Buttermilk pancakes

     I subscribe to a lot of cooking magazines.  Too many, really!  To rope me in, one of the cooking magazines, Cook's Illustrated threw in an "All-Time Best Recipes Foolproof Favorites from 20 years of Cook's Illustrated" as a bonus.  Looking through there, I decided there were a few things I wanted to make.  I started with Buttermilk pancakes.  Because, hey, I already had leftover buttermilk.

Best Buttermilk Pancakes from "All-Time Best Recipes Foolproof Favorites from 20 years of Cook's Illustrated"

Ingredients:

2 cups AP flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1-2 tsp. vegetable oil

Procedure:

1) Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees.  Spray wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet with vegetable oil spray; place in oven.  Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in medium bowl.  In second medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, sour cream, eggs and melted butter.  Make a well in center of dry ingredients and pour in wet ingredients; gently stir until just combined (batter should remain lumpy, with few streaks of flour).  Do not over mix.  Let batter sit for 10 minutes before cooking.
2) Heat 1 tsp. oil in 12 inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering.  Using paper towels, carefully wipe out oil, leaving thin film of oil on bottom and sides of pan.  Using 1/4 cup measure, portion batter into pan in 4 places. Cook until edges are set, first side is golden brown, and bubbles on surface are just beginning to break, 2 to 3 minutes.  Using thin, wide spatula, flip pancakes and continue to cook until second side is golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes longer.  serve pancakes immediately, or transfer to wire rack in preheated oven.  Repeat with remaining batter, using remaining oil as needed.

Buttermilk pancakes

    I will say, these were really good buttermilk pancakes.  Ironically, even though they included the sour cream as a way to get that buttermilk flavor, they didn't taste very buttermilky to me.  However, I read later that because of the flour I was using (King Arthur All Purpose), I should have added in a little bit more buttermilk to compensate for the high protein content of the flour.  Who knew?  Also, they included references as to how to make sure your skillet is hot enough: heat 1 tbsp. batter for 1 minute.  It should be golden brown.  If it is burned, your heat is too high.  If it is sandy colored, your heat is too low.  Oh, and you let the batter rest to give the gluten time to relax (stirring causes gluten to form) giving you more tender pancakes.  Cook's Illustrated usually has little extra steps like these, but they are always for a good reason. It worked for this recipe: my pancakes were tender and a lot fluffier than any other pancake I've ever eaten!