If buttermilk pancake mix has turned up in a recipe or caught your eye at the store, here's what you need to use it with confidence and how to choose it, cook it, store it, what to substitute, and 7 recipes to try it in.

What is buttermilk pancake mix?

Buttermilk pancake mix is a boxed blend of flour, leavening, sugar, and salt with dried cultured buttermilk built in. You add liquid, plus egg and oil on some boxes, then griddle the batter into pancakes.

The buttermilk is the whole point. That powdered cultured dairy brings a faint tang and, paired with baking soda in the mix, a tender, light crumb that plain pancake mix does not quite match.

Compared to a plain mix, the flavor is a little richer and more sour, closer to a from-scratch buttermilk pancake.

It is the most popular pancake-mix style on the shelf, for exactly that reason.

Reading the Box: Complete vs Add-Egg

The first thing to check is whether your box is "complete." A complete mix has dried egg and more dried dairy already in it, so you stir in only water.

A non-complete or "add-egg" mix expects you to supply the egg and milk yourself. That fresh dairy and fat make a noticeably richer pancake.

The two are not interchangeable. Add eggs to a complete mix and the pancakes turn dense and eggy; use water alone on an add-egg box and they bake out lean and flat. Match what you do to what the box says.

How to Use It

The everyday job is pancakes, but the buttermilk tang carries flavor add-ins beautifully. Pear & Almond Pancakes and Yogurt-Topped Strawberry Pancakes both start from a buttermilk batter and fold fruit into it.

It goes richer too. Cheescake Pancakes with Berry-Lemon Syrup beat cream cheese into the buttermilk batter for a dense, tangy cake.

Pour the same batter into a waffle iron and the sugar and fat crisp the outside while the inside stays fluffy. Buttermilk mix makes a better waffle than a lean plain mix does.

You can also stretch it. Mom's Buttermilk Sourdough Pancakes combine the boxed mix with a sourdough starter for extra tang and lift, a good use for a hungry starter.

Mixing and Common Mistakes

The cardinal rule is do not overmix. The mix already has developed flour and leavening, so beating the batter smooth builds gluten and gives tough, rubbery pancakes. Stir until just combined and leave the lumps.

Rest the batter five minutes before you cook. The flour hydrates and the gluten relaxes, and the baking soda starts reacting with the buttermilk acid for a higher rise.

Heat matters as much as the batter. Cook on a medium griddle around 375°F (190°C) and flip only when the surface bubbles and the edges look set. Flip too early and the cake tears and stays gummy.

Watch the date. The baking soda fades over time, and stale mix gives dense pancakes that never quite lift, no matter how careful your technique.

Substitutes

No buttermilk mix? Use a plain pancake mix and add the tang yourself: replace the water with real buttermilk, or with milk soured by a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar per cup, rested a few minutes.

From scratch, whisk 1 cup flour with 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and ½ teaspoon baking soda, then add ¼ teaspoon salt and 1 cup buttermilk. That replaces about 1 cup of dry mix.

If you only have buttermilk powder, follow its package and stir it into a plain mix to rebuild the cultured flavor.

In a real pinch, plain pancake mix with a spoon of sour cream or plain yogurt in the batter gets you most of the tang and tenderness.

Buying and Storage

Buttermilk mix lives on the breakfast aisle near the syrup. Read the label for complete versus add-egg before you buy, since they cook differently.

Store it in a cool, dry cupboard sealed tight against humidity. Moisture both clumps the powder and dulls the leavening, so an opened box keeps best decanted into an airtight jar.

Most boxes carry a best-by date several months to a year out and are usually fine past it, but the baking soda is what weakens first. To test an old box, stir a spoonful into a little vinegar or buttermilk: fresh mix bubbles, flat mix gives flat pancakes.

Toss any box that smells musty or shows signs of pantry pests.

Quick facts

In Chinese

酪煎饼

British (UK) term

Buttermilk pancake mix

en français

babeurre mélange à crêpes

en español

mezcla para panqueques suero de leche

Recipes using buttermilk pancake mix

There are 7 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 7 recipes