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This really is the best buttermilk pancake recipe you will ever try.
I tend to be wary of "best pancake ever" recipes. In my experience most fluffy pancake recipes could be titled flat as a crepe or not that moist. (Not knocking crepes of course ...)
I lucked out at the library last month, displayed at the top of the New Books section stood Magnolia Table
. It radiated that never been touched kind of beauty only a new cookbook can do. I picked it up and smelled it (don’t judge me) then skimmed through its pages.
It’s no secret to those of you who know me how much I adore Joanna Gaines. She’s dignified, beautiful and seems to genuinely love her brood. She inspires others to do what they love which I love.
And as it turns out Joanna Gaine's go to best buttermilk pancake recipe really is the best ever! Move over Martha Stewart, breakfast just got real. It’s magical what a stick of butter can do! (It's clearly not low fat) They are thick, fluffy and delicious.
I would stake my right pinky on how good these pancakes are.
But pancakes are a lot of work ...
Look, I know what you’re thinking.
I don’t have the time nor energy to make buttermilk pancakes from scratch in the morning. I will NOT give up the snooze button. Before you reduce your pancake relationship to exclusively Bisquick (or Ihop) just here me out.
I make this recipe on a Saturday morning, or whenever I have some bum around time. I lay the cooled pancakes on a sheet pan and pop in the freezer for 30 minutes. No worries if it's for longer. You can leave them in there a full day without them tasting like the freezer. Pull them out and throw them in a gallon sized bag. Voila, pancakes all week long. Just microwave for 1 minute and enjoy. This saves a ton of time in the mornings of which I have very little. I will never be the type to wake up two hours before I have to head somewhere. Kudos for those who do.
If you don't go through your pancakes in a few days like I do I would recommend saran wrapping each pancake to prevent freezer burn.
Can you make these pancakes gluten free?
If you're like me and you must avoid gluten like its The Shining then this best buttermilk pancake recipe is for you!
Just use Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free All Purpose Flour in place of regular flour. This is my all time favorite gluten free flour and I have used a LOT of them. King Arthur's Gluten free flour will also work but I wouldn't bother using Pillsbury's gluten free flour. The texture is awful. I like to buy mine at Walmart or on Amazon. You can buy four bags for under 4.50 per bag on Amazon and I don't have to worry about Walmart being out (which happens fairly often).
I've actually made these buttermilk pancakes without buttermilk as well. When you're out of a vital ingredient what else is there to do but experiment. I will tell you that you can make your own buttermilk with milk and vinegar but the viscosity (fancy word for thickness) is not the same. The pancakes will be a bit too thin. The easy way to remedy this is to just add a tablespoon or two more of flour. Just keep adding, a tiny amount at a time until the thickness is right.
You can always "sacrifice" one for the good of the batch to make sure.
Welp, here it is!
If you swear by waffles, I hear ya. Check out these Light and Crispy Waffles. They are crisp on the outside and airy on the inside - perfect really.
As an update, since I've posted this recipe I have tried many more of her magnolia table recipes and her biscuits are amazing too. Just sub in Bob's Red Mill All purpose Gluten Free Flour 1:1 for the all purpose flour. Easy Peasy.
Joanna Gaines Buttermilk Pancake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour*
- ¼ cup Sugar
- 1 T. baking powder
- 2 t. baking soda
- 1 t. kosher salt
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 10 T. butter melted but cool
- 2 large eggs
- Neutral oil such as vegetable or canola
- Butter
- Maple syrup
Instructions
- Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Mix well with a fork or whisk.
- In a seperate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, melted butter, and eggs.
- Pour the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Let your pancake batter sit for 20 minutes. Don’t skip this step! This allows your leaveners to activate giving you fluffy pancakes.
- Heat your skillet over medium high heat. Let your skillet heat up for 5 minutes, and then add 2 Tablespoons of oil.
- I use a portion scoop to place the batter in my hot skillet. The size of your pancakes are entirely up to you although I recommend ½ cup.
- Your aim is for each side to be golden brown. To achieve this, wait until the top of your pancake is creating small bubbles, around 3 minutes each side.
