Preheat a sauce pot over medium heat. Add diced strawberries, sugar, water, and lemon juice. Cover and let it cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring often.
When the strawberries are softened, lower the heat to medium-low, stir in vanilla extract and cornstarch water slush. Stir the whole time as the sauce thickens. It will take a minute or so. Take off heat.
Pancakes:
Combine buttermilk, oil, eggs, vanilla extract, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk well.
Add flour, baking powder, and baking soda and mix just until smooth and combined. Don't overmix.
Fold in diced strawberries until evenly spread out.
Let the batter sit while you preheat a skillet or a griddle (cast iron is the best choice for both).It’s important to preheat the pan or the griddle first, before cooking the pancakes. Preheat it over medium heat and then lower it a little bit before adding pancake batter.
Add a little oil to the pan and spread it around to grease.
Use a 1/3 cup scoop or an ice cream scoop to get the same amount of batter for each pancake. Add the batter to the hot pan and let it cook without touching it.
Wait for the bubbles to appear all over the top, that is your indication that pancakes are ready to flip. Use a spatula to slide all the way under the pancake, lift it off, and use your wrist to quickly flip. (It will take 4-6 minutes for each pancake to cook.)
Notes
TIPS:
*Gluten Free: You can substitute 1:1 all purpose gluten free flour if you need to keep the pancakes gluten free. Note: there will be a difference in a texture due to gluten free flour.
Let the batter sit. Once you mix the strawberry pancake batter, let it sit for about 10 minutes or so while the pan heats up. This gives the baking powder enough time to activate.
Preheat the pan first – take time while batter is resting to preheat the pan. It’s important to preheat the pan or the griddle first, before cooking the pancakes. Preheat it over medium heat and then lower it a little bit before adding pancake batter. Each stove is different and so as electric heat vs gas fire. You will learn the exact setting for your stove but it should be somewhere between medium and medium-low.
Keep the pan greased. If you notice the oil starting to disappear after cooking your first few strawberry pancakes, don’t be afraid to add a little more as needed.
Don’t touch the pancake before flipping. To make sure each strawberry pancake cooks efficiently, do not move it around or peak at the other side as it cooks!
Wait for the bubbles! Wait for the bubbles to appear all over the top, that is your indication that pancakes are ready to flip.
Flip using quick wrist motion – Use a spatula to slide all the way under the pancake, lift it off, and use your wrist to quickly flip. It’s all about practice so if you didn’t get it right the first time, don’t get discouraged. Keep practicing!