Buttermilk Pancakes

by Dominic Shelton, published Dec 18, 2023

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Image depicting three lusciously thick pancakes topped with bacon, banana and syrup

"When I'm cooking these, I enter a zen state where the pancakes and I share one consciousness and I feel their warmth as if it were my own"

Image depicting a single pancake cut open to reveal the thick, fluffy centre

Recipe

Serves (about 4 pancakes)

Ingredients

The Dries

1 heaped cup Standard flour
1 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp Baking soda
1/8 tsp Salt

The Wets

1 Egg
1 cup Buttermilk
1 tsp Vanilla
2 tbsp Sugar
2 tbsp Melted butter

Method

Heat a heavy cast iron skillet on low-medium heat, add the butter to melt.
Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
In a large Pyrex jug, whisk the egg to combine white/yolk.
Add the remaining wet ingredients to the egg, being careful not to cook the egg with the still-warm melted butter. Put the pan back on the heat.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk just enough to combine, some lumpiness is fine.
Add more flour or buttermilk if required to achieve the desired consistency. The desired consistency is virtually impossible to describe by text, but you want the batter to still be reasonably thick once poured and not so runny you end up with thin pancakes. Just make them a few times and remember what works for you.
Pour 1/4 of the batter into the pan and cook until there are a few bubbles bursting on top, this will probably take around 3 minutes. You can see around the edges of the pancake how dark it is getting underneath (or lift it slightly¹). If it gets too dark before the bubbles are bursting, lower the heat. If it is still too light while the bubbles are bursting, increase the heat.
Flip the pancake in the air with at least one complete 360 degree flip.
Cook the 2nd side for around the same length of time, checking doneness this time by looking at the sides, or by gently pressing the centre to check its springiness, it should pop back up.
Make the rest of the fucking pancakes.
Put some stuff on top, e.g. grilled bananas and bacon, lemon juice and sugar or keep it simple with some syrup.

Notes

1: When you lift too much of the pancake off the pan and put it back down, it will cook slightly differently and the surface will no longer be so smooth and uniform.