Strawberry and Sprinkles Buttermilk Pancakes

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Buttermilk Strawberry Pancakes — These homemade pancakes are studded with diced strawberries and sprinkles. If desired, top a stack of these babies with homemade vanilla maple butter before digging in! 

stack of Buttermilk Strawberry Pancakes on white plate

The BEST Buttermilk Strawberry Pancakes

I’m not really a pancake maker. My last blog recipe for pancakes was January 2010. But these buttermilk strawberry pancakes were so good and so easy that I won’t wait three more years to post another pancake recipe.

One of the reasons I’ve never been very into pancakes is because they require some babysitting. Standing at the stove, watching, waiting, flipping; repeating. Baking French toast in a pan, especially with an overnight-make-ahead option, is easier and more efficient. Throw it all in a pan and bake; no flipping or grease splattering on my forearms required.

But some spare buttermilk needed to be used and fluffy buttermilk pancakes came about.

These are the BEST buttermilk pancakes. They’re soft, tender, fluffy, and as light as a pancake that’s loaded with sprinkles and strawberries can be. The smell of strawberries being cooked is just scrumptious, and they add texture, flavor, and remind me of warmer weather and summer days.

Sprinkles go with everything and make everything taste better, even warm, buttery pancakes loaded to the max with strawberries and dripping in syrup.

Note to self: make pancakes again sooner rather than later.

Buttermilk Strawberry Pancakes with sprinkles on two white plates

What’s in Buttermilk Strawberry Pancakes? 

These homemade pancakes contain the usual lineup of ingredients, plus a few extra special ingredients. For this easy pancake recipe, you’ll need: 

  • All-purpose flour
  • Granulated sugar
  • Baking powder
  • Baking soda
  • Salt
  • Buttermilk
  • Egg
  • Canola oil
  • Vanilla extract
  • Strawberries
  • Sprinkles

the best Buttermilk Pancakes with strawberries and sprinkles

How to Make Buttermilk Pancakes with Strawberries

To make the pancakes, combine the dry ingredients in one bowl. Pour 1 cup buttermilk in a large measuring cup, add 1 egg, oil, vanilla, and whisk to combine. Pour the wet over the dry and stir to just moisten.

The batter will be lumpy, but don’t over mix because this will develop the gluten, creating tough pancakes. The batter will also be quite thick, but if it’s too thick for your preference, add a small splash of buttermilk to thin it out.

Warm a large skillet over medium-low to medium heat, spray with cooking spray, and add 1/4 cup batter. I comfortably fit three pancakes in my skillet at once. The strawberry pancakes recipe only makes six pancakes so the total babysitting time isn’t much.

After the batter is in the skillet, add a small handful of diced strawberries to each pancake. 

Allow the pancakes to cook for about 3 minutes on the first side. That old trick about looking for bubbles to appear as your clue that the pancakes are ready to be flipped didn’t work for me. I didn’t see many bubbles even when the underside had turned golden and was time to flip. Plus, with strawberry pieces covering a majority of the surface area, it’s tricky to really see if there were bubbles present. Maybe my kitchen is just too dark or I need glasses, which are entirely possible. But after 3 minutes, I’d check to see if the underside is golden and set and prepare to flip.

stack of Buttermilk Strawberry Pancakes that's been cut into

Right before flipping the pancakes, sprinkle each one with rainbow sprinkles. Then flip and cook on the second side for about 3 minutes, or until done.

Flipping pancakes is a scary job. The only thing that’s worse is omelets. I use two spatulas (flippers) and do my best to scoop each pancake up and then plop the raw side face down, without turning my nice round discs into raggedy-looking, oblong shapes that are folded into themselves. But in the end, the oddly shaped and perfectly shaped pancakes taste the same.

Before serving, I garnished my homemade buttermilk pancakes with a few more strawberries for an extra pop of color and taste before dousing them in Vanilla Maple Butter. It’s an infusion of melted butter and warm syrup, spiked with vanilla, and it’s my favorite thing to top pancakes, French toast, and waffles with. Strawberry Butter isn’t too shabby either.

Buttermilk Strawberry Pancakes topped with maple syrup

Can I Use a Buttermilk Substitute? 

Buttermilk is a workhorse when it comes to keeping baked goods soft, light, tender and fluffy. When buttermilk meets up with baking soda, carbon dioxide bubbles form, and the bubbles create lift and lightness, keeping banana bread light and cinnamon rolls soft and fluffy. It does the same for pancakes.

If you don’t keep buttermilk on hand, add 2 tablespoons white vinegar (or lemon juice) to 1 cup regular milk, let it stand for 10 minutes to curdle, stir, and you have homemade buttermilk. Or combine 3/4 cup milk with about 1/4 cup of yogurt and stir. Don’t use buttermilk shortcuts when you’re making a fancy cake or a fussy recipe, but for pancakes, cheat freely.

easy pancake recipe made with buttermilk and strawberries

Should I Use Fresh or Frozen Strawberries? 

