Having grown-up in and around Denver, Colorado, the so-called “Mile High City,” I’m accustomed to baking being a bit of a challenge, as high altitudes wreak havoc on the entire process of leavening and issues that come along with that, all the result of lower air pressure combined with a different temperature at which water turns to vapor at altitude. Add-in the high desert climate that much of the state enjoys, and it makes things like flours drier than in other places, and it becomes a real challenge to make cakes, biscuits, donuts and the like. As someone who likes a good pancake, I’ve been frustrated to say the least.
When I lived in Denver proper (the south side of the actual City and County of Denver), at an altitude of roughly 5,200 feet (1,585m) ASL, things were hard enough. But then a decade ago or so, I moved to a location where home is now nearly 6,500 feet (1,980m) ASL — enough of an increase to make things even worse. Here, there’s little issue with bread making, something I love doing. But everything else? It’s not much fun honestly.
Years ago, I found Martha Stewart’s buttermilk pancake recipe. I followed the recipe exactly, apart from reducing the amount of leavening by about 25% — a typical high altitude adjustment — and at least at Denver’s altitude, they were utter perfection… once. Every subsequent time I made the same recipe, the same way, the results were marginal at best. I still don’t understand what happened or why, and my single attempt here in the new home was even worse.
Finding a new recipe
About two years ago, I set out to try and find a better recipe, one specifically designed for those at high altitude. A web search for “high altitude pancake recipe” led me to the website of Kelley Epstein, Mountain Mama Cooks. With all due respect to Ms. Epstein, her site is much like thousands of others who all seem to use roughly the same blog template, approach, format, and presentation for their recipes. The made-for-social-media narratives and photographic perfection are just not things that appeal to me, but it must appeal to the target demographic given how many bloggers follow the same playbook. I was willing to put that aside to solve the pancake dilemma, so I read on with interest.
While I’m certain that Ms. Epstein is a talented individual and passionate about cooking, her recipe, High Altitude Pancakes with Banana Butter, posted in 2017, appears to have been a particular miss, judging from the comments. (I’m not linking to it. You can do a web search if you’re interested.) It’s not clear whether she actually made the pancakes, or tasted them if she did. The comments were not exactly glowing reviews:
“I expected fluffy, delicious pancakes, but mine turned out to be flat, extremely salty pancakes.”
“Sadly, these made super thick, hockey puck pancakes that were way too salty.”
“Inedibly salty. Please don’t waste your time and ingredients.”
Then I read the ingredients, and it was immediately obvious what the problem was; the recipe calls for 3-1/2 Tablespoons of baking powder, along with another full teaspoon of salt. There are two issues caused by this:
- The batter will end-up with a grand total of roughly 6.6g of sodium. Most of that (6g) is from the salt itself, but the 630mg or so of sodium in the baking powder doesn’t help. The recipe says it makes 6 to 8 pancakes, but if you got 8 pancakes out of it, each one would contain roughly one-third of your recommended daily intake of sodium; even more if you made 6 of them.
- I would have believed that anyone who is accustomed to high altitude baking knows that one very standard recipe adjustment is to reduce chemical leavening (e.g., baking powder, baking soda) by roughly half of normal amount above 5,000 feet (~1,500m) ASL, and to one-quarter of normal above 6,500 feet (~2,000m) ASL; you do not increase it. 3-1/2 Tablespoons of baking powder is an absolutely insanely large amount for the size of the recipe at any altitude. (Read more about high altitude baking adjustments here.)
Even normal amounts of chemical leavening, at altitude, will result in fallen baked goods. The leavening action is too rapid and too strong, and will exhaust itself before the structure is set, which then causes the baked good to fall or flatten, which is no doubt where the “hockey puck” review come from. Where the idea for 3-1/2 Tablespoons of baking powder came from I have no idea, but it still seems it’s a mistake. Even 3-1/2 teaspoons of it would be way, way too much at any altitude.
So, Ms. Epstein’s recipe was out, and I tired rapidly of trying to find another that was clearly for high altitudes, and that was tested and reviewed as being successful. It was time to just figure it out myself.
A recipe that actually works
Above, I linked to King Arthur Baking Company’s high altitude adjustments article, and it was on the King Arthur website that I finally found the starting point for a successful high altitude pancake.
The original recipe, attributed to Charlotte Rutledge, is for a classic buttermilk pancake — made at low altitude — with enthusiastic reviews. But there were two issues:
- I don’t cook for a family of 19 people — I cook for two. The recipe simply made too much.
- It’s not high altitude adjusted.
As you can read for yourself on King Arthur’s website, there are a lot of different ways to adjust a recipe for altitude, but I decided on what I felt was the most logical starting point: chemical leavening. But cutting the recipe in half introduced a natural second adjustment; I didn’t cut the “1 egg” in half, I continue to use the one whole egg. This adds a bit of extra moisture (a plus), and provides a way to reinforce the structure of the pancake a bit as it cooked.
The results were exactly what I was wanting in a pancake… Not too fluffy and crumbly and cake-like… Just the right level of “rubberiness” and structure that I expect in a pancake… Great flavor… Easy to make… And the right quantity for two hungry people on a weekend morning.
If you are cooking at low altitude, just go to the original recipe, linked above. If you’re cooking at high altitude, however, here you go… And if you need to cook for more people at high altitude, just double it. (I would, in that case, use 2 eggs, by the way.)
NOTE: I do not use volumetric measurements for dry ingredients when baking (other than tea- or Tablespoons, and not always even then). This is one of the main flaws of American baking recipes, as cups are subject to a lot of variation based on how you load the measuring cups. Get a scale, and use metric. Grams are far more precise than ounces, and easier to work with than fractions when scaling recipes.
High Altitude Buttermilk Pancakes
Ingredients
- 120g all-purpose flour
- 17g granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon double-action baking powder (if above 6,500 feet) OR 1/2 teaspoon (if 5,000 to 6,000 feet)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda (if above 6,500 feet) OR 1/2 teaspoon (if 5,000 to 6,000 feet)
- 1/4 teaspoon of table salt (optional in my view)
- 1 egg
- 1 cup buttermilk (do not substitute regular milk!)*
- 1 Tablespoon melted butter
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional, but recommended)
Directions
In one mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients, and whisk lightly to combine. In a second mixing bowl, combine the wet ingredients, drizzling the melted butter in while whisking lightly. You can do it either way, but I prefer pouring the dry ingredients into the wet, and whisking gently but quickly until the batter is mostly smooth, with some small lumps remaining. Do not over-whisk; it doesn’t need to be perfectly smooth, and you’ll be destroying the action of the baking soda in the process. Allow the batter to rest (King Arthur suggests 15 minutes), and do not stir it or mix it again from this point. While it’s resting, preheat an electric griddle to 350°F (175°C). Don’t bother with a pan on a stove; the temperature is too hard to regulate. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to dose the batter onto the griddle. Cook on the first side until bubbles are forming and it starts to look slightly dry around the edges, then flip and cook until suitably browned on that side.
TIP: King Arthur suggests buttering the griddle; I think this is good for browning and for flavor, but the textured surface of my Presto griddle seems to negate the need for it.
* Do not substitute regular milk in this recipe. The baking soda leavening action depends on the acidity present in buttermilk. Besides, it needs the flavor from it!
Lastly…
If you’re making piles of these things for a large group, you can keep them warm in a very low oven, cooking in batches. Also, they do seem to freeze rather well. I do like commercial frozen pancake makers do, and put them in bags, a stack of three or four to a bag.