Diner-style buttermilk pancakes

Since I'm still waffling about whether or not I should buy a waffle maker, I keep busy flipping pancakes on the weekends!  Truth be told, it's a good crisp waffle that I crave more often than pancakes but because my son and husband enjoy pancakes so much, I make them all the time (as you might have noticed).

In the last few years that I started making pancakes at home (from scratch, because, yes...I once used boxed pancake mix), I have discovered some delicious recipes and I make most of them very often.  It dawned on me recently that I don't have a basic buttermilk pancake recipe.  

The buttermilk pancakes I do make are Gwyneth Paltrow's overnight recipe; honestly, those babies are so delicious that I didn't really feel the need for another buttermilk pancake recipe but they are quite different from your typical diner-style buttermilk pancakes.  Whereas the diner ones are your fluffy, relatively mild-tasting flapjacks, the overnight recipe makes relatively thin, super-soft, ultra-tender and tangy pancakes.  The overnight sitting is pretty much a necessity and I like the idea of having a simpler, more familiar buttermilk pancake recipe in my repertoire.

Well, mission accomplished.  I spotted this diner-style buttermilk pancake recipe from the latest issue of Food Network Magazine.  I was particularly intrigued by the idea of adding a little baking soda in the pancakes to help with even browning.  I do have to say, even after making these, that I'm pretty convinced that the evenly browned pancakes we get from our diner comes from a well buttered griddle more than anything else (I use a little cooking spray). So while my homemade buttermilk pancakes didn't look exactly like the ones I get at our local diners, they were fluffy, moist, and tender, with a familiarly milder buttermilk flavor that we recognize.

I'm happy to have this easy, tasty recipe for buttermilk pancakes that I can whip up very quickly for breakfast.  Since I always find myself with extra buttermilk whenever I do buy it for a recipe, I know it'll come in handy.

My scaled-down version of this Food Network recipe will make about eight 4-inch round pancakes.  Depending on your need (how much buttermilk you have on hand), and since pancakes freeze so well and reheat easily for a quick weekday breakfast, it would certainly make sense to make a full batch (double my recipe below).  I did trim down the amount of butter a bit and I'd mention that I like to make my pancakes a bit smaller than the traditional diner-style ones.  I use a 1/3 cup measure to drop my pancake batter; for those diner sized pancakes, go with about 1/2 cup of batter per pancake.

Speaking of pancakes and breakfast, we recently took a trip to Chicago and went to a great place, Wildberry Pancakes and Cafe, for breakfast based on a recommendation. We got there a bit after 9am and after a good walk, I was a bit "hangry" by that point. There was about a 20-minute wait (actually quite reasonable given the group of about 50 students waiting outside for seating) and I'm glad I stuck it out because I realized it was well worth the wait after tasting everything from their sizzlin' skillets to waffles and bacon & eggs.  My husband also had their signature "berry bliss" pancake that was topped with vanilla anglaise, blackberry coulis, and mascarpone, which he loved (clearly, the man has a serious sweet tooth).  They had some creative pancakes at this place (think tiramisu to fruity pebbles), which goes to show I'll never run out of pancake recipes to try even if I never get that waffle maker!  

Recipe:

Diner-Style Buttermilk Pancakes

Adapted from April 2015 issue of Food Network magazine (recipe here)

- Makes approximately eight 4-inch round pancakes - 

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large measuring cup, whisk the buttermilk, egg, vanilla, and melted butter together to combine.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, whisking until just combined (there should still be some lumps in the batter).

Heat a griddle or large nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Lightly grease the griddle with cooking spray or butter.  Pour 1/3 cup of batter onto the griddle for each pancake and cook until bubbles begin to appear on the top of the pancakes, about 2-3 minutes.  Flip and continue cooking until golden on the other side, about another minute.  Keep pancakes in a warm 250 degree while making the batch, if necessary.

Serve right away with maple syrup, or whatever you enjoy.