These buttermilk pancakes are a healthy and wholesome breakfast option. The secret to flavourful and fluffy gluten-free pancakes is to mix them the night before. Warm, fluffy and filling, these pancakes are sure to become a favourite!
Overnight Buttermilk Pancakes
Setting up the pancakes for an overnight ferment is not necessary. However, it means that mixing up the pancakes in the morning is really easy. As well, soaking and fermenting grains has a number of benefits:
- It breaks down anti-nutrients and hard-to-digest complex carbohydrates, so your breakfast won’t leave you feeling bloated.
- Increases the nutritional value by making the nutrients more accessible.
- Gives these pancakes a delicious, sourdough-like flavour.
- Gluten-free flours really benefit from fermenting. It improves both the texture and flavour.
Overnight culturing options
If this is your first time setting up flour to soak overnight, here are a few recommendations.
- Whole grain gluten-free flours (affiliate link) really benefit from a long soak. You can also use white rice flour or your favourite GF flour blend. However, the flavour is best with whole grain flours and the soaking and preculturing means you don’t have to use added starches for a fluffy pancake.
- This recipe can also be made with low-gluten flours like rye, barley and Kamut.
- If you don’t have buttermilk, feel free to use milk kefir or yogurt. For a dairy-free option use cultured almond milk or coconut yogurt.
Adding Flavour
These buttermilk pancakes are a perfect base for all sorts of different flavours.
Savoury pancakes are perfect for serving with eggs and sausages. When making savoury pancakes, don’t include vanilla extract or sugar. Instead, stir in one or more of the following flavours:
- Fresh herbs: parsley, chives, rosemary, basil (1/4 cup, finely chopped)
- Green onion: 1/4 cup, diced
- Parmesan cheese: 1/4 cup, grated
Traditionally pancakes are sweet, which is why I have included sugar in the recipe. However, the sugar is always optional and I usually don’t add it. For a sweet pancake without any added sugar, add in other sweet flavours like:
- Chocolate: 1/4 cup of tiny chocolate chips
- Apple cinnamon: 1/4 cup of grated apples with 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
- Blueberry: 1/4 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries, tossed in 1 Tbsp of flour before adding to the batter
- Strawberry: place sliced strawberries on top of the pancake after it has been ladled out on the grill
- Orange Julius: add 1/2 tsp of orange zest and a full 1 tsp of vanilla
For other interesting pancake flavours try making gluten-free pumpkin pancakes or spinach pancakes.
PrintGluten-Free Buttermilk Pancakes
These overnight buttermilk pancakes are a simple, healthy and delicious breakfast option. They can be served savoury or sweet. See the section above for 8 options for added flavours.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4–6 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Fermented
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 1 1/2 cups gluten-free whole grain flour (I like oat flour)
- 2 eggs
- 3 tbsp oil
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp sugar (optional)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
Instructions
- These pancakes can be mixed and made right away. For an overnight pancake option, mix the buttermilk and flour in a large glass mixing bowl. Cover with a tea towel and leave it out on the kitchen counter overnight. (At least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours).
- The next morning, start by preheating a frying pan on medium.
- Next mix the eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla extract into the buttermilk and flour.
- When the pan is hot, mix in the baking soda and baking powder. The baking soda will immediately react with the batter and start to rise.
- Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto the preheated pan. Cook until brown on both sides (about 3 minutes each side).
- Serve immediately or keep warm in a 200F oven.
Notes
- Not all gluten-free flours absorb the same amount of liquid, so you may need to adjust. If the batter seems too thin, stir in a bit more flour. If it is too thick, add a bit more buttermilk.
- Milk kefir and buttermilk can be used interchangeably. If using yogurt, avoid thick Greek-style yogurt. You may also need to add in a few extra spoonfuls of yogurt because it is thicker than buttermilk.
- For the LIGHTEST and FLUFFIEST pancakes separate the egg yolks and whites. Add the egg yolks in with the oil and vanilla. Mix the rest of the ingredients as described. Then beat the egg whites until frothy and fold the egg whites into pancake batter.
- I like using a two-burner cast iron griddle (affiliate link) so I can make 3-4 pancakes at once.
Keywords: traditional, soaked, prefermented, overnight, gluten free, chocolate, strawberry, blueberry, cheese, onion, herb, lemon
Great recipe
★★★★★
Delicious. I made these gluten free and used goat yogurt. Added cinnamon and blueberries. My oil was melted ghee. I’ve been wanting to try fermenting grains, and this was a great, simple recipe to start with.
★★★★★
Great! Prefermenting grains is easy and delicious!
Will there be any active kefir culture left after cooking? Also I am using a kefir from kefir lab that has 50 trillion cfu. Is that too much?
★★★★★
Unfortunately, the probiotics are killed during cooking.
I don’t know kefir lab, but I imagine it’s a bit more expensive. I took a quick look at kefir lab’s webpage to see what kind of cultures it uses, however, I couldn’t’ find a list of the strains. Kefir is typically cultured at room temperature, so if you want to use it for baking try making some of your own kefir. Mix a 1/4 cup of kefir lab with 2 cups of milk and leave it on the counter for 24 hours. It should have cultured by then. While it might not have the 50 trillion cfu’s, it will be sour for baking! Enjoy!