In our test kitchen, everyone got pretty gushy about this tall stack — we’re certain they’re the best buttermilk pancakes. Ever. In the pan, they’re dense and easy to flip, but they land on the plate spectacularly light and fluffy in the center with a nice, buttery crisp edge. They’re made with a tiny bit of brown sugar, which gives them a subtle depth of flavor: au naturel they taste rich and special, and yet lightly sweet. That makes them the perfect companion for a pat of salty butter and a swirl of our blackberry syrup.

Even though they’re super easy to make, homemade pancakes are so comforting, and so much tastier than the instant mix variety. They give even the laziest mornings a sunny, happy vibe — if you make them for your S.O. and the kids, it’s like giving them a great, big hug. If there’s nobody in the house but you, make up a big batch for you, sweet you, and then freeze the leftover pancakes for the work week. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, so many hugs!

Our tip: If you don’t have buttermilk, you can sub in a mixture of milk and cream of tartar. We like cream of tartar better than lemon or vinegar for pancakes because it has a more neutral flavor. For 2 ½ cups of milk, you’ll want 3 ⅜ teaspoons of cream of tartar. It likes to clump, so whisk it into your dry ingredients rather than the milk.

Servings: 10 pancakes

Buttermilk Pancakes

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 Tbsp granulated sugar

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp salt

2 ¼ cups buttermilk

¼ cup whole milk

2 eggs

¼ cup melted butter

4 Tbsp vegetable oil

Blackberry syrup (see recipe below)

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, brown sugar, and salt.
2. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the buttermilk, whole milk, eggs, and melted butter. Whisk everything together gently, until a lumpy batter forms.
3. Set the batter aside to rest for 10 minutes, so that the glutens have time to relax and the starches to swell, all of which is kitchen-science speak for “makes super fluffy pancakes.”
4. In a large, nonstick pan heat 2 teaspoons of the vegetable oil over medium heat. When the oil shimmers, use a 3-ounce ladle or a ⅓ cup measure to pour the batter into the center of the pan. Cook it until bubbles form on the top of the pancake.
5. Flip the pancake over and cook for another 2 to 2 ½ minutes, and then remove them from the pan and set aside.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you run out of batter.
7. Serve the pancakes warm with a small pitcher of blackberry syrup.

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Ingredients

6 oz fresh blackberries

1 Tbsp lemon juice

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup water

¾ cup pure maple syrup

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, combine the blackberries, lemon juice, sugar, and water and cook them over medium heat for 10 minutes, or until the berries start to fall apart.
2. Mash the berries with a potato masher and reduce the heat to a bare simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Strain the berry juice into a mixing bowl and let it cool for 10 minutes. Discard the berry pulp.
4. Fold the maple syrup into the berry juice, and then pour the blackberry syrup into a small pitcher. Blackberry syrup will keep in the refrigerator for two weeks.