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If you think you've had a pillow-soft, flavor-packed pancake before, think again. These overnight buttermilk pancakes will completely change your breakfast game. Simply combine the batter the evening before, and come morning, breakfast is practically done for you!
I genuinely adore every single recipe I share here — you all know that by now. Lately, though, the dishes I've been putting out have gone beyond just "liked." They've graduated into staples my family can't live without, destined for the front pages of the recipe collection I plan to hand down to my grandchildren someday.
That is, if physical recipe binders still exist by then and haven't ended up behind glass in some museum.
It would be a genuine tragedy if my grandkids missed out on the unmatched delight of taping recipes to cabinet doors and whipping up a holiday feast (or, cough, a Tuesday dinner) that way. Where would they find that kind of happiness???
Fingers crossed they still have some way to get their hands on treasured family recipes like these pillowy overnight pancakes, because I am not exaggerating when I say they've shot straight to the very top of our household's all-time favorites.
Not just our top pancake list, either — we're talking the uppermost tier of every breakfast we've ever loved.
I've posted plenty of beloved breakfast recipes through the years, and while we're certainly not opposed to a bowl of cold cereal now and then, I set a goal ages ago to get something warm into my kids' bellies on most school mornings — and I've tried to stick with it as best I can (summers get a little dicey).
Hopefully it balances out the endless parade of mom mishaps they endure on the regular.
We rotate through a pretty solid lineup of breakfast staples, and we definitely go in cycles with which ones we lean on at any given time. Most days, though, mornings involve some sort of pancake, waffle, or oatmeal situation, plus a trusty kefir smoothie (or a riff on this breakfast smoothie with kefir swapped in).
I don't really sit down and map out a formal breakfast plan — I just go with whatever we have bandwidth for or whatever sounds good, and I give myself a generous mental pat on the back if I managed to think ahead the night before.
Several of our most-cooked breakfasts call for overnight prep, which turns the morning into a total breeze:
Overnight Buckwheat Oat Waffles Make-Ahead Raised Waffles Overnight Steel Cut Oats Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal Overnight Cinnamon Oatmeal Pancakes Overnight Maple and Brown Sugar Oatmeal
So when my sister Emily told me she'd stumbled across what she considered the greatest overnight pancake recipe on the planet, I'll admit I was a bit doubtful it could dethrone our current favorites (or even come close to matching this trusty fluffy sour cream pancake recipe we make on repeat, though that one doesn't technically qualify as an "overnight" recipe).
Well, I'm here to tell you this is case #3,495 of being reminded that keeping an open mind is a quality I really ought to lean into more often.
Because these pillowy overnight pancakes have absolutely blown us away.
They're outstanding. Plain and simple.
Outstanding, outstanding, outstanding.
Beyond being ridiculously simple (dump everything in one bowl, stir, chill, then cook up pancakes the next morning), the cloud-like, tender, practically dissolving-in-your-mouth texture is something else entirely.
If you've tackled yeasted waffles in the past, the concept of adding yeast to pancake batter shouldn't throw you off or catch you off guard. And if you haven't, I swear it's worth giving a shot.
The yeast does double duty — it boosts the flavor (without leaving any heavy fermented or dinner-roll taste behind), and while the batter hangs out in the fridge overnight, the yeast pulls off its quiet little science trick, guaranteeing the lightest, airiest, most irresistible pancake imaginable.
What else sets these overnight pancakes apart from the crowd?
They turn out phenomenal with regular all-purpose flour (I always reach for unbleached), but they are honestly just as incredible when you go with 100% whole wheat flour instead.
The whole wheat flour softens up beautifully as it sits overnight soaking in the buttermilk and yeast mixture, producing what might genuinely be some of the finest pancakes ever to grace a plate.
Even though we haven't formally abandoned any of our other beloved breakfast recipes, this fluffy buttermilk overnight pancake recipe is getting made on serious repeat in our house.
Rolling out of bed and being able to grab the batter straight from the fridge and have hot pancakes hitting the plate within minutes is…well, it's the kind of life-altering thing that almost — almost — turns me into a morning person.
Almost.
One Year Ago: Sweet Balsamic Glazed Pork {Slow Cooker + Instant Pot} Two Years Ago: Quick and Easy Pressure Cooker Applesauce Three Years Ago: Shepherd's Pie Four Years Ago: Death by Chocolate 7-Layer Bars Five Years Ago: Chocolate Frosted Brownies
Yield: 24 3-inch pancakes
Fluffy Overnight Buttermilk Pancakes
Total Time: 8 hours 35 mins (includes overnight chilling time)
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Ingredients
- 4 cups (20 ounces) all-purpose or whole wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast (see note for active dry yeast)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 4 cups buttermilk (see note)
- 1/4 cup neutral-flavored oil (like vegetable, canola, avocado, etc)
Directions
- In a large bowl (with room for the batter to bubble up a couple inches), whisk together the flour, yeast, baking powder, sugar, baking soda and salt.
- Add the eggs, buttermilk and oil. Mix until evenly combined (don't overmix, just mix until no dry streaks remain).
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 8 hours (or up to 24 hours).
- When ready to make the pancakes, uncover the bowl and give the batter a quick stir (just once or twice with a spoon or spatula; don't stir vigorously or overmix). Cook the pancakes on a hot griddle or skillet and serve.
Notes
If you only have active dry yeast, use the same amount and dissolve in 1/4 cup warm water. Let the mixture stand for about five minutes until it is foamy/bubbly. Add it to the pancake batter with the other wet ingredients.
I almost always make these pancakes with 100% whole wheat flour (but they are divine and almost dessert-like with all white flour); I use white wheat as opposed to red wheat (I grind hard white wheat berries in my wheat grinder – you can read more about the differences here). Hard red wheat will work as well although the pancakes will probably be darker in color and maybe slightly more dense.
Don't be alarmed if you've used whole wheat flour and the batter has a slight gray tinge on top when you uncover the bowl the next morning. It is the wheat flour reacting with the baking soda and buttermilk. Just give the batter a quick stir; it won't affect taste or texture.
Quick note about buttermilk substitutions: I almost always have storebought buttermilk on hand, and I haven't tried any substitutions for this recipe; however, if doing so, my go-to buttermilk substitution these days is equal parts sour cream and milk whisked together (gives a thicker consistency similar to buttermilk), and I think that would work well in this recipe. Another popular buttermilk sub is mixing milk and lemon juice together. That works well in a lot of recipes, but because the consistency is so much thinner than storebought buttermilk, it will definitely make for a thinner batter and I'm not sure if the pancakes will be quite as fluffy (might try adding a touch more flour to compensate?).
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Recipe Source: adapted from Taste of Home (my sister sent me the recipe after making it and loving it)
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