I used 1 cup frozen whole strawberries that I diced into smaller pieces. If using frozen fruit, don’t thaw it first; just add it frozen. It won’t bleed, run, or be as hard to work with. If you have fresh berries, great. I don’t cook much with fresh berries. They get consumed as-is and I cook and bake with frozen because frankly it’s cheaper.

piece of Buttermilk Strawberry Pancakes on fork

How to Freeze Pancakes 

Go ahead and make a double batch of these easy pancakes while you’re at it, and refrigerate or freeze the extra. Reheating them on busy weekday mornings is a great timesaver. Not as perfect as fresh, but I’ve never met a kid who would turn their nose up at homemade pancakes if their choice was leftover homemade or an Eggo.

To freeze pancakes, simply let them cool to room temperature before carefully stacking them in a freezer baggie. If you’re afraid the pancakes will get squished, first freeze them on a baking tray and then transfer them to a bag once they’re hard enough to stack. 

How to Reheat Pancakes

The easiest way to reheat frozen pancakes is in a toaster or toaster oven. You can also microwave pancakes for 30-second intervals, but microwaved pancakes tend to be a little rubbery. 

stack of Buttermilk Strawberry Pancakes on white plate

Tips for Making Buttermilk Strawberry Pancakes

If you want to use blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, a mixed berry blend, peaches, nectarines, mangoes, or another favorite fruit, feel free. Sprinkling in coconut flakes, chocolate chips, or other favorite add-in’s to the batter are fun twists. But I had sprinkles on the brain! 

And if sprinkles aren’t your thing, you can leave them out of this buttermilk pancake recipe. These will still taste amazing as classic strawberry pancakes. 

Also note that if you decide to use frozen strawberries, you don’t need to thaw them before sprinkling them onto the pancakes. You can dice them with a sharp knife (they’re softer than you’d think!) and add them to the pancakes while still cold. 

Strawberry and Sprinkles Buttermilk Pancakes - Fluffy pancakes with strawberries & sprinkles cooked right in! A fun twist on classic buttermilk pancakes that's a hit with kids & perfect for Valentine's Day!

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4.56 from 9 votes

Buttermilk Strawberry Pancakes

By Averie Sunshine
These strawberry pancakes are studded with diced berries and sprinkles. If desired, top a stack of these babies with homemade vanilla maple butter!
Prep Time: 4 minutes
Cook Time: 6 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 6 pancakes
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Ingredients  

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • pinch salt, optional
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • about 1 cup roughly chopped strawberries + additional for garnishing*
  • about 1/3 cup sprinkles, divided

Instructions 

  • In a medium mixing bowl, add flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, optional salt, and whisk to combine; set bowl aside.
  • In a large measuring cup, add 1 cup buttermilk, egg, oil, vanilla, and whisk to combine.
  • Pour wet ingredients over dry, and mix until just moistened. Don’t overmix! Lumpy batter is what you’re looking for and it’ll be quite thick. If it seems too thick for your liking, add an additional splash of buttermilk (1 to 3 tablespoons). I used 1 cup plus about 2 tablespoons.
  • Spray a large, non-stick skillet with cooking spray, and heat over medium-low to medium heat. Once skillet it hot, using a one-quarter cup measure, scoop batter into skillet. I make 3 pancakes at once. Sprinkle on about a dozen strawberries pieces to each pancake. Cook first side for about 3 minutes, or until underneath is golden and set.
  • Right before you’re ready to flip the pancake over to cook the second side, sprinkle generously with sprinkles, at least 2 tablespoons per pancake. Flip carefully and cook second side until done and golden, about 3 minutes.
  • Repeat process with remaining batter. Serve pancakes immediately with butter, jam, syrup, confectioners sugar, Strawberry Butter, Vanilla Maple Butter, or your favorite pancake topping.
  • Batch can be doubled or tripled and extra pancakes can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Reheat gently in the toaster, microwave, or over low heat in a skillet.

Notes

*You can use fresh or frozen strawberries. If using frozen, keep them frozen and dice them up as best you can.
Optional variations and substitutions: Use blueberries, blackberries, mixed berry blends, peaches, nectarines, mangoes; stir in 1/2 cup shredded coconut flakes or roughly chopped chocolate or chocolate.

Nutrition

Serving: 1, Calories: 222kcal, Carbohydrates: 31g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 9g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g, Cholesterol: 33mg, Sodium: 299mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 13g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

More Easy Strawberry Recipes: 

The Best Strawberry Banana Bread — I couldn’t get enough of this super soft, moist bread that’s bursting with juicy strawberries in every bite.

The Best Strawberry Banana Bread 

Crustless Fresh Strawberry Pie — Somewhere in between pie, cake, and blondies is what you get with this FABULOUS recipe! Take advantage of those FRESH strawberries! 

Crustless Fresh Strawberry Pie 

Strawberry Cream Cheese Shortbread Bars — The easy bars consist of a buttery shortbread crust that’s topped with a cream cheese and an almond extract flavored filling before frosting the bars and topping with strawberries.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Shortbread Bars

Strawberry Layer Cake with Strawberry Frosting — This is an easy recipe that starts with cake mix that gets doctored up with strawberry gelatin and fresh strawberries.

