Our favorite pancake recipe (pairs well with coffee!)
Light & Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes
Fridays at our house call for pancakes (along with garbage trucks & their beloved drivers). We’ve taken to mixing up the pancakes and trying to create them quickly enough that we can hand John, the green bin driver (our kids’ work supervisor), a pile of three pancakes which we sandwich with butter and sprinkle with sugar in a brown bag.
This recipe serves 3 small boys & their mamas eating straight from the griddle, tearing apart pancakes which go very well with coffee or tea.
In a fairly large bowl whisk together:
10 ounces (about 2 cups) all purpose flour (I mix up to 50% whole wheat flour without complaint, or even use 100% whole wheat pastry flour without anyone even noticing the extra whole graininess of it all)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
Pull out two smaller bowls for:
2 large eggs (separated)
1 1/2 cups (about 12 ounces) buttermilk
1 cup (about 8 ounces) sour cream ( → or nah, we just use 20 oz buttermilk)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for serving
Put the butter on low to melt.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar and whisk.
Check the butter, it’s surely melted by now.
In a medium bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. I do by hand, it’s pretty quick and satisfying but you can also use a machine.
In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks, buttermilk, and sour cream until homogenous. (As I noted above we usually use 20 oz buttermilk & skip the sour cream, or if the buttermilk is a little thin we mix in a dollop or two of thick greek yogurt up to 20 oz).
Slowly drizzle in the melted butter while whisking.
Heat a large heavy-bottomed nonstick skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes as you finish the next steps.
Carefully fold in the egg whites with a rubber
spatula until just combined.
Pour the mixture over the dry mix and fold until just combined (there should still be plenty of lumps).
Add a small amount of butter or oil to the griddle and spread with a paper towel until no visible butter or oil remains.
Use a 1⁄4-cup dry measure to place 3 pancakes in the skillet and cook until bubbles start to appear on top and the bottoms are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Carefully flip the pancakes and cook on the second side until golden brown and completely set, about 2 minutes longer.
Serve the pancakes immediately, or keep in a warm oven while you cook the rest. Serve with jam and butter, greek yogurt, fruit. Bonus: We like to take any fruit that is about to go bad and heat with the maple syrup—once it’s cooked like that it will stay good till next week’s batch if you have any left over.
Original recipe on Serious Eats. Optional reading: The Pancake King by Phyllis LaFarge and Seymour Chwast.