Melt in Your Mouth Buttermilk Pancakes [+ Video]

The absolute best recipe (after testing hundreds) for buttermilk pancakes. In fact, these are melt in your mouth buttermilk pancakes!

The BEST Buttermilk Pancake Recipe

It’s finally here!!!! After testing, and testing, and testing all sorts 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!!

Woop there it is!

This recipe for 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.

“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

Buttermilk Syrup

When you make these buttermilk pancakes, be sure to try these melt in your mouth buttermilk pancakes with our Buttermilk Syrup — the combination is ridiculously amazing and delicious!

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 (have any of you churned your own butter before?). 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.

Buttermilk Pancake Ingredients

Making buttermilk pancakes from scratch only takes basic ingredients:

• Flour
• Eggs
• Buttermilk
• Leavener
• Sugar
• Butter

Oh Sweet Basil Secret to the BEST Pancakes

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! 

Should the Batter be this Thick?

Yes! 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.

What Milk for Pancakes?

I guess it depends on what kind of pancakes you’re making, but we prefer thick buttermilk as it brings about a lighter, fluffier and tastier pancake.

Regular milk it would still be best to use a richer milk like whole or 2%.

How to Make Pancakes {Buttermilk Pancakes}

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. 
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and buttermilk.
3. 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. Once the flour is almost incorporated add the butter and fold together.
5. Butter the griddle after heating to medium or 350 and pour on the pancake batter, spreading a little bit. Flip the pancakes once air bubbles begin forming. 

This buttermilk pancake batter should be very, very thick. That means you made it right! 

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!

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.

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 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! 

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: 

• Coconut Buttermilk Syrup
• Meyer Lemon Syrup
• Creamy Buttermilk Maple Syrup
• Peanut Butter Maple Syrup
• Blender Lemon Curd
• Raspberry Sauce

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). 

How to Freeze Pancakes

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 baking sheet to freeze. Once they’re hard enough, remove the frozen pancakes from the baking sheet and stack them in a freezer bag. 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.

How to Reheat Pancakes

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. 

More Easy PANCAKES Recipes:

• Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes
• Dutch Baby Pancakes
• Maple 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!

Recommended Products

Buttermilk Syrup

This is our hands down, number one most favorite syrup recipe ever!

Peanut Butter Maple Syrup

Have you ever mixed peanut butter with maple syrup? It is fantastic!!

Or if you are in the mood for something other than pancakes, try this French toast! Another one of our favorite breakfast for dinner options is poached eggs!