The BEST One-Bowl Buttermilk Pancakes
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
These one-bowl buttermilk pancakes are a weekend staple. The recipe yields a ton, and the end result is fluffy pancake heaven! 🥞🥞🥞🥞🥞
Over the weekend, I said goodbye to my electric griddle, a gadget I’ve had for over a decade, one I’ve loved and hated over the years for various reasons: loved for its large, flat surface and, um, well, that’s really it.
My electric griddle is big and cumbersome, awkward to find space to both use and stow. For 10 years I’ve used it solely for pancakes, which has been reason enough to hang on to it because I find cooking pancakes in skillets tricky — even in my largest skillet there isn’t enough space to maneuver a spatula around more than three pancakes.
But over the weekend, I finally thanked my griddle for its service then said sayonara. What sparked this civilized departure? It was the Baking Steel griddle, a slab of thick-gauge steel designed for both stovetop and in-oven use. Yes, this griddle doubles as a pizza Steel — it’s 10 lbs. heavier than the original Baking Steel, which means it will make your oven behave even more like a wood-fired hearth.
I have been experimenting with this gadget for several weeks now, making pancakes for the kiddos, breakfast tacos for Ben and me, and English muffins for us all. What I love is not only its versatility but its shape and design — it takes up no extra space to use because it sits on the stove top; it takes up little space when it’s stowed because it measures about 1/2-inch in thickness even when it’s tucked into its awesome storage sleeve.
The Baking Steel griddle’s uses extend far beyond the dishes I am showing here, however: check out Serious Eats’ Kenji Lopez-Alt’s exhaustive research in this post. Food and Wine was equally impressed.
The Baking Steel griddle is available for order now.
Before we get to the giveaway, let’s discuss these pancakes. Pancakes have never been my forte, but for about a year now, I’ve had success with the kitchn’s lofty buttermilk pancakes, which are delicious and relatively simple to make. The peculiar trick to making these pancakes is that you separate the egg yolks from the egg whites, then incorporate the yolks into the batter before the whites. The whites are never beaten. It’s odd but oddly it works — the pancakes never taste so good as when I follow the kitchn’s method.
That said, this method requires three bowls: one for the dry ingredients, one for the yolks, buttermilk, milk and butter, and one for the whites. This, for me, first thing in the morning is too many, and because I’ve found that when I use one bowl or three my children are none the wiser, I stick to one: I whisk the eggs directly into the dry ingredients as though I am making pasta, then add the milk and buttermilk, and finally the butter. Because I melt the butter in a liquid measuring cup in the microwave then transfer it directly to the dishwasher, I don’t consider it a dish — that’s fair, right?
These pancakes have become a family fave and, with the griddle on hand, a weekly staple. The batter makes enough for a ton of pancakes and stores just fine in the fridge…sure, it turns a little grey overnight, but again, the little ones don’t mind.
For this pancake batter, 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:
A pancake breakfast is a happy breakfast…
The BEST One-Bowl Buttermilk Pancakes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 18-20 three-inch pancakes
Description
Adapted from the kitchn’s recipe for lofty buttermilk pancakes. The recipe below differs only by method not by ingredients. Check out the kitchn’s post if you want to try their egg-separating method — don’t worry, you don’t have to beat any whites!
When cooking these pancakes on the Baking Steel griddle, I suggest heating your griddle before you begin making your batter. I have a flat-top cooking surface, and I have the best results warming the griddle up slowly over low to medium heat for about 15 to 20 minutes. If you have a gas range, you will be able to control the temperature better.
Finally, 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.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups (320 g) flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (8 g) salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups (468 grams) buttermilk
- 1/2 cup milk
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- Canola or peanut oil for frying
Instructions
- If using a Baking Steel griddle, begin warming it up over low heat.
- Whisk the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together 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 spatula to combine. Add the melted, cooled butter and stir until combined.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, film with a thin layer of oil. After about 30 seconds, when the oil shimmers but is not smoking, lower the heat to medium-low and use a soup spoon (I have a one-eighth cup (2 T) measuring cup, which I love for pancakes) to drop in heaping spoonfuls of pancake batter. Note: If you are using a BS griddle, adjust heat so griddle radiates heat and feels hot but not smoking — this takes just a teensy bit of practice.
- The batter will spread into a pancake about 3 inches wide. Cook for about 2 1/2 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.
Notes
Recipe Notes from the kitchn:
- If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can use plain yogurt instead. Just use about 2/3 cup and thin it with some milk until it reaches the 1 cup mark. You can also quickly make a buttermilk substitute by mixing 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or white vinegar with 2 cups of milk.
