While I recognize that Italy is full of stellar ingredients that I’d be hard-pressed to find in the U.S — guanciale, semola rimacinata, pecorino, crema di pistacchio to name a few — I have the inverse problem here in Rome. As an expat cooking abroad, here are a few ingredients easily found in the States that are simply not available in my adopted country, to my great dismay:

1. Marshmallows for s’mores (not the flavored ones, please — Tiger has those, and it’s just not the same);
2. Regular-sized chocolate chips (only mini chocolate chips in Italy — a great mystery to me);
3. Dark brown sugar (here you find only a very granular, light brown sugar, more suited for coffee);
4. Cheddar cheese (a true tragedy);
5. Shredded, sweeted coconut (crucial for coconut cake or macaroons!);
6. Buttermilk (read on!)

For those of you who aren’t familiar: traditionally, buttermilk was a happy side effect of homemade butter, i.e the fermented liquid that remained after churning cream into butter. Nowadays, buttermilk found in the supermarket (or not, in my case — we’ll get to that) is typically made from milk with added lactic bacteria, which leads to the production lactic acid, and subsequently: buttermilk. This acid reacts with any baking soda present in the recipe, resulting in the production of carbon dioxide gas, which causes the batter in question to rise, making for a light and fluffy final product. Indeed, buttermilk plays a big role in American cuisine; you’ll see it used in marinades for fried chicken, in salad dressings, in cornbread, in biscuits, in Red Velvet Cake, and — most iconically — in the American pancake. A stack of classic pancakes — in all its fluffy glory! — requires buttermilk. Going back to my point, however: it’s nowhere to be found among the milk, butter, and cream of the Italian supermarket’s refrigerators. What’s a Pancake Lover abroad to do?

There are ways around the buttermilk dilemma, of course: lemon juice can be added to whole milk, to encourage the aforementioned fermentation process. Plain yogurt, already tangy in nature, can step in for the buttermilk. Neither option, in my opinion, is ideal. What if a pancake craving strikes, out of the blue, on a Sunday morning? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a recipe made with ingredients you already have on hand, things like milk, eggs, and flour, rather than dashing out for lemons or yogurt? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to make stellar pancakes sans buttermilk or its fussy substitutes?!

Ladies and gentlemen: I give you perfect pancakes, made — gasp! — without buttermilk. These beauties are completely practical (made with basic ingredients you’re sure to have on hand!) and therefore easily whipped up on demand. They’re particularly ideal if you live in a country where buttermilk isn’t available, or if the idea of buying a whole carton of buttermilk to be used for just one recipe isn’t appealing. Practicality and ease aside, these pancakes also happen to be the best ones I have ever made, or eaten — this, from a blogger who named her blog Pancakes & Biscotti — and I am thrilled to have stumbled across this recipe, by chance, on a lazy Sunday morning a few weeks ago (photographic evidence below). They’re astonishingly tall, light, and fluffy — thank you, whole tablespoon of baking powder — not to mention a beautiful burnished, golden brown. They’re barely sweet, with just a dab of vanilla and only a bit of sugar, making them the perfect vehicle for a heavy pour of maple syrup and a dusting of powdered sugar. Devouring a small stack of them on a lazy weekend morning can only be described as pure joy, and what’s more: these were so tasty as to inspire strong feelings of what can only be called smugness, in the I’ve finally found a way around the buttermilk-pancake-conundrum that has plagued me my 12 years living abroad! kind of way.

As the title of the post suggests, I’m kicking off a little Brunch series for the next four or so weeks — I was that inspired by these stupendous pancakes — so stay tuned for other lovely first-meal-of-the-day recipes, both savory and sweet, just in time for the cozier weather.

A couple of notes: You could always add blueberries, bananas, or chocolate chips to these pancakes, but honestly I feel like any add-ins may interfere with their divine fluffiness. These also freeze quite nicely, especially if you’re planning a make ahead brunch. Make the pancakes, and allow them to cool completel on a wire rack, then freeze them on a baking sheet. Once frozen solid, place them in a Ziploc bag. When ready to eat your pancakes, preheat the oven to 170ºC/350ºF. Place the pancakes in a flat layer on a sheet pan and cover the pan tightly with foil. Bake for about 10 minutes, until the pancakes are warmed throughout. Finally: in my house growing up we always ate our pancakes with maple syrup that had been slightly warmed up in the microwave or over the stove. I highly recommend this.

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EASIEST, FLUFFIEST PANCAKES

Makes 12-14 pancakes. Recipe from Inspired By Taste.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons (25 grams) sugar
1 tablespoon (14 grams) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (6 grams) salt
1 1/4 cups (295 ml) whole milk
1 large egg
4 tablespoons (56 grams) unsalted butter, melted, and cooled, plus more for skillet
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Maple syrup, butter, powdered sugar, for serving.

Directions:

1.) Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and the salt in a large bowl, and set aside.

2.) Whisk together the milk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla extract in a medium bowl, until combined.

3.) Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and use a wooden spoon and stir until you no longer see clumps of flour. It is okay if the batter has small lumps – it is important not to over-mix the batter, otherwise you’ll have tough pancakes.

4.) Heat a large skillet over medium heat. The pan is ready if when you splatter a little water onto the pan surface, the water dances around the pan and eventually evaporates. Lightly brush skillet with melted butter. Use a 1/4-cup measuring cup or an ice cream scoop (or just eyeball it) spoon the batter the onto the skillet. Gently spread the batter into an even circle.

5.) When bubbles start to appear and pop on the top surfaces of the pancake (about 2 minutes), flip them over. Once flipped, cook another 1 to 2 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked in the middle. Serve immediately with maple syrup, butter, and powdered sugar.