Delicious, fluffy salted brown butter pancakes with hints of warm, caramel-like flavor in every bite. These luxurious brown butter pancakes feel fancy but are incredibly easy to make. Add your favorite mix-ins and toppings for a wonderful breakfast or brunch!
Course Breakfast, Nut Free
Cuisine American
Keyword brown butter pancakes
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 15 minutesminutes
Total Time 30 minutesminutes
Servings 3servings
Calories 294cal
Author Monique Volz of AmbitiousKitchen.com
Ingredients
For the wet ingredients:
3tablespoonssalted butter*
1egg, at room temperature (very important)
2tablespoonsbrown sugar (or sub coconut sugar)
½tablespoonvanilla extract
1cupmilk of choice (we like unsweetened almond milk)
For the dry ingredients:
1cupall purpose flour
1tablespoonbaking powder
¼teaspoonsalt
Optional mix-ins:
¾cupfresh or frozen blueberries (if using frozen, toss berries with 1 tablespoon flour first)
⅓cupmini chocolate chips, dairy free if desired
For greasing the skillet:
Salted butter
For serving:
Extra brown butter (if you’re feeling fancy!)
Pure maple syrup
Sprinkle of sea salt
Instructions
First, brown your butter: add butter to a small saucepan and place over medium heat. The butter will begin to melt, crackle, and then eventually foam. Make sure you whisk constantly during this process. After a couple of minutes, the butter will begin to brown and turn a nice golden amber color on the bottom of the saucepan, this usually happens once it foams. Continue to whisk and remove from heat as soon as the butter begins to brown and give off a nutty aroma. Immediately transfer the butter to a medium bowl to prevent burning, making sure you scrape all the butter from the pan. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a separate large bowl, whisk together the cooled brown butter, room temperature egg, brown sugar and vanilla until it comes together, then slowly whisk in the milk.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until a batter forms (DO NOT OVERMIX or pancakes will be gummy); please note the pancake batter doesn’t need to be perfectly smooth. Gently stir in any mix-ins you are using, such as chocolate chips or blueberries. Do not overmix.
Lightly coat a griddle with butter and place over medium heat. Add 1/3 cup of the batter to the griddle for each pancake and cook for 3-4 minutes until pancakes puff up and you see bubbles along the edges. Flip cakes and cook until golden brown on underside. If you find that pancakes are browning too quickly then you need to lower the heat a bit. I normally start on medium heat, then decrease to medium low later so that my pancakes don't burn.
Wipe skillet clean and repeat with more oil and remaining batter. Makes 6 large pancakes total. I love serving my pancakes with more brown butter on top, a sprinkle of sea salt and a drizzle of pure maple syrup.
Notes
Feel free to use whole wheat flour, though I do recommend whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour for the best texture. You may need to add a tablespoon or two more milk to your batter, depending on how thick you like your pancakes. Whole grain flours tend to be more absorbent.To make gluten free: I think a 1:1 all purpose gluten free flour could work here, but I haven’t tried it so can’t be certain.