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Golden Diner Pancakes

These Golden Diner Pancakes are thick, fluffy, diner-style pancakes topped with warm honey butter maple syrup, whipped honey butter, and fresh lemon zest for the ultimate brunch experience.
Prep Time:35 minutes
Cook Time:10 minutes
Resting Time:1 hour
Total Time:1 hour 45 minutes
Servings: 5

Ingredients

Pancake Batter

  • tsp Active dry yeast
  • 2 cups All-purpose flour divided
  • cups Buttermilk
  • 2 Tbsp Sugar
  • ¾ tsp Baking soda
  • ½ tsp Fine salt
  • 2 Eggs
  • ¼ cup Neutral oil I use Algae Oil

Maple Honey Butter

  • ½ cup Unsalted butter softened
  • 3 Tbsp Honey
  • 2 Tbsp Maple syrup
  • ¾ tsp Fine salt

Maple Honey Syrup

  • ½ cup Unsalted butter
  • cup Honey
  • Tbsp Maple syrup
  • 1 tsp Soy sauce
  • ½ tsp Fine salt

Instructions

For The Pancake Batter

  • In a small bowl, whisk the yeast with 1 cup flour. In a small saucepan, heat the buttermilk with ¼ cup/60 grams water over medium-low heat, stirring often, until lukewarm (about 100 degrees), about 5 minutes. *Careful not to heat too fast!
  • Pour the buttermilk into the flour and whisk until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 1 hour to create a pre-ferment.

Make The Maple-Honey Butter

  • In a medium bowl, whisk the butter, honey, syrup and salt until smooth. Keep at room temperature if using within a few hours. Otherwise, refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Soften the butter and whisk it again before serving.

Make The Maple-Honey Syrup

  • Combine the butter, honey, syrup, soy sauce and salt in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-low, whisking often, until the butter melts completely. While whisking, add 1 ½ tablespoons water. Keep whisking until emulsified, then reduce the heat to the lowest setting to keep warm.
  • Finish the pancakes: Heat the oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the center. Set a metal rack in a sheet pan and place on the center oven rack.
  • After the pre-ferment has proofed for an hour, whisk the remaining 1 cup flour with the sugar, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and oil until smooth. Scrape the pre-ferment into the egg mixture, then add the dry ingredients. Gently stir with the whisk until no traces of dry ingredients remain. It’s OK if the batter is lumpy.
  • Heat one or two mini cast iron skillets (5- to 6- inches across the bottom) over medium until very hot. Nonstick works best because you won’t be greasing the pans at all. Fill each pan with batter to about ⅓-inch depth. Smooth the top to ensure the batter reaches the edges of the pan and forms a nice round. Cook until the bottom is crisp and evenly golden brown, 2 to 4 minutes, turning down the heat if the bottom browns too quickly. Flip and cook until the other side crisps and browns evenly, 1 to 3 minutes, tucking in the edges to give the pancake a nice dome.
  • Transfer the pancake from the skillet to the rack-lined pan in the oven for the centers to cook through, 2 to 5 minutes. To check, poke a paring knife in the middle and peek to see if any wet batter remains. Repeat with the remaining batter, reheating the pan between pancakes. You can serve the pancakes as they’re done or keep the earlier batches in the oven until all of the pancakes are ready.

For Serving

  • Serve one or two hot pancakes and evenly drench with the maple-honey syrup right away. Add a scoop of the maple-honey butter then zest the lemon over everything and serve immediately.