The Best Magical Pancakes
Why They’re Worth Making
Because they’re pancakes, and everyone loves pancakes.
Yes, they have an extra step or two beyond a boxed mix, but the flavor and textural differences are daggum ridiculous.
They freeze and reheat well, so make a big batch to last awhile.
The Basics
Measure the dry stuff.
Measure the wet stuff. (Make buttermilk if you have to, but don’t be afraid - it’s just pouring two things instead of one.)
Mix the dry stuff and wet stuff together.
Cook the magical way. (We’ll get to that.)
The Recipe
How Much It Makes
This recipe is somewhere around 24 pancakes depending on how big or small you make them. It feeds our pancake-loving family of five with a dozen or so left over.
Ingredients You’ll Need
2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (140g) whole wheat flour (if you don’t have whole wheat, just use 3 total cups of all-purpose)
1 1/2 tbsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tbsp. salt
1/4 cup (50g) sugar
3 large eggs
3 cups buttermilk
1 stick melted butter
vegetable/canola oil for frying (yes, frying)
Tools You Need
a small bowl
a large bowl
a 4-cup measuring pitcher
a whisk
a spatula
a skillet
Order of Operations
Melt the butter. It’s nice if the heat has a chance to come off the butter a little bit, so do this first. I melt it in a small bowl since it’ll be poured into something bigger later. Let’s limit dirty dishes.
Make buttermilk. If you don’t have actual buttermilk, you can make it with just milk and regular distilled white vinegar. Pour the milk into a 4-cup measuring pitcher just a touch below the 3-cup line. Then pour in enough vinegar to bring the liquid up to meet the line. Let it sit and get clumpy (it’s normal) while you get everything else together.
Measure the dry stuff. Put the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a bowl. No need to sift. Just whisk a bit.
Preheat the pan. We do this here so the pan has a chance to get hot but doesn’t sit there so long that you smoke the place out. Medium to medium-high heat, please. It’ll be a little hotter than you usually choose for pancakes. That’s on purpose.
Mix the wet stuff. Crack the three eggs into the buttermilk, and gently whisk to break up the eggs. Then pour in the melted butter and whisk completely.
Add oil to the pan. Depending on the size of your pan, you’re looking for a generous pour to thinly coat the entire surface of the pan. A dry pocket or two is totally fine. Just don’t skimp. Let the oil heat up while you mix stuff together.
Add the wet stuff to the dry stuff. Gently whisk everything together. You don’t want to see big clumps of flour, but you don’t have to whisk it until perfectly smooth either. It feels like a weird balance, but just whisk it until it’s pretty much a homogenous batter. It’s better to whisk too little than too much. Don’t forget about the bottom of the bowl. Flour likes to hide there.
Cook. This deserves its own section.
How to Cook the Best Magical Pancakes
In true Kendra form, there are a lot of words, not because this is hard but because I’m trying to give you as much info as I can to answer your questions in advance and make the process as seamless as possible.
The Old Way of Cooking Pancakes
Most pancake instructions talk about throwing water on the pan to see if it sizzles, or better yet, just trust the setting on the griddle. Put a little cooking spray on, flip when you see bubbles, and be done, right? Not this time.
The Best Magical Pancakes are regal. They are bathed in gold. They are crowned with glory, glory in the form of crunchy edges, and you need fat and heat to make that happen.
In my opinion, griddles don’t get hot enough to make these. Maybe yours is the Rolls Royce of griddles, but every griddle I’ve ever owned has come up wanting. A skillet is the way to go, and you need more oil than you usually use.
(Why oil and not butter?
Some recipes have oil in the batter and then cook the pancakes in butter. However, cooking the pancakes in butter sometimes leads to burned or browned butter which makes the pancakes taste richer than you’d like. Plus, butter smokes at a lower temperature than oil, making the cooking process a little more daring than with oil. So I put butter in the batter to get the flavor and cook in oil to get even, low maintenance cooking. P.S. Oil gets a better crunch in my experience.)
The Magical Way of Cooking Pancakes
Heat up a large skillet over medium/medium-high heat (which we’ve already done). Go for nonstick or some kind of coating. Basically, avoid stainless steel pans that are for searing. You’ll have a hard time getting your pancakes out.
Remember what we said about the oil? There needs to be enough to barely cover the bottom to give those crunchy edges a chance to form. Let the oil heat up before adding the batter.
Your batter will be so fluffy just a minute or two after you do your final whisk. Do not deflate the bubbles. Have a gentle hand when you scoop it out. This will ensure (insure?) a fluffy pancake.
Scoop as evenly as you can. I like to use a large muffin scoop to put batter in the pan since pancakes are more even and can be added quickly and without a lot of mess. A measuring cup or large spoon will work fine though.
Give each batter dollop some space. Because the batter is thicker than you might be used to, you’ll be tempted to crowd the pan, but it will spread a bit. However, the space between pancakes will leave plenty of air circulation to get those crispy edges. In a large skillet, I can fit four 1/4-1/3 cup scoops.
Listen to the sizzle. It should be a steady gentle sizzle, not a crazy popping one. A gentle sizzle means that oil is grooving and doing its thing. A crazy sizzle means your pancake will burn. Your stove, your pan, and your life are not mine, so just pay attention. Adjust your heat accordingly.
Flip when you see a few bubbles on the surface but not before you see a golden brown edge on the bottom. If you see bubbles before the edge has a beautiful color on it, your heat is too low. Make a little higher on the next batch.
The underside of a pancake takes no time. Once you flip, cook that second side for just another minute or two max. If you lift the pancake and see color on the bottom, even super light color, you’re all set.
Repeat from step two on. Be sure to add more oil for each batch. Serve immediately, let them chill on a wire rack if they’re going in the freezer, or keep them in a warm oven if eaters are slow to move.
Bask in The Best Magical Pancake glory.
Here’s a “very professional” video of my magically cooking The Best Magical Pancakes so you can see how it goes. It was on a real early morning before real morning coffee and I have real children and a real tired voice and janky hand-eye coordination, but it’s something.
We have King Biscuits. Now we have The Best Magical Pancakes.
These pancakes are the best. I’ve made numerous recipes over the years that claim to be the best, and while they’re good, they’re not The Best Magical Pancakes. I’m confident that these will be in the top three pancakes you’ll ever have in your life. Yes, it’s a bold claim, especially since they have whole wheat flour in them, but I didn’t do that “for the fiber.” I have no interest in making pancakes that are good for me. Pancakes need to just be pancakes. However, the whole wheat flour gives a richer nutty flavor and just enough of a sturdy texture to not feel like the pancakes are going to turn into paste in your mouth. You can chew them. But don’t be fooled; they’re light as air.
You will love them. Love them.
