“I always knew my grandmother’s buttermilk pancakes were special,” says Christopher Hirsheimer. “I loved them, and I loved to help her in the kitchen. My first job was to separate the eggs for her. Then I’d whip up the whites into thick, billowy mounds. Finally, she would start heating the griddle and would test it by flicking water on it, and when little beads danced across the hot metal, it was time to begin. Standing at her post at the stove, she flipped batch after batch until our big hungry family was fed.”
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 30 min |
| Active: | 30 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs, separated
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons melted butter, plus more butter for serving
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- vegetable oil
- Maple syrup, for serving
Instructions
- Lightly grease a cast-iron pan or griddle with vegetable oil, wiping off excess with a paper towel. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks into the buttermilk, then whisk in the butter. In another bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, then sift these dry ingredients into the buttermilk mixture. Lightly whisk together until the batter is just mixed (a few lumps won’t hurt). In a clean mixing bowl, beat the egg whites with a whisk until soft peaks form. Use a rubber spatula to fold them into the batter. Don’t overwork the batter; keep it light and fluffy.
- Heat the griddle over medium-high heat until hot. (To test, flick a bit of water onto the pan; it’ll bead up and dance if it’s hot enough.) Pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto the griddle. Cook until little holes appear on the surface and the cooked side of the pancake is golden brown (lift the edge to check), about 1 minute on each side. Don’t worry if the first one or two don’t turn out well—that’s normal. Continue making pancakes, regreasing the pan as needed. Stack pancakes on a plate, slather generously with butter, and pour on a few good glugs of real maple syrup. Makes 4 batches of 3 pancakes (4″ in diameter).
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 213 |
| Total Fat | 7 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Carbohydrates | 31 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Sugar | 13 g |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Cholesterol | 74 mg |
| Sodium | 240 mg |
Reviews
Yummy and easy. I used a 1/3cup to pour the batter, which yielded 8 pancakes. If I had more than myself and my husband I would double the recipe.
I have tried several pancake recipes over the years and this is it!! Well worth the extra effort to beat the egg whites and fold them into the batter. So delicious! Thank you for sharing
2 thumbs up from all my kids! Buttermilk pancakes are not my husband’s favorite and he said they were really good too. I doubled the batch for our family of 5 and it ended up making almost 4 dozen 3.5 inch pancakes (I use my gravy ladle). I didn’t have cake flour so I used AP and added lemon juice to milk for the buttermilk. Definitely a keeper!
These are delicious! Only pancakes I make anymore. I get a request for them every weekend
Excellent Recipe! Taste like pancakes from a really good diner.