Best Pancakes I've Ever Made

4.82 from 157 votes

EUREKA! The Best Pancake Recipe Ever. Guys, I’m not even kidding when I say I’ve been looking for this buttermilk pancake recipe for my entire life. They are fluffy, crispy on the edges, tender in the middle, and completely stackable. The search is over!!

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Total Time20

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Servings: pancakes

Calories: 147kcal

Author: The Food Charlatan

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter 1 stick, melted and cooled
2 & 1/2 cups flour spooned and leveled
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda see note
2 teaspoons baking powder see note
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup milk I used whole milk
2 eggs separated
bacon grease for frying (butter works too)

Instructions

Heat your oven to 170 degrees F, sometimes called the "keep warm" setting.
Get out 3 mixing bowls: large, medium, and small.
Add the butter to the large bowl and microwave until it is melted. Set aside to cool a little bit.
In the medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
Add the buttermilk and milk to the melted butter.
Separate the eggs: add the whites to the small bowl and the yolks to the wet ingredients in the large bowl. Whisk in the yolks.
Use a small whisk of fork to beat the egg whites a little bit, just 20 seconds or so until they start getting a little bubbly. It will help them fold in evenly.
Add the buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients and stir roughly with a wooden spoon. Don't overdo it! Just barely combine it. There should still be streaks for flour. See photos.
Beat the egg whites a little then add them to the batter. Fold in gently. It's okay if there are still streaks of egg white.
Heat a griddle or large frying pan over medium heat.
When it is hot, smear a little bacon grease over the griddle.
Scoop the batter using a half cup measurement.
When bubbles on top start to pop, flip the pancakes. They should be a nice golden brown.
Continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes until they are golden on both sides.
Remove the pancakes to a cooking rack and keep warm in the oven that you turned on.
Repeat with the remaining batter.
Serve with lots of butter and syrup. And peanut butter. What, am I the only one??

Notes

I have never tried substituting the buttermilk in this recipe with a milk/vinegar mixture. I don't think you would get the same results. The best part about buttermilk is how THICK it is, and you're not going to get that from souring your own milk. (I mean don't get me wrong, you will still have pancakes at the end of the day, they just might not be the BEST pancakes.)

If you insist on making cheater buttermilk, use the highest fat milk you can get your hands on (whole milk is best. Half and half is better.) Add 1 and 1/2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice to a glass measuring cup, then fill it to the 2 cup mark with milk or half and half.

Baking soda/baking powder: There have been some comments that you can taste the baking soda in this recipe. I've never had an issue with the recipe as written, but if you are worried about it, try using 1 and 3/4 teaspoon EACH baking soda and baking powder. When I DOUBLE this recipe, I can taste baking soda. So for a doubled recipe, instead of using 4 teaspoons each baking soda and baking powder, use about 3 and 1/2 teaspoons each.

Nutrition