- Repeat until all your batter is gone, adding more oil as needed.
Vay
This seriously made some of the best pancakes I've ever had. Thanks for sharing!
Carolyn
I'm so glad! There's not much better than sharing the joy of amazing pancakes!
LESA SIMS
Made these today for the grandkids. Fabulous!
Lori
These are the best pancakes I have ver had. I will never be able to eat regular pancakes again. Thanks for sharing.
Kelly
These are the best I ever made. Huge hit with the family!!
Sara
These pancakes are great! Using oil definitely gives these pancakes a crispy top with a touch of golden brown. I used a small pat of butter and a small amount of avocado oil when frying the pancakes. I 'halfed' the recipe as well. This is totally a recipe that is 'halfable' if that makes any sense.. made about 4 medium sized pancakes. Absolutely tasty and using buttermilk is always a keeper.
Carolyn
Totally! I half it all the time. 🙂 Thanks for your input.
Amy Stipe
Does anyone have a tip to thin the batter? It’s always so thick and i use buttermilk to thin. The taste is amazing but they are heavy and hard to cook through due to thickness.
Carolyn
Hmm, Do you let it sit for 20 minutes? If you would like to thin it out just a little I would add a little whole milk instead of buttermilk since whole milk is thinner. Just do it a tiny bit at a time so you don't accidentally make it too thin.
Lori
Can you use this recipe to make a big batch! Would it be 21/4 c mix for each batch?
Carolyn
I'm not sure I understand your question. Are you referring to the flour?
Lori
Yes. I want to mix up a big batch to use at a later date. Can this recipe be tripled or quadrupled for just the flour mix? And will you only use 21/4 c mix for each batch? Thanks! I hope that is more clear to you. Sorry.
Carolyn
I think I understand your question. I have not tripled or quadrupled the recipe before but I would guess you could easily triple it with a big enough bowl. You could also make them ahead of time and freeze the pancakes if you prefer.
You can triple just the dry ingredients and put in a sealed container until you are ready to make the whole recipe. Just triple the rest of the ingredients when you make it. So the flour would be 6 cups, the sugar would be 3/4 cup, 3 T baking powder, 2 T. baking soda and 1 T. kosher salt.
Does this answer your question?
jaylen
how much butter
Carolyn
10 Tablespoons which is the same as 1 1/4 stick or 5 oz.
Chef Modern Dad
Can you use this to make waffles?
Carolyn
I have not tried it but pancake recipes don't always convert well into waffles. I will give it a try next time I make them and post back here.
Ella
I loved the fluffiness of the pancake but there’s an aftertaste that I can’t put my finger on. I think it maybe the taste of the baking powder? Or too much butter? I’ve made these twice and it is a no from the family. 😔
Carolyn
I'm so sorry to hear that! This recipe does have quite a bit of leavener and I find some are more sensitive to it than others. Mostly my friends and kids love it but every now and then someone will say it has an odd flavor from the baking powder.
Anne
We really enjoyed these pancakes. Because of letting them rest and breaking down the leavening I didn't have a stomach ache after eating them like I typically do after eating pancakes.
Laura T
I have always been the worst at making pancakes and finally gave up going to French toast instead. After blueberry picking this summer I was craving blueberry pancakes. My friend recommended THIS recipe and I can now say that I make great pancakes! I’m so happy! Thank you for sharing this recipe! My question is, when adding blueberries to the recipe should I add them before the 20 minute rising period or after?
Carolyn
I'm so glad to hear it! Add the blueberries to each pancake right after you put some batter into the pan. Also it sounds like you are using fresh picked blueberries which is amazing. It's also great because frozen blueberries let out a lot of water which will deflate your batter some.
Erika S. Petras
I make 1 1/2 times the recipe, pour it into a greased 1/2 sheet pan and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, cut into squares and you have 20 pancakes in just minutes! This really is a great recipe...fun to adapt with pecans, mini choc. chips and fruit.
Carolyn
Great idea! I'm going to do that this week.