Tender homemade buttermilk pancakes turn out light and fluffy every time. These golden beauties are impossible to resist!
Once you make these buttermilk pancakes from scratch, you’ll never make them any other way! Try serving these tasty morsels with Buttermilk Syrup, Healthy Egg Muffins, and Orange Juice Smoothie.
Homemade Buttermilk Pancakes
I think it’s safe to say that one of my favorite breakfast dishes is pancakes – more specifically today’s butter-y, syrup-covered Buttermilk Pancake recipe! I’ve loved pancakes for as long as I can remember but had never really made a homemade-from-scratch recipe until recently.
Making them from scratch is nearly as simple as using a store bought mix, but the little extra effort is SO worth it because the pancakes end up being much more fluffy and flavorful.
We’ve been on a pancake kick lately trying all kinds of flavors, like Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes, Apple Pancakes, even Bacon Pancakes! I have always wanted to try a classic buttermilk version and I’m glad we finally did.
The result was amazing and the kids ended up eating all of them in about .2 seconds (Seriously!). Since we always have breakfast for dinner on Wednesday nights, we will definitely be adding this recipe to the rotation.
How to make buttermilk pancakes:
After making buttermilk pancakes from scratch, you’ll never go back to the store-bought mixes!
WET INGREDIENTS. Mix buttermilk, eggs, milk, melted butter and vanilla. Also mix together all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
DRY INGREDIENTS. Combine the wet and dry ingredients, stirring with a wooden spoon until well blended. Pour the batter, ½ cup at a tim, onto a heated griddle.
COOK. Cook until browned on each side. Serve warm and enjoy the best buttermilk pancakes you’ve ever tried! Top with syrup and your favorite berries, and get ready to fall in love. 😉
Tips for making the best buttermilk pancakes:
- Use real buttermilk. I know it’s not common to have buttermilk on hand, but trust me, in this recipe the real thing is better than any milk+vinegar substitute!
- If you can, start with the eggs, milk, and buttermilk at room temperature.
- Do not over-mix the batter. There might be a few lumps which is totally fine!
- Let the batter rest for a few minutes after mixing to let the leavening ingredients work their magic and make the batter light and fluffy.
- Lightly grease the pan with oil or cooking spray instead of butter. Regular butter will burn.
Storing Tips
You can always cook all the batter, and FREEZE the left over pancakes you don’t eat (see instructions below).
- Pancakes are one of the best make-ahead-and-freeze food items! You can make a bunch at once, and then place in a freezer safe bag once they cool to room temperature.
- Make sure you separate each pancake with wax paper so they don’t stick together when they freeze. They keep well for 1-2 months.
If you want to save the extra batter and make pancakes for breakfast again tomorrow, you can easily STORE the batter in a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap, or store in an airtight container. Keep it in the fridge for up to two days.
To REHEAT buttermilk pancakes:
- Microwave – This is good for small batches of pancakes. Stack 1-5 cakes on a microwave safe plate and heat for 20 seconds for one pancake, adding 10 seconds for each additional one.
- Oven – If you’re reheating a large amount of cakes, this is your best option. Put several pancakes flat on a sheet pan and cover with tinfoil. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes (it may be less time if your pancakes are not frozen).
- Toaster – If you’re reheating pancakes for one person, this will suffice. Although, you have to watch it like a hawk to make sure your pancakes don’t burn to a crisp!
For more pancake recipes, check out:
- German Pancakes
- Pumpkin Pancakes
- Chocolate Chip Pancakes
- Yogurt Pancakes
- Strawberry Pancakes
- Swedish Pancakes
Buttermilk Pancake Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 TB sugar
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3 cups buttermilk
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3 eggs
- 1/3 cup butter, melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, beat buttermilk, milk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla together.
- Using a wooden spoon, mix the wet and dry ingredients together until just combined. Don't overmix! There will probably be flour lumps, which is okay.
- Pour ½ cup of batter at a time onto a lightly greased, heated griddle.
- Brown pancakes on both side and serve warm. ENJOY!
Omg these look and sounds so so yummy. I think they are perfect for my up and coming Sunday brunch.
They are so good! Glad you are giving them a try! Hope everyone loves them, like we do!
I absolutely love pancakes and these look incredible!
They are!! Thank you & hope you’ll give them a try!
These were the best pancakes ive ever made ! And trust me I’ve made a lot of different kinds..it was a little tricky just making half a recipie but do able, I should have made the whole batch because my husband ate the entire plate it made …
Thank you so much for this awesome keeper! We paired it with your buttermilk sryup better than most resturant pancakes
How many pancakes does the recipe for buttermilk pancakes make. It’s only two of us eating and from the ingredients it must make them for a army?
I’m not sure how many it makes, it just depends on how big you make them, but it can make quite a few. You can always half the recipe for just the two of you 🙂
I will have this pancakes for tomorrow breakfast. Looking at these photos makes me drool~ Thank you for sharing the recipe!
LOL!! They are so good! I hope you like them!
I tried your meatballs. I decided that I needed more sauce than called for in your recipe. The sauce was great – just needed enough to cover.
Glad you liked it!! Can never have enough sauce 🙂 Thank you!
Hi, I tried to make bread for the first time,it raised up fine, I punched it and it didn’t raise the second time????. Any suggestions.
Hmm..I’m not sure. Was it a recipe on my blog?
This is a great recipe. What I have discovered from other recipes for pancakes is after you mix everything together is let the batter sit for 30 minutes. This lets the soda and baking powder along with the buttermilk do its thing and makes the pancakes rise more. Try it!
