it. If it sizzles, then it's ready. If it doesn't sizzle, then it's not.
- Make sure to wait for pancakes to be ready to flip before you flip them. This is where I struggle, as I always want to check them or think I'm burning them. But, patience is key here. Pancakes are best when you cook them one time on each side, they don't brown or cook as much if you flip them over and over again.
- Clean your skillet or griddle in between pancakes. I use a paper towel and wipe out the skillet each time, then make sure it's greased again with a high heat oil.
Nutrition
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The pancake recipe we make in my house all the time!