Melt in Your Mouth Buttermilk Pancakes [+ Video]

Fluffy, golden, and melt-in-your-mouth delicious — these buttermilk pancakes are the ultimate breakfast indulgence. Made with tangy buttermilk for that perfect tender crumb, they cook up with crisp edges and pillowy centers. Stack ’em high, drizzle with warm buttermilk syrup, and prepare for the best pancakes of your life.

“I make pancakes a lot, but tried this recipe this morning for the first time and the kids deemed them the BEST PANCAKES EVER! “

– OSB Reader

It’s finally here!!!! After testing, and testing, and testing all sorts (literally hundreds!!) of buttermilk pancake recipes, we’ve finally come up with what Cade and the girls say is finally the award winning, melt-in-your-mouth buttermilk pancakes recipe!!

This recipe for fluffy buttermilk pancakes truly took us months of testing, but I just know you’ll love it too so it was worth every disaster and every re-do.

We tried all sorts of different techniques, like adding oil instead of butter, sifted flour or regular flour, egg whites beaten to stiff peaks, an extra egg yolk, whisking versus stirring, baking powder, both baking powder and baking soda and blah blah blah.

Everyone swears by the egg white method, but we actually found that not only did it take too much time, but the pancakes were surprisingly too airy for us. We wanted a light pancake but we still wanted it to melt in our mouths, which means we had to ditch the egg white and change up our baking soda and baking powder method. Let me go into more detail on the ingredients you need…

Buttermilk Pancake Ingredients

Making buttermilk pancakes from scratch only takes basic ingredients:

• Flour: just regular all purpose flour works great
• Eggs: slightly whisk them before adding to the batter
• Buttermilk: adds flavor and fluffiness to the pancakes but keeps them tender
• Salt: enhances all the ingredient flavors
• Leavener: you’ll need baking soda and baking powder
• Sugar: adds a little touch of sweetness
• Butter: melted butter to be exact

The measurements for all the ingredients can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

What is Buttermilk? 

If you don’t often cook with buttermilk, you may not understand why it’s an essential ingredient in these pancakes, or even what it is.

Real buttermilk is the fat-free, flavorful liquid that’s left over after you’ve churned a batch of homemade butter. Buttermilk is full of natural cultures and is slightly tangy, which makes it great for tenderizing meat and adding to baked goods. 

Can I Substitute Powdered Buttermilk?

You can use buttermilk powder, however I HIGHLY recommend sticking with the liquid as it is absolutely better, thicker and fluffier. If you need to use powdered, I suggest our Homemade Pancake Mix.

Can I Use a Buttermilk Substitute? 

I know a lot of you, much like ourselves, don’t keep buttermilk on hand so you may be wondering how to substitute buttermilk in pancakes, but this is one of the few times I’ll plead with you to use the real stuff. 

A homemade buttermilk substitute:

 1 cup of milk to 1 teaspoon of white vinegar or lemon juice.

However, while the vinegar gives the milk a similar tang, it doesn’t make it thick and creamy like true buttermilk. So use the real stuff please! 

The key to making the best pancakes isn’t the ingredients, but rather the method. If you follow this homemade pancake recipe exactly as it’s written, your buttermilk pancakes will turn out beautifully! 

Please remember, the more you stir pancakes the more flat and tough they will be so please mix until a few streaks of flour are remaining.

How to Make Pancakes {Buttermilk Pancakes}

Skip the store-bought pancakes mixes! Making homemade pancakes are so easy and honestly don’t take much more time to make. Here are the basic steps:

1. Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. 
2. Wet Ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and buttermilk.
3. Combine: Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add in the wet ingredients. Stir everything together until just combined using only a wooden spoon or spatula.
4. Fold: Once the flour is almost incorporated add the butter and fold together.
5. Cook the Pancakes: Butter the griddle after heating to medium or 350℉ and pour on the pancake batter, spreading each pancake a little bit with the back of a spoon. Flip the pancakes once air bubbles begin forming on the top. Cook until golden brown on each side.

