The buttermilk pancake is the Saturday morning breakfast that the supermarket-packet mix has been trying to replicate for decades and cannot.
Why you are cooking this tonight
The buttermilk pancake is the Saturday morning breakfast that the supermarket-packet mix has been trying to replicate for decades and cannot. The real one takes ten minutes, uses seven ingredients you already have, and comes out so airy you can see through it.
The trick is bicarb plus buttermilk. The acid in the buttermilk activates the bicarb and the batter fizzes as soon as you mix it. You have to cook it straight away. Do not overmix: lumps are fine, gluten development is the enemy of a fluffy pancake.
Notes on method
Real buttermilk is in the fridge section next to the cream. If you cannot find it, stir 1 tablespoon of lemon juice into 250ml milk and let it sit for 10 minutes. Medium-low heat, lid on for the last minute of the first side.
What to pour with it
Good black coffee with it. For a lazy Sunday with maple syrup and fried chicken, a cold Espresso Martini is the extravagance move.
Mr Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur
Espresso Martini after pancakes is the Australian brunch move.
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The recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Whisk flour, baking powder, bicarb, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
- In a jug, whisk eggs, buttermilk, melted butter, vanilla.
- Pour wet into dry. Fold just until combined - lumps are fine. Rest 5 minutes.
- Heat a heavy frypan over medium-low. Rub with a little butter.
- Ladle 80ml batter per pancake. Cook 2-3 minutes until the top is covered in bubbles and the edges look dry. Flip, cook another 90 seconds.
- Keep warm on a plate under a tea towel while you cook the rest.
- Serve stacked with butter, maple syrup, yoghurt and berries.
Nutrition
Two things that go wrong
Your pan was too hot.
Pancakes burn before they cook through if the pan is screaming. Medium-low heat. The first one is always a sacrifice, it’s how you calibrate. The pan is right when a drop of water dances and evaporates in 3 seconds.
You overmixed the batter.
Lumps are GOOD in pancake batter. Stir until just combined and stop. Overmixing develops gluten and you get tough, flat pancakes. Lumps cook out. A perfectly smooth batter doesn’t.
Variations worth knowing
Blueberry
Drop 6-8 fresh blueberries onto each pancake right after the bubbles appear, before flipping. They’ll burst as the pancake cooks.
Banana and walnut
Mash a ripe banana into the batter and fold in 60g chopped walnuts. Skip a tablespoon of milk to compensate for the banana moisture.
Chocolate chip
Fold 100g mini chocolate chips into the batter. Serve with extra syrup, a banana sliced on top, and maybe an espresso martini.
Leftovers and make ahead
Cooked pancakes freeze beautifully. Layer between baking paper, freeze flat, then bag. To reheat: pop in the toaster (yes, the toaster) for 90 seconds. Better than microwave, almost as good as fresh. Sliced cold from the fridge they make great snack food spread with peanut butter.
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