- 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.
418 Comments on “The BEST One-Bowl Buttermilk Pancakes”
This thing looks awesome!
I’m historically terrible at properly following recipes and seem to convert most into one-bowl preparations. Whoops! Sounds like these pancakes are right up my alley…
-Alexandra KS
My favorite one-bowl dish is probably a simple one-pot pasta.
shortbread cookies
PS
The expressions on your children’s faces is priceless. You make such beautiful babies.
=}
AND …Leftovers
Quadruple chocolate cookies! Yum! Grill looks amazing as do the pancakes!!
Favorite one-bowler is buttermilk pancakes with fresh blueberries from the garden.
This summer, I have eaten bread salad for many, many meals. Fresh, herloom tomatoes make it the best, pickled red peppers, feta cheese, chicken if I have some, eggplant caponata, Greek olives, fresh black pepper and Slap Yo Mama blend. A splash of olive oil and dinner, breakfast or lunch is ready.
I too have always been challenged flipping pancakes in a skillet. Nice giveaway, thanks!
thanks for the giveaway!! 🙂 i love one-bowl recipes for any kind of baked good!! brownies, cookies, quick breads….you name it!
When I saw this, I immediately went to my oven to measure it. You see, I live full time on our MotorHome and everything is built smaller. I just about cried when I saw that the baking steel would not fit in my oven. If only they would make one that is more the size of a quarter sheet pan I would be a happy camper. As always, I love your recipes and the photos you take of the food and equipment and your posts make my day!
I assume the bowl can be a crock pot. My favorite is slow cooked salsa chicken. Take the or for chicken breasts, add two cups of your favorite salsa, and cook on low for six to eight hour. Then simply agreed and serve on warm tortillas.
Wait, flour tortillas aren’t cool? I guess I’ll be uncool.
The pancakes look scrumptious.
I could really use this griddle.
I love your pancake recipe. I’ve been looking for a good one with buttermilk because I have some leftover from making a cake. I would love to win the griddle 🙂 Thanks for doing the giveaway!
I love this blog and the recipes!
My Grandma’s One-Bowl-Cake-Mix Recipe
My favorite one dish meal is belezian style shrimp ceviche. Chemically cook the shrimp in key lime juice, then add cucumbers, cilantro, tomatoes, onion, carrots, habenero, and fresher cracked pepper. Let it sit for a couple hours in the fridge, then serve on freshly fried tortillas with Marie sharps hot sauce.
Saturday white bread from water, flour, salt, yeast!
Hi. Would LOVE to win!!! Favorite one bowl dish is vegetable soup. Homemade
I’ve been looking for a product like this for so long. We love us some pancakes in this house. Every weekend! 🙂
That griddle is amazzzzing!! My favorite one-bowl dish is (of course) key lime pie, well, ignoring the crust. Actually, you could do the crust, then use the same bowl for the filling I guess! Thanks so much for the awesome giveaway!!
Great ideas! Love it!
It was Alex who enlightened me about the baking steel! That was way back when they only made one size. So when I wanted one that would fit inside my medium Big Green Egg, I had only to wish out loud to Andris. His response was to whip one up for me right away. Fast forward — now they come in various sizes!
NOW my wish is to win one of the new griddles. But just in case I don’t, I’ve already pre-ordered one. I could gift it to my daughter if we’re both lucky.
I’ve been cooking for 55 years and you still keep teaching me new things. Love you guys. You never steer me wrong.
gazpacho!
From reading the comments, I should start looking for one bowl recipes! I’ve never heard of them before.
Granola !
Hmmm, it kinda seems like *all* of the meals I make require more than one bowl, which is really rather unfortunate since we don’t have a dishwasher. Luckily my husband does the dishes and I just put them away! 😉
Chicken pot pie …one pot to make it and then a pie dish to bake…close enough and so comforting!
I have never written a comment to you but I have to tell you how much I love your recipes and the step by step by step you use and the wonderful pictures. I love your peasant bread and make it at least twice a month. The blueberry breakfast cake is wonderful. My list goes on and on. I can’t wait for you to publish a cookbook!!
Thank you for this great blog.
Thank you, Vicki! Means a lot.
bean and veggie salads!
It’s tough to beat a hot bowl of oatmeal, especially with blueberries and honey.
Cockeyed cake! This chocolate cake is actually mixed and baked in the pan!
My favorite one bowl meal is a roasted sweet potato and garbanzo bean salad in a tahini dressing. Perfect for these hot summer days!