• Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • Submissions
  • Archives
  • Privacy Policy
  • February 15, 2019

Irish American Mom

Celebrating Our Irish Heritage Together

  • Irish Cooking
    • A Taste of Ireland
    • Recipe Index
    • Bread, Muffins, Pancakes And Scones
    • Drinks And Cocktails
    • Favorite American Recipes
    • Irish Appetizers And Party Food
    • Irish Breakfast
    • Irish Cakes, Cookies And Desserts
    • All Recipes
    • Irish Main Dishes
    • Irish Side Dishes
    • Irish Soups And Stews
    • Reader Recipes
    • Irish American Mom’s Pancake Roundup
  • Irish Culture
    • Blessings
    • Irish Books
    • Irish Crafts
    • Irish Expressions
    • Irish Life
    • Irish Movies
    • Irish Music
    • Irish Poetry
    • Irish Superstitions
    • Irish Television
    • The Irish Language or Gaelic
    • Symbols Of Ireland
    • The Irish Psyche
    • The Spud Saga
    • What I Miss About Ireland
    • Wise Old Words
  • Visiting Ireland
    • Ireland – County By County
    • Land and Culture
    • Why Tourists Love Ireland
  • Immigrant Tales
    • Stories of our Ancestors
    • Stories from the Present
    • Genealogy Resources
  • Ramblings
    • My American Journey
    • Why I Love America
    • Blogging
    • Holidays
    • America the Beautiful
  • Giveaways
    • Giveaways
    • Gifts
  • Buying Irish Food

Buttermilk Pancakes

February 8, 2016 by Irish American Mom 22 Comments

Buttermilk pancakes should be light and fluffy, and oozing with buttery flavor and goodness.  Since buttermilk has always been widely available in Ireland, even in centuries past when food sources were limited, Irish mothers perfected the art of cooking buttermilk pancakes.

A stack of small Irish buttermilk pancakes

Pancake Tuesday is very early this year, but whichever week it may fall in the calendar, Irish mams will be beating batter all across the country tomorrow.

Some prefer a crêpe like pancake served with lemon juice and sugar, but many will make tried and true traditional buttermilk pancakes.

Pancakes with butter - large size

They are delicious served warm from the pan with butter and honey, or fruit, or jam.

Here’s how I make them….

Ingredients for Buttermilk Pancakes - Irish recipe by Irish American Mom

Ingredients for Irish Buttermilk Pancakes:

 

  • 2 cups of all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon of baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons of baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 2 tablespoons of sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 and 1/4 cups of buttermilk
  • 2 tablespoons of melted butter
  • oil and butter for frying

 

Cooking Directions of Irish Buttermilk Pancakes:

 

I prepare the wet and dry ingredients in two separate bowls.

Sifting flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt for Irish style buttermilk pancakes

First sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl.

I know many people skip this sifting step and just toss the dry ingredients into the bowl. However, I believe the sifting process distributes the raising agents more evenly throughout the flour, and a little bit of air gets incorporated also, for lighter, fluffier pancakes…… just my “Geary Theory” on the whole process.

Adding sugar to the dry ingredients for Irish Buttermilk Pancakes

Next, toss in the sugar, and mix through the dry ingredients.

I only add a small amount of sugar, and to many Irish cooks this may be sacrilege. Irish buttermilk pancakes from days gone by probably never saw even the tiniest pinch of sugar, since sugar was such a prized and expensive commodity.

But in these days of plenty, I add just a little bit for my sweet tooth. But not too much, mind you. There’s nothing worse than an overly sweetened pancake topped with sweet honey or syrup.

Whisking eggs and buttermilk for Irish Buttermilk Pancakes

Next I take another bowl or pitcher or jug or whatever you wish to call it, and add the buttermilk and eggs and beat them together.

Now I know many of you will say I used one egg too many in this recipe. If your eggs are very large, use just one. I cracked two medium eggs into the buttermilk, since I like to convince myself I’m getting a little bit of protein into my picky eaters, whenever I make these pancakes.

Too much egg will run the risk of a heavy batter, and won’t produce light and fluffy pancakes.

Heating oil and butter in a cast iron skillet for cooking pancakes

Before I mix the wet and dry ingredients I put my cast iron skillet on to heat. The oil can warm up and the butter melt as I’m mixing the batter. 

