This is my go-to pancake recipe whenever I'm in the mood for homemade brunch. These guys freeze & reheat terrifically and it's always a treat to have 'em for a quick breakfast on-the-go when I'm tired of yogurt & oatmeal cups—45 sec in the microwave and I'm ready to head out the door, breakfast in hand.

My favorite Allrecipes pancake recipe calls for a milk + vinegar as the liquid, but seeing as I've begun making milk kefir this summer and have an excess, I tried subbing in kefir as the liquid and it worked just as well. Milk kefir is a fermented milk product (think: drinkable yogurt but with way more beneficial bacteria strains than regular yogurt). It's best described as a cross between buttermilk and yogurt, and it's the consistency of a yogurt smoothie.

If you don't have buttermilk or milk kefir on hand, 1 cup of plain milk + 2 T lemon juice or vinegar works perfectly well in a pinch.

The pancakes pictured below include an extra variation on this recipe; I used a sourdough starter instead of beginning with dry flour, which made the pancakes more flavorful but reduced their usual fluffiness. Would definitely do again, though, if I've got sourdough starter on hand, because the yeast add more flavor to the batter.

Fluffy Pancakes (by kris)

These whip up in no time at all and won't last long at the table either. Leftovers freeze well; wrap individual pancakes in parchment paper (or wrap in squares cut from those translucent plastic produce bags at the grocery store #reuse), stack a bunch in a Ziploc freezer bag, and pop into the freezer.

Ingredients

3/4 cup milk + 2 tablespoons white vinegar (or an equal volume of buttermilk or kefir)
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Instructions

- If not using buttermilk or kefir, combine milk with vinegar and set aside to let the milk "sour". Don’t worry, you won’t taste the acidity and the curds won’t affect the final product. You’ll be adding the egg and melted butter to the milk later, so I’d choose a large enough bowl that’ll allow you to whisk the ingredients together before combining with the dry—a 2 cup liquid Pyrex measuring cup is the perfect size since you should be using dry measuring cups for the other ingredients.

- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In the milk bowl, whisk the melted butter into the "soured" milk, then whisk in the egg (you don’t want to add hot butter directly to an egg mixture). Combine the wet and dry ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.

- Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter into a heated skillet over medium heat. You can grease the pan with butter, which adds additional flavor, but I find that it burns too easily so I usually grease with light olive oil instead. This is also the step that I sprinkle in chocolate chips and frozen berries.

- Cook on the first side till bubbles appear on the surface, then flip once and cook till browned on the other side.

Note: The vinegar + milk won't make the batter sour at all. It's an extra acidic medium for the baking powder and soda to react with, which is what makes these pancakes so light and fluffy.

Details

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 35 mins

Yield: ~8 pancakes

My No-Fail Pancake Recipe