buttermilk pancakes

i've made over 25,000 pancakes in my life, and this is how i make them.

this recipe yields 16 4" pancakes, and usually people eat 2-3 (depending on how hungry you are). you can cut the recipe in half to accommodate smaller groups, or if you make a full batch, individually freeze the leftovers and they are great for a quick breakfast (just microwave until warm).

2 1/4 cups AP flour
1/4 cups whole wheat flour (or just add the 1/4 to AP if you don't have whole wheat flour)
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda (if you are not using buttermilk, do not put this ingredient in)
1/2 cup of melted butter or room temp oil
2 eggs
2 3/4 cup buttermilk

in a mixer, i put the buttermilk in the bottom, add the dry, and start to mix, then add eggs and melted butter or oil. you need to add the melted butter after starting to incorporate the dry and wet together, otherwise the butter may reach the milk and it will get cold and not mix with the batter well. if you are using a hand mixer, go in the same order.  either way, scrape the sides often.

just the right time to flip

perfect pancake

it's best to warm the pan before putting the batter on it. if you have one of those plug in griddles, use it, if not, buy one, they are fantastic. when the edges of the circle of batter start to dry and bubbles form in the middle of the pancake, it is ready to flip.  just like this first picture. you'll see that the pancake had perfect coloring and crispiness. let it cook on the other side for a short while, once the color is around the same.

pan is too hot

pan is not hot enough

how hot is your pan? if the batter appears to dry out but bubbles haven't formed, looks rubbery or seems hard to flip, your pan is not hot enough.  if you keep it on the pan for too long, it could get tough. if the edges form quickly but bubbles are small and mostly around the edges, your pan is too hot.  neither of these are inedible, they just may not result in the best pancake ever. if it doesn't have enough time on the pan, the middle may be gooey. you can see the kind of markings these situations result in with these pictures. if it is too hot you get instant coloring as the batter hits the pan (you'll most likely hear a sizzle). it doesn't get a chance to spread evenly and creates ridges that cook more than the other part of the surface. when the pan is too cool, it does have a chance for the entire surface to get to the heat source, but there isn't enough heat, so it is just pale.

fyi...
buttermilk is generally low in fat (unless you seek out a higher percentage) but gets a bad rap of being fatty, i think due its consistency. to make butter, you churn cream, in this process, the fat separates from the liquid in the cream. this left over liquid is still milk, so they called it buttermilk. since all the fat went and made the butter, it's not in the buttermilk. but this is not how the big business make it since they aren't our farming ancestors who utilized what they could of everything. they use cultured bacteria (like when they make yogurts) instead which still results in relatively the same product, just a bit thicker than traditional. its consistency comes from having a higher acidic content then regular milk, it basically curdles it, but not to the point it turns into cheese, and not in the bad way of forgetting about that milk in the back of the fridge. we add the baking soda when we use buttermilk because we need a fast acting leavening agent to produce those bubbles. if we didn't, we'd end up with some dense pancakes.

in conclusion, i highly recommend using buttermilk :)

if you like to create things - try making your own butter (and then you can use that buttermilk towards recipes like this), all you need is a mason jar, cream and some eager volunteers to shake it up like crazy.  if you don't want to work out your biceps, you can also make it in a stand mixer (if you've ever made whipped cream and walked away for too long, you end up making butter) or a blender (just make sure you hold the lid down for the entire time). with a stand mixer, you can start slow and speed it up when it starts to look like whipped cream, as soon as it starts to separate, you want to slow it down or the buttermilk will splash everywhere.  in a blender, as soon as it starts to separate, you want to stop the blender and let it sit for a few minutes (so the butter can rise). i've read to help your butter last longer, you rinse it.  to do this, after you drain the buttermilk from the container, add ice cold water to the butter and blend for about half a minute. drain the water from the container and use a large spoon or a rubber spatula to press the butter against the edges to get any remaining liquid out. use a tight sealing container to store it in (i like mason jars).  as far as the yield goes, you get about half butter and half buttermilk, so if you use 2 cups of cream, you end up with 1 cup of butter and 1 cup of buttermilk.