25-Minute Fluffy Lemon Pancakes
These Fluffy Lemon Pancakes are pillowy on the inside, crispy around the edges, and infused with bold and zesty lemon flavor. Under 30 minutes!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar or raw cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest zest of 1 lemon
- 1 cup milk dairy or plant-based
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice ½ lemon = approx. 2 tbsp juice
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter for frying dairy or plant-based
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add the granulated sugar and lemon zest. Use clean hands to massage the zest into the sugar, to extract the most lemon flavor from the zest and infuse it into the sugar.1 tablespoon lemon zest, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- In a measuring cup or small bowl, add the lemon juice to the milk, stir, and set aside to slightly curdle to make acidified buttermilk.1 cup milk, 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, lemon zest sugar, and salt.1 cup all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- Add the egg, vanilla extract, and your buttermilk mixture, and whisk until smooth, careful not to overbeat. You want a bubbly mixture that is thin enough to run off your spoon, but not too thin that it spreads too flat on the pan. If the mixture seems too thin at this point, you can add up to 2 more tablespoons of flour to the batter.1 large egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add butter to your griddle or frying pan and allow it to heat up on medium-high until the butter is melted.3 tablespoons unsalted butter for frying
- For the fluffiest, most perfectly round pancakes, use pancake molds. Pour batter into your molds or freeform circles onto the pan and cook over medium heat.
- When it's ready to flip, the batter on the uncooked side will start to form little air bubbles. Use a spatula to flip the pancakes, and allow them to cook on the other side for 2-3 minutes.
- Continue to fry the pancakes, 2 or 3 at a time, until all of your batter is used up, adding butter when necessary. Serve warm with maple syrup. Try them with these Vegan Breakfast Sausage Patties!
Notes
- You can easily make this recipe vegan by using flax egg in the batter and frying the pancakes in non-dairy butter.
- You can use cooking spray instead of butter for a lighter version, but these pancakes taste really good with a little crisp on the outside. Please note, you may have to leave them on your pan or griddle a bit longer to get them golden-brown if you’re using the spray.