You see, buttermilk pancakes must be cooked pretty quickly after mixing. The buttermilk is acidic and starts to react with the baking soda the moment they come in contact.  And for that simple reason I heat my griddle or skillet or whatever you like to call your pancake pan, before I mix the batter.

You can use oil alone, or butter alone for cooking your pancakes, but I find a combo of canola or rapeseed oil, with a small knob of melted butter works perfectly. The oil allows for high heat cooking and the little bit of butter adds lots of extra flavor.

Adding wet indredients to dry for Irish buttermilk pancakes or pancóga

Next, I pour the buttermilk and eggs into the dry ingredients.

Mixing the ingredients together to form a smooth pancake batter for buttermilk pancakes

Mix them together GENTLY. (Sorry for using upper case or capital letters. I don’t mean to shout, but I have to get my ‘gentle on the batter’ message across somehow).

Buttermilk pancake success is all in the mixing or the lack therof. Whatever you do, don’t batter your batter.

Overmixing to a completely smooth consistency just does not work.  If you simply mix the ingredients together until combined, your pancakes will be light and fluffy, even if the batter looks a little lumpy.

You see, once the buttermilk hits the baking soda, they start reacting and releasing gas which will help your pancakes to rise. If you overbeat the batter all that rising power gets lost, literally going up into thin air.

Adding melted butter to buttermilk pancake batter

Next I add the melted butter, and combine gently into the batter.

Many recipes for buttermilk pancakes only use butter in the skillet for cooking, but I find a little bit of melted butter in the batter, adds loads and loads of flavor.

Dropping batter for small buttermilk pancakes or silver dollar pancakes into a heated cast iron skillet

Next drop the batter into the skillet in small circular blobs.

I use my 1/4 cup measuring cup to drop just the right amount of batter. I scoop some up and only what drops onto the skillet is what I use. No scraping the sides of the measuring cup required.

Silver dollar pancakes flipped and browing in a pan or skillet

Cook the pancakes for 2 to 3 minutes on the first side until small bubbles start to rise to the surface.

Flip them over and cook them for another 2 to 3 minutes on the second side.

Flipped buttermilk pancake in the skillet

Here’s a bigger pancake I cooked in a 7 inch-round cast iron skillet, which is perfect for individual serving sized pancakes.

Cook the pancakes in batches until the batter is all used. This recipe yields between 6 to 8 large pancakes and about 24 small pancakes.

Cook all the batter at one go. Don’t be tempted to save the batter in the fridge for cooking later. The buttermilk and baking soda work their magic straight away, so if the batter sits for too long, your pancakes will literally be “flat as pancakes”. No light and fluffy center to savor.

A plate of buttermilk pancakes with butter

Stack them neatly if you wish, or I just toss them onto a plate with a little butter for melting on top.

Butter and honey on Irish buttermilk pancakes

Or you can serve them with butter and a little honey, or a massive, soaking dollop of maple syrup. Whatever you fancy on top is just fine.  

Slightly warmed maple syrup – now you’re talking perfect pancake toppings! My years in America converted me from a butter and jam pancake kind of girl, to a maple syrup loving, pancake gal.

Light and fluffy - the inside of a buttermilk pancake

Take a look at the light and fluffy insides of these pancakes.

Perfect buttermilk pancakes, hot out of the pan! You just can’t beat them.

Silver dollar or small buttermilk pancakes with honey or syrup

Whether you like your pancakes with fruit or honey, butter or jam, or a little bit of everything, these simple pancakes are delicious every which way, and a grand way to celebrate Pancake Tuesday.

Irish Buttermilk Pancakes

I hope you all have a lovely Pancake or Shrove Tuesday.

Happy batter making.

 

Irish Buttermilk Pancakes Printable Recipe Using American Measurements:

 

For anyone cooking these pancakes in America here’s the printable recipe in American cups and measurements …

 

Print
Yum
Buttermilk Pancakes

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Buttermilk Pancakes

Ingredients

  • 2 cups of all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon of baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons of baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 2 tablespoons of sugar
  • 2 medium eggs
  • 1 and 1/4 cups of buttermilk
  • 2 tablespoons of melted butter

Instructions

  1. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large mixing or batter bowl.
  2. In a separate bowl or large pitcher combine the eggs and buttermilk.
  3. Place a skillet over medium to high heat to warm before mixing the batter. Add oil and a knob of butter to melt.
  4. Pour the buttermilk and eggs into the dry ingredients and gently mix together.
  5. Add the melted butter and combine gently.
  6. Spoon he batter onto the hot pan and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on the first side until small bubbles start to form on the surface.
  7. Flip the pancakes over and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes on the second side.
  8. Remove from the pan and serve warm with butter, jam, honey or syrup.
Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by Yummly Rich Recipes
0.1
https://www.irishamericanmom.com/buttermilk-pancakes/

 

Irish Buttermilk Pancakes Printable Recipe Using Metric and Imperial Measurements:

 

And here’s the printable recipe for readers on the Irish side of the Atlantic. This one includes both metric grams, and the old tried and true imperial ounces. 

