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Brown Butter and Powdered Buttermilk Pancake Mix

Photo of a stack of pancakes on a plate with a fork.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Liza Jernow

With this shelf-stable homemade pancake mix ready to go in your pantry, you’re always minutes away from an exceptional pancake breakfast (or breakfast for dinner, live your life). The key is a combo of two powdered dairy products: buttermilk, for that perfect tang, and butter, which you’ll brown in a saucepan with half the powdered buttermilk for a touch of nuttiness. Just add eggs and—surprise!—seltzer water, which provides extra lift and fluffiness. The recipe below yields enough base for two batches of 18 pancakes each; keep the extra powdered base in an airtight container as a gift to future you.

Recipe information

  • Total Time

    20 minutes

  • Yield

    Makes 6 cups mix, enough for two batches of 18 pancakes each

Ingredients

Pancake mix

⅔

cup (65 g) powdered butter

1

cup (145 g) powdered buttermilk, divided

4

cups (500 g) all-purpose flour

¼

cup granulated sugar

4

tsp. baking powder

4

tsp. kosher salt

Pancakes

3

cups pancake mix (½ of the total mix above; reserve remainder for another time)

2

large eggs

2

cups cold seltzer water

Vegetable or canola oil, for cooking

Need to make a substitution?

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a medium saucepan, heat the powdered butter and ½ cup powdered buttermilk over medium. Cook, whisking constantly to keep from scorching and turning down burner if needed, until browned and fragrant, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool slightly.

    Step 2

    Add remaining ½ cup powdered buttermilk, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt to the bowl and whisk together. This is your pancake mix; store at room temperature in an airtight container until ready to use.

    Step 3

    For each batch of pancakes, measure pancake mix into a large bowl. In a medium bowl, beat eggs until smooth. Add seltzer and whisk to combine. Add the wet mixture to the dry and whisk to just combine.

    Step 4

    Heat a large nonstick pan over medium; use a paper towel to rub the surface with a bit of vegetable oil. Working in batches, scoop the pancake batter into the pan using a ¼ cup measure. Cook the pancakes until browned and the bubbles across the surface have popped, about 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes and cook until set through, 1–2 minutes. Continue with the remainder of the batter, adjusting the heat to keep it at medium and re-oiling the pan surface as needed.