Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes

Instructions

1. 1

   Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt thoroughly in a large bowl — 20 seconds of whisking now means no bitter baking-soda pockets later.

2. 2

   In a second bowl or jug, whisk the buttermilk and egg until smooth, then whisk in the melted butter. (If the butter is too hot it will scramble the egg — it should feel warm, not hot.)

3. 3

   Pour the wet mixture into the dry and fold with a spatula JUST until no dry flour is visible — about 10 gentle strokes. The batter must stay lumpy. A smooth batter means overdeveloped gluten, which means flat, tough, chewy pancakes. The lumps disappear in the pan; trust the lumps.

4. 4

   Rest the batter 10 minutes without stirring. Two things happen: the flour hydrates, and the baking powder starts producing bubbles — you'll see the batter puff slightly. This rest is where the height comes from.

5. 5

   Meanwhile, heat a nonstick pan or griddle over MEDIUM heat — not higher — for several minutes, and warm your oven to 90°C / 200°F with a sheet pan inside for holding finished pancakes.

6. 6

   Grease the pan lightly: rub a little butter on and wipe most of it off with a paper towel. Pooled butter fries the edges before the middle sets and gives you leopard-spotted, greasy pancakes instead of even gold.

7. 7

   Test with one small pancake first: the batter should sizzle gently on contact and take about 2–3 minutes to bubble. If it browns in under a minute, the pan is too hot — pull it off the heat for 30 seconds and lower the flame. The first pancake is the calibration pancake; it's the cook's snack.

8. 8

   Ladle about 80ml (1/3 cup) per pancake, without spreading it — it settles on its own. Leave room; they grow.

9. 9

   Flip when you see bubbles rising and POPPING across the surface, leaving little holes that stay open, and the edges look set and dull rather than wet and shiny — about 2–3 minutes. Flip once, decisively. Multiple flips deflate them.

10. 10

    Cook the second side 1–2 minutes until golden. Resist pressing down with the spatula — that squeezes out exactly the air you spent all this effort creating.

11. 11

    Keep finished pancakes on the sheet pan in the warm oven, in a single layer or loosely staggered — stacking them hot makes them steam each other soggy.

12. 12

    Serve stacked high with a knob of butter melting on top and genuinely warm maple syrup (20 seconds in the microwave). Cold syrup on hot pancakes is a self-inflicted wound.