Estelle's Best Pancakes

These are the platonic ideal of buttermilk pancakes: tall, tender, with that distinctive tangy depth only buttermilk delivers. The trick that sets this recipe apart is using both baking powder AND baking soda. The soda reacts with the buttermilk’s acidity for an immediate bubble-up, while the powder kicks in later for a second rise during cooking. Two leaveners, two distinct rise events, one impossibly fluffy stack.

The whisk-gently rule is genuinely important. Pancake batter should look lumpy, almost shaggy, with little flour streaks still visible. Smooth batter means overworked gluten, which means tough rubbery pancakes. Three or four firm strokes with a whisk is plenty.

A tablespoon of vegetable oil in the batter is unusual. Most recipes go with melted butter. Oil produces a more tender crumb because it stays liquid even when the pancakes cool, while butter solidifies and tightens the texture.

Let the batter rest 5 minutes before cooking. The flour fully hydrates, gluten relaxes, and the leaveners get a head start. You’ll see the difference in the lift.

Serve with real maple syrup, as the recipe calls for. The fake stuff is a different (lesser) experience entirely.

Pro Tips

• Heat the griddle to medium, not high. Buttermilk pancakes brown fast and burn easy.
• Flip when the surface bubbles burst and don’t refill, and the edges look matte.
• Hold finished pancakes on a wire rack in a 200°F (95°C) oven so the bottoms don’t steam soggy.
• The first pancake almost always sticks. Treat it as the test run for griddle temperature.

Variations

• Fold a half cup of fresh blueberries or chocolate chips into the batter just before cooking.
• Stir a teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg into the dry mix for spiced pancakes.
• Use whole wheat flour for half the white flour for a nuttier, hearty version.