Simple Buttermilk Brown Butter Pancakes

Updated 10.29.21

Here’s what I said about these pancakes back in 2013:

I can’t believe the idea of brown butter pancakes never occurred to me until this morning. Hello – brown butter anything is my favorite. Not to mention I’m obsessed with pancakes of any flavor.

I browsed the internet and found a few recipes for Brown Butter Pancakes and then kind of went off and did my own thing. I added vanilla extract to the batter, which I wouldn’t do again. I’d rather not have the brown butter taste disguised by a more powerful flavor.

Eight years later, there’s more than a few recipes for brown butter pancakes! No surprise there. Brown butter anything has become mainstream. A lot of the recipes that come to the top of my google search have a fairly complex flavor profile. Brown butter + some type of fruit or brown butter + some type of nut with cinnamon or brown butter + rum (which I also have a recipe for!) or brown butter + vanilla this or that. What I didn’t see a lot of was simple brown butter pancakes.

My worry with brown butter is that, although the taste is characteristic, it can be crowded out by stronger flavors. The first time I made these pancakes, I added vanilla, which crowded out the brown butter flavor. This go round, I omitted the vanilla but still felt like the brown butter was crowded out by the taste of buttermilk. Which is fine – I love the taste of buttermilk. Just know that unless you also top these with additional brown butter (melted or reconstituted) they might not have the most powerful brown butter taste.

Not that you will have any complaints. Dad had seconds on these, announcing: “I was going to limit myself but decided not to” and then later “man, I’m so full.”

ingredients.

2 c. flour
2 T. brown sugar
1 T. baking powder
1 ¼ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 c. buttermilk
4 T. butter
¼ c. sour cream
2 eggs

directions.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium low heat. Once melted, allow the butter to cook until it turns a golden brown color, adjusting the temperature as necessary to prevent it from burning. Pour into a large mixing bowl to allow to cool.
Meanwhile combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. Set aside.
Once the butter has cooled to room temperature, whisk in the eggs until completely incorporate. Follow by the sour cream and then the buttermilk. Add the flour mixture and whisk until just combined, lumps are OK. If the batter is too thick for your liking, thin it down a bit by adding some milk. Let the batter rest for at least 30 minutes.
Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. (I use a cast iron skillet.) Add one tablespoon of butter, vegetable oil or vegetable shortening and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Add approximately ⅓ cup of batter to the skillet to form one pancake. Wait till you see bubbles on the surface of the pancake and the edges look dry, then flip over and continue to cook for one more minute. Repeat with the rest of the batter.
Keep under a towel to stay warm until serving.
Top with additional brown butter and your favorite flavor syrup.

Recipe rating: 