I definitely will! Thank you for sharing!
Can’t wait to try these yummy things! Heard great things about them!
I’d love to know what you think!! They are our favorite!!
Thanks for sharing these basic simPle re cipes with us. ?
You are so welcome!!
Another option for leftover batter is to make pancake cupcakes with fruit added in and baked in a muffin tin. Maple Buttercream is a good addition or just reheat and dip in maple syrup!
Perfect!! Thank you for sharing that!
Can you use the buttermilk pancake recipe to make waffles ,too? Is there a way?
I would think so 🙂 I would keep the same, though you may need a little more flour to make it thicker & can always add more milk, if needed.
Buttermilk pancakes are my favorite! This is a great recipe! A must make!
So light, fluffy, & delicious!
These remind me of the pancakes i had growing up!
Aunt Jemima will no longer be visiting my home. Just as easy to make, but 10 times better! We devoured breakfast today, it must have been a sight to see. Thank you for this recipe, it is absolutely perfect!
LOL!! Makes me happy to hear! Thank you!
Fantastic….so light and fluffy. These are a keeper!!
So glad you think so 🙂 Thank you!!
Best homemade pancakes evEr! Do not be worried about the lumpiness of thr batter. They will tuen ouT super delish. And i loved that the edges were rustic and not perfectly ciRcular like bOx mix. You gotta try these. A happy Way to satrt the weekend.
Awe, thank you so much for sharing that!! I am so glad you think that!
all I can say is wow, these pancakes were amazing! Funny thing is, I tweaked the recipe out of necessity and because the base recipe is so good, they still came out delicious! Here’s what I did. I had no buttermilk on hand and had no desire or enough time to go to the store. *gasp* so, I put with the 3 cups of milk approximately 2 TBL of white vinegar, 1 TBL of Fresh Squeezed lemon juice and…maybe half a cup of whey (the clear yellow liquid) I poured off some organic whole milk PLain yogurt I had along with a heaping TBL of the Yogurt Itself. Stirred it up and let it sit while I got the dry ingredients together. Then I ran out of my regular AP UNbleached flour about 2 cups in. Omigoodness, now what? I thought about not adding all the liquid to the dry, but remembered I had whole wheat flour. I nixed the extra plain 1/2 cup of milk and added about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of whole wheat flour with the other dry ingredients, mixed everything well and let it set again. once 20-30 minutes passed I pulled the batter out for showtime. when I say I found the perfect recipe, I’m not exaggerating. My HUsband, who is picky in general but very picky about his pancakes, said the pancakes I made for dinner were really good, I knew I had to leave a review. I never leave reviews, I read them. They were that good! Thank you, Kristyn for what your doing sharing recipes with us! also, your biscuit breakfast casserole got rave reviews from my family, too! God bless and take care! 🙂
Thank you so much for leaving a review! I appreciate it! I am so glad you improvised & that they were a hit! Thank you so much!
I’ve made this and it’s the BEST pancake recipe and I’ve tried a lot! But i have no buttermilk right now, can i still Use it with regular milk? Cause i love the fluffiness!
Yes, you sure could 🙂 Glad you like this recipe!
These have become a family favorite, my adult children will co e over for breakfast if they know im making them. How long is this batter good for?
I would only keep it in the fridge for up to two days, covered in a bowl. You can freeze the pancakes, once cooked, too!
I made these for breakfast this morning and they were the most delicious (and fLUffiest) pancakes ever!!
Thank you so much for sharing!
You are so welcome! I am happy you think so 🙂 Thank you!
These really are the most delicious pancakes and they are easy
to make! Thank you!
You are so welcome! Thank you for trying them!
This is our favorite pancake recipe, always delicious & my family never complains about breakfast for dinner when these are on the menu!!
Turned out so good! Loved it!
Glad to hear that! Thank you for letting me know!
Delicious! I made this recipe for two of us. Of course I had 3/4 of it left over. Rather than cook all of the remaining batter then freeze the pancakes, can the batter be frozen instead? And if so, how long can it be frozen? I love your recipes.Thank you.
Awe, thank you! You can store batter in the freezer for up to a month. When you’re ready to do some pancake making, just thaw in warm water or overnight in the refrigerator. Hope this helps!
Can I add pumpkin purée to this recipe ? Of course with the pumpkin spices… Thanks
Yes, in fact we have a pumpkin pancake recipe on our website too. We love these ones! https://lilluna.com/pumpkin-pancakes
Made these for National Pancake Day and they were delicious! 100x better than any box mix. We will definitely be making them again.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for trying the recipe! 🙂
Excellent recipe! Fluffy, tender and very flavorsome. I only made 1/3 of the recipe and it made 8 four inch pancakes. I don’t drink milk so I substituted more buttermilk, I also added a squeeze of fresh lemon.
I make these a couple times a month!! My whole family loves them!! They are light & fluffy & taste heavenly!
These buttermilk pancakes are so good and easy. You don’t need store bought version.
I made these last week and though they didn’t turn out as fluffy as i had thought I really loved the flavor that the buttermilk added. I froze the leftovers and my kids enjoyed them through the week. I will be making them again and see if I can get them fluffier.
I am now a widow living by myself, could you please send me recipe for one or two servings. Or can I make this large amount and freeze the pancakes individually?
Yes, the pancakes freeze really well! If you want to make smaller servings, you can adjust the serving size on the recipe card to 1 or 2 and it’ll calculate the amounts for you.
Made these this morning they do good. Thank so much for sharing u recipe.
You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed!