Lemon Breakfast Pancake (Printable Version)

Fluffy pancakes with fresh lemon zest and juice for a bright, refreshing morning meal.

# What You'll Need:

→ Dry Ingredients

01 - 1 cup all-purpose flour
02 - 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
03 - 1 teaspoon baking powder
04 - 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
05 - 1/4 teaspoon salt

→ Wet Ingredients

06 - 1 cup buttermilk
07 - 1 large egg
08 - 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
09 - Zest of 1 large lemon
10 - 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
11 - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

→ For Cooking

12 - 1 tablespoon unsalted butter or oil for greasing the pan

→ To Serve (optional)

13 - Maple syrup
14 - Fresh berries
15 - Extra lemon zest
16 - Powdered sugar

# Directions:

01 - In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until evenly mixed.
02 - In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, melted butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla extract until smooth.
03 - Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir gently just until combined; small lumps are acceptable to avoid overmixing.
04 - Preheat a nonstick skillet or griddle over medium heat and lightly grease with butter or oil.
05 - Pour 1/4 cup of batter per pancake onto the skillet. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until bubbles form on the surface and the edges appear set.
06 - Flip pancakes and cook for 1 to 2 minutes more until golden brown and cooked through. Repeat with remaining batter.
07 - Serve pancakes warm with maple syrup, fresh berries, additional lemon zest, or a sprinkling of powdered sugar as desired.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • They taste like someone actually tried to make you happy for breakfast, with that perfect balance of tangy and sweet.
  • The batter comes together in under ten minutes, which means you can sleep five extra minutes and still feed people something homemade.
  • One batch disappears faster than you'd expect, and your kitchen smells incredible the whole time.
02 -
  • Don't overmix the batter—I learned this the hard way by making rubber pancakes that my cat wouldn't eat.
  • The zest does more heavy lifting than the juice, so don't skip zesting the lemon fresh; bottled zest tastes like nothing.
  • Medium heat is everything; too high and the outside burns while the inside stays raw, too low and they get tough and pale.
03 -
  • If you don't have buttermilk, make it by whisking together milk with a splash of lemon juice or vinegar and letting it sit for five minutes—it works just as well.
  • Zest the lemon before you juice it; it's much easier to zest a whole lemon than to try extracting zest from a squeezed-out half.
  • If your first pancake comes out thick and bubbly, your heat is too high; adjust down slightly and your pancakes will cook more evenly.

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