fluffy buttermilk cornmeal pancakes

Some say National Pancake Week takes place the last week in February; some say it takes place from March 1st through Fat Tuesday; and La Fuji Mama is just so awesome that she is heading up the celebrations for the entire two weeks. I like her style. I also like pancakes. And more importantly, I like who I share my pancakes with. 

When living in Dallas, I would periodically make the three hour drive south to Austin to spend the weekend with family. Usually I wouldn't head out of town until after work on Fridays, thus making my arrival time in Austin around 10PM. My mother, being the ever so thoughtful woman that she is, would always hold off on dinner until I arrived. In true Austinite fashion, we would head over to one of the twenty-four hour, tree-huggin' hippie diners for comfort food and endless conversation. If you know Austin, you've probably already guessed that I'm referring to Magnolia Cafe and Kerbey Lane. And if you're a local, you don't need me to tell you that Magnolia has some of the best cornmeal pancakes in town.

Mom and I would spend hours catching up over cornmeal pancakes, super chicken nachos, spribiscus and orange fizz. In fact, it was just over two years ago that I sat in the Magnolia Cafe on Lake Austin Boulevard and told her that I was planning on moving to California to follow a boy. I will never forget my mother telling me that she always knew one of these days everything would work itself out with said boy. Moms know best; I'll try to never forget that one too. Two years later, over another stack of cornmeal pancakes {this time homemade}, the boy and I are discussing the plans of our upcoming move to San Diego. Big changes are unfolding and new adventures are guaranteed to be had as we head south towards new opportunities.

I'll be around San Francisco until the end of May, so if we have yet to share a meal here, drop me a line. If you are blogging from the San Diego area, drop me a line as well. I'd love to get to know you over a stack of pancakes or two.

If you're just here looking for a great cornmeal pancake recipe, this is it. Just don't forget to make yourself an orange fizz or spribiscus to go along with them by combining orange juice (or hibiscus herbal tea) and sprite in a 3 to 1 ratio over ice.

Fluffy Buttermilk Cornmeal Pancakes

adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients:

3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

2 large eggs

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, cooled

vegetable oil

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 300°F. Lightly coat griddle or heavy skillet with oil and bring to medium heat. 

Combine dry ingredients and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk buttermilk, eggs and butter until combined. Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and whisk until smooth.

Ladle batter onto hot surface (I use an ice cream scoop) and cook until bottoms are golden, about 1 1/2 minutes. Flip pancakes and cook until both sides are golden, about 1 minute. Place on an oven safe plate or cookie sheet to keep warm until ready to serve. Repeat process with the remaining batter, adding oil to your cook surface as needed.