Buttermilk Pancakes

Print recipe
  • Print with main photo
  • Print text only
Buttermilk Pancakes
Serves 6
Prep time 10 minutes
Cook time 15 minutes
Total time 25 minutes
Allergy Egg, Milk, Wheat
Meal type Breakfast, Lunch
Misc Serve Hot
Region Irish
Irish buttermilk pancakes are delicious served warm from the pan, with butter melting on top and a spoonful of honey.

Ingredients

  • 225g plain white flour (8 ounces)
  • 5ml baking soda (1 level teaspoon)
  • 10ml baking powder (2 level teaspoon)
  • 3ml salt (1/2 teaspoon)
  • 25g sugar (1 ounce)
  • 2 Medium eggs
  • 300ml butermilk (1/2 British pint)
  • 50g melted butter (2 ounces)

Directions

Step 1 Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large mixing or batter bowl.
Step 2 In a separate bowl or large pitcher combine the eggs and buttermilk.
Step 3 Place a skillet over medium to high heat to warm before mixing the batter. Add oil and a knob of butter to melt
Step 4 Pour the buttermilk and eggs into the dry ingredients and gently mix together.
Step 5 Add the melted butter and combine gently.
Step 6 Spoon he batter onto the hot pan and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on the first side until small bubbles start to form on the surface.
Step 7 Flip the pancakes over and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes on the second side.
Step 8 Remove from the pan and serve warm with butter, jam, honey or syrup.
Powered by GetMeCooking

http://www.irishamericanmom.com/irish-american-moms-pancake-roundup/

 

You can check out all my pancake recipes here.

 

Slán agus beannacht,

(Goodbye and blessings)

 

Irish American Mom

Filed Under: All Recipes, Bread, Muffins, Pancakes and Scones, Cooking Tagged With: Breakfast Recipes, Butter, Buttermilk Recipes, Egg Recipes, Honey, Irish Food and Cooking, Irish Pancakes, Irish Recipes, Pancake Tuesday

Search My Site

A Warm Welcome From Mom

I believe it’s never too late to explore your Irish cultural heritage and celebrate your ancestors’ spiritual legacy. Read More About The Irish American Mom Community

My Latest Videos

Mom’s Recipes Are Featured On:

Mom’s Recipes and Ramblings Are Featured On Irish Central

Thanks For Visiting

Advertising
Comment Policy
Disclaimer
Disclosure
Privacy Policy
Contact
FAQ's
Sitemap

 

© Copyright 2011-2018, Irish American Mom.

All Rights Reserved.

Previously Featured On Irish American Mom

https://www.irishamericanmom.com/2015/04/01/finnegans-wake-with-an-apostrophe-in-memory-of-irish-poet-paddy-finnegan/
https://www.irishamericanmom.com/2012/09/27/the-irish-american-clothing-dictionary
http://gotireland.com/2012/04/22/the-shandon-tower-cork-citys-famous-four-faced-liar/

Blogroll

  • Celtic Thoughts
  • Irish Fireside
  • Irish Hillwalkers
  • Irish-Americans in the Bronx
  • Married an Irish Farmer
  • Martine Brennan – The Irish Genealogy Coach
  • The Wild Geese
  • Wee Kitchen

Many Thanks to the Irish Blog Awards – Irish American Mom Won the Silver Award in the 2018 Diaspora Category

Recent Reader Comments

  • Bill Eidolon on How To Cook Rutabaga Or Turnip Irish Style
  • Jay on Irish Blessings And Sayings About Faith
  • Irish American Mom on What Is Irish Turf?
  • Irish American Mom on County Longford – The Heart of Ireland
  • Irish American Mom on Chicken and Mushroom Vol-Au-Vents

Copyright © 2019 · Lifestyle Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This site uses cookies: Find out more.