This buttermilk pancake batter should be very, very thick. That means you made it right! Your batter should be so crazy thick you have to spread it a little on the pan with the back of your spoon. Don’t worry, they will melt in your mouth and not taste thick and dense at all.

How Do You Know When Pancakes Are Done?

Well, it takes practice, but definitely start with the bubbles popping on the batter side of the pancakes, at which point you should flip the pancakes. After that, I gently press on the top or gently push the top from side to side and watch for batter to press out or the middle to sink in. If that doesn’t happen, then the pancake should be done!

What to Serve with Buttermilk Pancakes

When you make these buttermilk pancakes, be sure to make a batch of our Buttermilk Syrup — the combination is ridiculously amazing and delicious! If you’re a coconut lover, try our coconut buttermilk syrup. It is actual heaven!

I also love to balance out a sweet breakfast with something savory like perfectly cooked crispy bacon.

Why Did My Pancakes Come Out Flat?

Over-mixing pancake batter develops the gluten, which will make the pancakes rubbery and tough. For light, fluffy pancakes, you want to mix just until the batter comes together—it’s okay if there are still some lumps of flour.

Our Favorite Pancake Toppings

I’ve already mentioned our all-time favorite pancake topping: buttermilk syrup. But we like to switch things up on the weekends. A few of our other favorite pancake toppings are: 

• Meyer Lemon Syrup
• Creamy Buttermilk Maple Syrup
• Peanut Butter Maple Syrup
• Blender Lemon Curd
• Raspberry Sauce
• Fresh Mixed Berries
• Sliced Bananas

Or just keep things simple with pure maple syrup and butter! It’s a classic combo for a reason, after all. 

Pancake Add-Ins to Try

Once you’ve made these classic buttermilk pancakes a few times, you may want to play around with different flavor combinations and add-ins. Although we love these homemade buttermilk pancakes as is, we sometimes like to add in the following, just because: 

• Chocolate chips (white, dark, or milk!) 
• Chopped nuts (pecans and walnuts work really well in pancakes) 
• Frozen or fresh fruit 
• Lemon zest
• Chopped dried fruit 
• Nut butters

Most pancake add-ins can be individually sprinkled atop the pancakes right after you’ve poured the batter onto a hot griddle. Nut butter can be gently swirled into the pancakes (you may need to warm it in the microwave first to make it easier to swirl), or just spread it on top afterward. 

Storing, Freezing and Reheating

Leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. They will keep for 4-5 days. If you want them to last longer, freezing them is a great option!

Freezing pancakes is incredibly easy. If you love having pancakes in the morning but don’t often have time to whip up a new batch, frozen pancakes are the way to go. To freeze these homemade buttermilk pancakes (or any pancake, for that matter!), let them cool to room temperature on a wire rack and then place them on a rimmed baking sheet to freeze.

Once they’re hard enough, remove the frozen pancakes from the baking sheet and stack them in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container. This will prevent the pancakes from getting squished when they’re first stored in the freezer. They will keep in the freezer for 2-3 months.

When you’re ready to eat the frozen pancakes, pop them into the toaster oven, microwave, or a warm oven. You don’t need to thaw them first, they can be reheated immediately after they’re taken out of the freezer. 

Your search for the best buttermilk pancakes recipe ends here! Just ask John Legend! We got a shout out from the music icon once upon a time! Whoop whoop! But seriously, these pancakes are fluffy and melt in your mouth!

More Easy PANCAKES Recipes:

• Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes
• Dutch Baby Pancakes
• Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes
• Homemade Chocolate Chip Pancakes
• Brown Sugar and Peach Pancakes
• Easy Carrot Cake Pancakes
• Blueberry and Cottage Cheese Pancakes
• Gluten-Free Strawberry Shortcake Pancakes
• Classic Sour Cream Pancakes
• Blueberry Pecan Pancakes
• All our SWEET BREAKFAST RECIPES here!

Watch How These Pancakes are Made…