Best Buttermilk Pancakes Recipe - Creations by Kara (2024)

FAQs

Why are my buttermilk pancakes not fluffy? ›

Making pancake and waffle batter ahead of time is a huge no-no and will lead to flat, dense results every time. Even letting your batter hang out for just a few minutes after you've mixed it before you start ladling it onto the griddle will lead to less fluffy results.

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.

Buttermilk serves a few important purposes for making pancakes. First, it reacts with the baking soda giving the batter a nice rise. Then it tenderizes the gluten in the pancakes making them soft. As a bonus, it adds a small tang to the pancakes for a very subtle flavor.

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.

Resting the batter gives the milk (or water, or buttermilk) time to soften the flour and dissolve any remaining lumps. While the batter is resting, the liquid helps release some of the starches and proteins in the flour that will give the pancakes lift without making them tough.

Eggs are a crucial ingredient. They provide the cakes with the structure to hold light bubbles. Eggs also give the batter additional, richer flavor from the yolk fat. If you add too many eggs, you'll have “pancakes” that look more like custard or crepes.

IHOP, for instance, requires its pans to be heated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and uses Crisco instead of butter to grease it, says Grimm. IHOP also has designated griddles that never cook anything other than pancakes, as Jon Kotez, IHOP's senior manager of field operations support, told Restaurant Business.

Maybe the pan was too hot, or you put too much batter, or the batter was too thick or too thin. Maybe you needed more or less butter. The first pancake, while still delicious, isn't perfect. At all.

Which milk is best for pancakes? ›

Unsalted butter is also better for cooking the pancakes as salted butter could also make the pancakes taste too salty. If salted butter is the only option then we would suggest using a flavourless vegetable oil, such as sunflower oil, instead.

Yes, you can swap them in a recipe, but it's not as simple as switching buttermilk for heavy cream/heavy cream for buttermilk. For example, if you're replacing buttermilk with heavy cream you'll probably need to switch out your baking soda for baking powder.

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.

Baking soda or another leavening agent will enhance that old boxed mix that's been sitting in your cupboard for a few weeks (or months), leaving your pancakes with a yummy, fluffy texture. If your boxed mix doesn't already call for it, you can also add in a few eggs.

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.