The BEST One-Bowl Buttermilk Pancakes
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A hit with adults and children alike, these light and fluffy one-bowl buttermilk pancakes have become a weekend staple. The batter comes together in no time, and the recipe yields a ton. What’s more, the pancakes freeze beautifully! 🥞🥞🥞🥞🥞
Confession: Pancakes have never been my forte. For about a year now, however, I’ve had success with The Kitchn’s lofty buttermilk pancakes, which call for a peculiar trick: you separate the egg yolks from the whites; then you incorporate the yolks into the batter before the whites. The whites are never beaten. It’s odd but it works.
The rub with this recipe is that it requires three bowls: one for the dry ingredients, one for the yolks, buttermilk, milk and butter, and one for the whites.
First thing in the morning, this is two too many bowls, and I’ve found that using one bowl works equally well: I whisk the eggs directly into the dry ingredients as though I am making pasta, then add the milk and buttermilk, and finally the melted butter (which I do in the microwave).
These pancakes have become a family fave and a weekend staple. The batter makes enough for a ton of pancakes and leftover pancakes freeze beautifully — pop them in the toaster oven to reheat and ta-da, pancakes in an instant!
How to Make One-Bowl Buttermilk Pancakes, Step by Step
First, crack the eggs directly into the whisked together dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar):
Incorporate the eggs into the dry ingredients as though you are making pasta dough:
Then add the milk and buttermilk, and finally the melted butter:
Cook in an oiled skillet or stovetop griddle or an electric griddle util puffed and golden on each side:
A pancake breakfast is a happy breakfast…
The BEST One-Bowl Buttermilk Pancakes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 18-20 three-inch pancakes
Description
A hit with adults and children alike, these light and fluffy one-bowl buttermilk pancakes have become a weekend staple. The batter comes together in no time, and the recipe yields a ton. What’s more, the pancakes freeze beautifully! 🥞🥞🥞🥞🥞
Recipe adapted from The Kitchn.
Notes:
- The best trick I’ve learned for cooking pancakes is to go small — I use my 2-tablespoon measuring cup to portion out batter. The pancakes cook quickly and evenly when I use this small scoop.
- If you want to use sourdough discard in this recipe, simply cut back some of the flour and water, preferably by weight. So, for example, if you want to use 100 grams of sourdough discard (at 100% hydration) in this recipe, cut back 50 grams of the flour and 50 grams of the buttermilk. That would call for using 270 grams of flour and 418 grams of buttermilk.
- If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can make it from scratch: Place 2 cups on buttermilk in a liquid measure or bowl and add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or white vinegar. Let stand for 5 minutes; then stir until smooth.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups (320 g) flour
- 2 tablespoons (25 g) sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (8 g) salt
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) baking soda
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups (468 grams) buttermilk
- 1/2 cup (128 g) milk
- 10 tablespoons (142 g) butter, salted or unsalted, melted and cooled
- Canola or peanut oil for frying
Instructions
- Set a large shallow skillet or stovetop griddle over low heat.
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl. Add the eggs and beat with a fork till the eggs are whisked and incorporated into the surrounding flour, as if you were making pasta. Add the buttermilk and milk, and stir with a spatula to combine. Add the melted, cooled butter and stir until combined.
- Turn the heat under the skillet up to medium. When hot, film with a thin layer of oil. Using a two-tablespoon (1/8 cup) measure or a large spoon or a small ladle, drop the pancake batter into the skillet giving space between each pancake to allow for spreading — the batter will spread into a pancake about 3 inches wide.
- Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes. (If the pancake scorches or the oil smokes, lower the heat.) When the bubbles that form on the edges of the pancakes look dry and airy, use a thin spatula to gently lift one side and peek underneath. If the pancake is golden brown, flip and cook on the other side for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes, or until the bottom of the pancake is golden brown.
- Transfer to a cooling rack briefly before serving. Scrape any stray crumbs or scraps out of the skillet, add a little more oil, and continue to cook the remaining batter.
- Store leftover pancakes at room temperature in an airtight bag or vessel for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
430 Comments on “The BEST One-Bowl Buttermilk Pancakes”
This really is the best pancake batter! I made it with sourdough discard because I wanted to clean out all my discard from playing with 6 different starter techniques for the past month (Ali’s sourdough starter technique was by far the easiest, BTW). We had not made pancakes in a couple of years because we got rid of our griddle and my husband has been obsessed with waffles. He is cooking the pancakes in a regular frying pan (even though the cast iron one is right there under the oven). Needless to say, the taste is amazing, but the technique needs a little work. 🙂
When making pizza this evening, my 20+ year old baking stone broke in half. Although I ordered an inexpensive replacement stone, I also ordered a baking steel griddle. I am expecting the pancakes to improve in my house very soon!
I hope you love the griddle! I find cooking pancakes in a pan so tricky because of the sides! But it’s all about finding what works best for you. I’m excited to hear how you like the Steel for pizza 🙂
SUQ (Stupid User Question): Have you tried making the batter with sourdough discard and freezing it?
No such thing as a SUQ! I have not, but I have frozen the cooked pancakes. They reheat beautifully in the toaster oven.
Hi Ali- Thank you for sharing your recipe. I was looking for waffle recipe and thought I’d try your pancake recipe. I didn’t have buttermilk and was honestly worried the batter would be too sour/bitter tasting for my husband so I used 2% milk instead. I had quite a bit of discard, used 1 cup of discard and doubled all other ingredients. The first waffle was a failure, so I adjusted the recipe and added little more flour. They turned out better, I cook them in the waffle maker little longer. We ate them when they had some crisp, on outside, very tasty. The remaining waffles sat on top of each other and they eventually softened. Put remaining waffles in ziplock bag as leftovers to pop in toaster next day.
I (loosely) followed your recipe as I needed to know how much discard one uses. I prefer waffles over pancakes, as the grooves hold the syrup.
After making this batter many times, usually with sourdough discard, I have made the following adjustments:
2 tsp baking powder (adds fluffiness)
1 tsp vanilla
a little shake of cinnamon
We use this regularly for both pancakes and waffles. It is the best and keeps well in the refridgerator!
Great to hear! Thank you for sharing these notes… I will try 🙂
Self rising or all purpose flour?
all purpose!
Thank you 😊 just in time for making breakfast!
The batter turned out soupy thin and made a pancake more like a crepe. I followed the recipe exactly and used a scale to measure ingredients.
Oh no! I think it probably has to do with the buttermilk I use, which is on the thick side. I’m sorry… I will revisit the recipe soon.
I figured it was probably the Buttermilk! I used Buttermilk left over from making butter and that’s much thinner than the stuff from the store
OK, got it! Thanks for circling back. I still should update this post with new photos/notes 🙂
Looking forward to trying these! Will you please update the link for the baking steel griddle 🙂 ?
Hi! And yes, here it is: https://bakingsteel.com/collections/griddles/products/the-skinny-griddle
Keep in mind it is very heavy! A little unwieldy to move around a counter… I use a large crepe pan now that has very low sides…I find it a little more manageable.