Best Buttermilk Pancakes

I'm not a huge breakfast person, but a good fluffy pancake with some bacon and hot coffee can really hit the spot.  I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Since there is so much buttermilk in this recipe, it's best to go with real buttermilk, but if you're desperately short on buttermilk on a Sunday morning, you can always try this.  This recipe is very very barely sweetened, so I'd recommend you have some maple syrup or fruit topping on hand!

Buttermilk Pancakes

(makes 10-12 large pancakes)

:: 2 cups flour

:: 3 tbsp sugar

:: 2 tsp baking powder

:: 1 tsp baking soda

:: 1/3 tsp salt

:: 2 cups buttermilk

:: 2 eggs

:: 1/3 cup milk

:: 3 tbsp melted butter

Heat a non-stick pan or griddle over medium heat.  Mix all dry ingredients together.  Mix all wet ingredients together separately.  Mix wet and dry mixtures when ready to make pancakes.

This batter has butter in it so you don't really need to grease the pan.  I sprayed a bit of cooking spray anyway.  I used a 1/3 c measuring cup to scoop the batter onto the griddle, but you can pour it as well (this can sometimes get messy though). Cook on the first side until bubbles begin to form on top, about 1 minute.  Flip pancake and let the second side brown as well, about 30 seconds. 

On Buttermilk

The first time I tasted buttermilk, I felt cheated.  It tasted neither like milk, nor like butter, and was really just sour and pretty gross.

These days, I like to use it a lot in cooking and baking.  It adds moisture and tanginess to whatever you're making.  I still hate to buy it though, because if I have any leftover from a recipe, chances are that I end up throwing the rest away because I don't use it every day for cooking.

Recently, I was making a recipe that called for buttermilk but had forgotten to buy it at the store.  I was really dreading to have to brave 5pm Charlottesville traffic JUST to buy 6 measly ounces of buttermilk, so I did some research.

I may never buy buttermilk again!  Well, I probably will because this doesn't exactly taste like the real thing...but it's close enough in a pinch.

Buttermilk

:: 1 cup milk
:: 1 tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice

Mix the two ingredients together and let the milk sit for 5 minutes.  Now it's ready to use.  You can obviously make less or more and just maintain the rough ratio of the two liquids.

To get the right texture, some milk fat is preferred, but I've definitely used skim milk before.  I would really stick to lemon juice or white vinegar for this application - you don't want your pancakes tasting like red wine vinegar, or your buttermilk biscuits to taste like apple cider vinegar, probably!