A few years ago I read a trick somewhere for making particularly fluffy pancakes. I think it was on The Kitchn but I am not sure. Since it involved no work on my part, I tried it and have never looked back. I don't know why it works but it does, as you can see from the image above. These buttermilk pancakes are delicious, and the trick works for every type of pancake recipe.
I adapted this recipe from the King Arthur website and it makes 8 perfect medium-sized pancakes. Too much for one, but I couldn't reduce the recipe further without tampering with the structural integrity of the cakes. This will therefore make two (or three if you are not greedy) breakfasts and will keep for a couple of days in the fridge. I actually made mine as comfort food for lunch, and yes, I did have bacon too.
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp sugar
Scant 1/3 tsp baking powder
Scant 1/3 tsp baking soda
Generous pinch of salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 Tbsp vegetable oil or melted butter
1 egg, separated
Measure all of the dry ingredients into a bowl and stir to combine.
Add the wet ingredients except for the egg white and stir until the dry ingredients are combined with the wet.
Set aside to rest for fifteen minutes.
After fifteen minutes, stir in the egg white (as is, not beaten into peaks or whipped in any way.) You will notice that the batter immediately feels looser and more aerated.
Place a skillet over low heat and add just enough vegetable oil to add a sheen to the bottom of the pan. Nonstick is great for pancakes.
As soon as the oil is hot, ladle out pancakes, making sure that they are not touching in the pan.
Cook over low until small bubbles form on the surface of the pancakes and then gingerly flip them over. They should then require about thirty second to a minute more (depending on size and fluffiness) before they are done but that is something that you can very easily eyeball.
Serve with lashings of butter and more proper (ie. real) maple syrup than you should.