Strawberry Layer Cake with Strawberry Frosting

Strawberry Custard Bars — These easy, one bowl, no mixer custard bars are perfect for your fresh strawberries. There’s a shortbread crust, topped with diced strawberries, before a custard filling is poured over the the top.

Strawberry Custard Bar on white plate

Strawberry Lemonade Bars — These bars are what you’d get if you crossed a crumble-topped strawberry pie with a lemon bar. They’re sweet from the strawberries with some tart lemon flavor that peeks through.

One Strawberry Lemonade Bar on white plate

 

About the Author

Welcome to AverieCooks! Here you’ll find fast and easy recipes that taste amazing and are geared for real life. Nothing fussy or complicated, just awesome tasting dishes everyone loves!

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Please note: I have only made the recipe as written, and cannot give advice or predict what will happen if you change something. If you have a question regarding changing, altering, or making substitutions to the recipe, please check out the FAQ page for more info.

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Comments

  1. i keep scrolling and looking at your photos…these pancakes look so fun, so fresh, so delicious. i agree flipping pancakes is a scary job…i am always like please don’t break please don’t bend and fold weird. lol but always worth the effort…breakfast is such a fun meal.

  2. Sprinkles, quite simply, make EVERYTHING better. Even pancakes, which don’t need much improving upon anyways. They look SO irresistibly fluffy! And I love the strawberry addition. So fresh!

  3. These are so gorgeous and festive looking–I want these for my next birthday breakfast! :) My husband is the designated pancake flipper in our house. I can’t do it without making a mess…

    1. Well if I think I make a mess, letting my hubs try it out would be comically messy…I can see it now. We’d have pancake fragments in a pan! lol

  4. You’re so right. I stopped making pancakes for years because all I could think about was how long I’d have to stand in front of the stove, flipping batches of them to finish off the batter before I could even eat. But, then I got a craving for pancakes a few weeks ago, and I’ve been making them every weekend since! (my oatcakes, that is)
    These look AHmazing! I love sprinkles on everything! And strawberries? Yes please!

  5. What, you don’t enjoy making pancakes?! It is worth the wait and the flip!! These look so bright and festive, I’m sure Skylar was enjoying the color, sprinkles, strawberries. :) Now I’m craving pancakes… and I actually do have strawberries in the fridge. Breakfast tomorrow, perhaps!

    1. Between your last granola you made and these pancakes, we’ve got carby breakfast stuff down pat :)

  6. Pancakes used to be my favorite food of all time. If a restaurant served breakfast all day long, I would almost always get the pancake stack. I think I overdid it though and now, I rarely crave them.

    I recall making them when I worked in Panama and we’d make a huge batch and eat the leftovers for lunches all week long. It sounds weird, but a turkey and brie sandwich with pancake “bread” is fantastic. As is a straight up pb&j or pb&banana on pancakes. Delish!

  7. How cheery are these?! Even the photos make me smile. These would certainly start the day off right. Love the strawberry addition.

  8. I saw your post at work this morning, but they blocked you from me! lol You need to make pancakes more often! These are beautiful! I am a pancake freak and I simply LOVE them!! Love your sprinkles!

    1. Blocked at work..ugh, guess that’s their hint to actually be working at work :) Thanks for all the compliments!

  9. These must be Skylar’s dream breakfast…all the sprinkles and pretty colors! They look delicious and super fun to eat. I also mix butter with the maple syrup and vanilla for my boys’ pancakes. Pancakes are a regular around here and buttermilk are the favs, as are french toast and waffles, biscuits and gravy, etc! Speaking of french toast – holy Hawaiian Bread and Maple Banana Baked French Toast batman! Seriously! That stuff looks incredible! Super delicious and I just love your pics. They make such a difference in how appetizing everything looks. You’ve seen my phone pics I have sent you – GAG. :-P

    1. Foodgawker is built on beautiful pics, that’s it. It doesn’t matter if the recipe sucks, works, takes you 1 minute or 2 days. If the images don’t sell it, decline. Cold hard facts of blogging, too. I thought of you when I made these b/c I know you do a big hot breakfast every day for your kids!

    1. I just fished your comment out of my spam – sorry about that! And what’s FUN are your donut recipes. I read your book all the time. I do mean read it, too. Page by page, a few recipes at a time. I have it with about 10 others I’m reading now too :)

  10. I just made buttermilk pancakes this morning! I’m no expert but my favorite recipe is the one in Gwyneth Paltrow’s book. I tried it on a whim and wow, they are seriously amazing – tender, soft, delicate, with a nice tang. You need to let the batter sit overnight….some might consider that extra work but I like that I can prep it the night before and it’s totally worth it. And that’s my favorite way to use up leftover buttermilk. : )

  11. How could your day not be so happy after eating/looking at these gorgeous fun pancakes!?!?! They look super fluffy and tasty too! Yum! I have actually never made “buttermilk” pancakes, I must MUST change this!

  12. Averie, these pancakes are adorable!! Don’t wait another 3 years to share your pancakes with us! ;-D