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Warm, soft, and incredibly fluffy, these thick buttermilk pancakes are waiting to be drizzled with your favorite syrup and sliced into for a bite of weekend breakfast heaven.
💕 Here’s why you’re going to love these pancakes:
- It’s clean-eating and lacto-ovo vegetarian friendly.
- These pancakes ware made using 100% whole wheat flour.
- They are thick, soft and fluffy and perfect for topping with whatever you enjoy!
- They are incredibly easy to whip up and take under 30-minutes to make from start to finish!
To make these pancakes you’ll need the following:
- Whole Wheat Pastry Flour: or white whole wheat flour.
- Buttermilk: or Whole Milk + Fresh Lemon Juice (or lime juice or distilled vinegar).
- Raw Cane Sugar: Finely blended to make it easier to incorporate into the batter.
- Salt: I’m using a pink Himalayan salt but a sea salt also works well.
- Cinnamon Powder: Honestly this ingredient is optional but it adds a wonderful touch of spice.
- Vanilla Extract: this adds a great depth of flavor to your pancakes so don’t skip it!
- Baking Soda and Baking Powder: these are our rising agents that will react with the liquids, the acidity of the buttermilk and the heat of the skillet during cooking to give us the most optimal rise and fluffy texture.
- Egg: the egg acts as both a binder which will help the structure and set of our pancakes, plus the yolk adds an additional touch of richness.
- Melted Butter: Our main fat, this ingredient adds flavor as well as richness, moisture which will help our pancakes fluffiness be achieved.
Gluten/Wheat-Free? 🚫🌾
If wheat-based pancakes aren’t your thing, then I have a recipe for these wonderfully fluffy, gluten-free Almond-Flour Pancakes.
Dairy-Free?🚫🥛
In place of buttermilk: You can make “buttermilk” with any of your preferred dairy-free milk alternatives (like almond milk, oat milk, coconut milk etc) by mixing in 1 tbsp of distilled white vinegar to 1 cup of your milk alternative and allowing it to rest and curdle for 10 minutes.
In place of the melted butter: you can use any clean eating oil of your choice though I highly recommend extra-light olive oil or coconut oil (though note that coconut oil might slightly alter the flavor of the pancakes).
Egg-Free?🚫🥚
In place of the egg you can use any of your preferred egg substitutes such as a flax egg (combine 1 tbsp of ground flaxseed meal with 3 tbsp of water and let it rest for 10-15 minutes until thickened). Or you can use ¼ cup of natural, unsweetened applesauce or pumpkin puree or ripe mashed banana.
Here’s how you make these wholesome buttermilk pancakes:
If you don’t have ready-made buttermilk, you can make your own by adding lemon juice to whole milk and letting it sit for 5-10 minutes until it thickens and essentially curdles like in the above right image.
Why use Buttermilk at all?
Honestly the use of buttermilk is the not-so-secret to making the thickest, fluffiest pancakes. Buttermilk is thick and slightly tart thanks to the acid within the milk that ferments/curdles it. That acidic nature serves the dual purpose of activating and maximizing the power of the rising agents (our baking powder and baking soda) as well as working to break down the protein-strands of the gluten that would ordinarily bond and bind and make things chewy (think about the elastic chew you aim to achieve in bread). In breaking this down, you end up with pancakes that are lighter and fluffier since the rising agents are able to work unhindered by gluten bonds.
As a notable plus, whole wheat flour naturally has a lower gluten content than highly-processed white flour which allows our buttermilk to be even more effective in that there’s less gluten to break down.
Now, to make our batter…
In a large bowl, mix together your dry ingredients (whole wheat pastry flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda, cinnamon powder, and sugar).
In another bowl, whisk together your wet ingredients (buttermilk, egg, butter, and vanilla).
With both sets of ingredients mixed together thoroughly….
Add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and mix until your batter comes together and most of the major lumps are broken down but some lumps are okay!
You don’t want to overmix your batter because over-mixing encourages the development of gluten (which will make your pancakes tougher and chewier instead of light and fluffy). Personally, I like using a fork to combine the ingredients but a spatula works just as well.
With your batter mixed together, set a skillet onto medium heat and lightly grease it with butter or oil. Working in batches, Pour your batter in in even portions.
Cook your pancakes until bubbles appear on the surface and then gently run your spatula around the edges (you can lift it to check to see if the undersides are browned) before flipping and cooking the other other side.
If you notice that your pancakes are cooking too fast or are burning, then lower the heat.
Stack your cooked pancakes on top of each other to make a warm, fluffy stack, and top with your favorite toppings.
Looking for ideas to top your pancakes with? Try some of these:
- Fresh fruit.
- Chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, pistachios).
- Homemade nut butters (like this hazelnut butter)
- Dark chocolate chips (whole or melted and drizzled over)
- Pure maple syrup.
- A drizzle of homemade Nutella.
- A drizzle of Salted Butterscotch Sauce.
- Coconut Whipped Cream.
- Scrambled eggs.
- Strips of smoky thick-cut bacon.
- A small pat of butter.
All that’s left to do is cut into your stack and enjoy! 💕
Seriously guys, give this recipe a try and you’ll see for yourself just how amazing these pancakes are and how easy they are to make. If you do give them a go, let us know how it turned out! Leave a comment below or reach out to us on social media (@kitrusycleaneat and #kitrusy) and don’t forget to snap and show off your pics by tagging us so we can celebrate your creations together! 🥳
100% Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk + 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice)
- 1 cup stone ground whole wheat pastry flour
- 2 tbsp raw cane sugar (finely blended)
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp Himalayan salt
- ¼ tsp cinnamon powder
- 1 large egg
- 2 tbsp salted butter melted
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- If making buttermilk: combine 1 cup milk and 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice and set it aside to thicken for 5-7 minutes.
- In a large bowl, sift flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together.
- Whisk the egg, vanilla extract, and melted butter together and add it to the buttermilk. Whisk to fully blend all wet ingredients together.
- Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture, and, using a fork, gently stir until just combined* (see note). The batter will be thick and slightly lumpy (lumps are okay!) Using a spatula, gently scrape down the sides of the bowl, leaving no dry flour behind. Note: Do not overmix your batter.
- Heat a griddle or cast iron pan until hot but not smoking. Brush the surface with butter and pour on approximately ⅓ cup of batter for each pancake (medium sized).
- Cook until bubbles begin to form on the top and you can easily slide your spatula under your pancakes. Flip your pancakes and cook on the other side for a couple more minutes until the underside is golden brown.
- Remove your fully cooked pancake and place onto a plate lined with paper towels.
- Enjoy with fresh fruit, nuts, maple syrup or even some homemade Nutella!
Notes
- *Using a fork to mix the batter ensures that the mixture isn't overworked. The buttermilk is going to instantly react with the baking soda which will cause air pockets to form, we want this as this is what gives our pancakes amazing fluff that is amplified further once we cook them and the dual acting baking powder kicks in.
- If you notice your pancakes are cooking too quickly or burning, lower the heat and allow the griddle or pan to cool off a bit before cooking your next batch.
- This recipe makes either 6 large pancakes, 9 medium pancakes or 12 small pancakes depending on how you portion it out. 3 medium pancakes are considered to be 1 serving size.
