Perfect Fluffy Sour Cream Pancakes
I’ve never met a fluffier, more perfect pancake! These homemade sour cream pancakes are an indulgence – so delicious and incredibly quick to whip up!
Let’s talk about these pancakes.
They are a highly requested breakfast around here and are so light and so fluffy, they are what every pancake aspires to be.
Simple Pancake Batter
The batter for these sour cream pancakes is super simple and comes together fast.
Whisk together:
- Flour (all-purpose – I’ve also subbed in half whole wheat flour with good results)
- Sugar (just a tiny bit)
- Baking powder + baking soda + salt
And then stir in:
- Milk
- Eggs
- Sour cream
- Eggs
Don’t Over Mix!
As with all good homemade pancake batters, don’t over mix! The pancakes won’t be as fluffy and soft if you do.
Start mixing the batter with a rubber spatula and watch the clumps of dry ingredients closely.
Mix until those dry streaks JUST barely disappear.
A few little lumps will remain. And that’s fine! It’s what you want, actually.
How to Cook Pancakes
- Preheat a griddle or skillet/pan over medium heat until it is hot enough to sizzle a little drop of batter (but not so hot that it burns or smokes). This might be the most important step to cooking perfect pancakes!
- Drop the batter by large spoonfuls on to the hot griddle or pan. I use a #20 cookie scoop for about 1/4 cup or so of batter per pancake.
- Let the pancake sit without disturbing it! The batter will spread into a round shape. Let it cook until little bubbles start to pop at the surface (if you lift up an edge of the pancake with a turner, it should be golden brown on the bottom before flipping).
- Flip the pancake. DON’T PRESS ON THE PANCAKE AFTER FLIPPING. Let the pancake cook, adjusting the heat, if needed, until cooked through and golden on the other side.
Diner Style Flapjacks
Pancake perfection!
These fluffy sour cream pancakes are reminiscent of the pancakes you can score at any decent breakfast diner around town.
Soft but sturdy, they are epically fluffy and define breakfast comfort food at its finest.
There are no better pancakes than these, I’ll bet my last bag of chocolate chips on it.
Buttermilk Pancakes vs Sour Cream Pancakes
Buttermilk pancakes are one of the most popular pancake recipes out there. For good reason. They’re delicious!
So why does my recipe use sour cream instead of buttermilk?
Mainly, because of availability. While I love buttermilk and have many recipes that call for it, I wanted this pancake recipe to be doable for the majority, and I figured more of us keep sour cream on hand than we do buttermilk.
(And even though homemade buttermilk isn’t difficult to whip up with a bit of lemon juice and milk, in my recipe testing, the homemade buttermilk didn’t fare as well as a sub in classic buttermilk pancakes.)
What I found, when I recipe tested with sour cream, is that I love the result of using sour cream in pancakes just as much, if not more, than using buttermilk.
A Tried-and-True Favorite
These fluffy sour cream pancakes are a tried-and-true favorite. We make them very often on the weekends, but they’re quick enough to make on a weekday morning, too.
I’ve also subbed in half whole wheat flour in the recipe with great results.
The pancakes are delicious slathered in butter and maple syrup…or jam…or even just eaten plain. And they are our go-to breakfast when company comes to town. Classic and yummy, that’s a great combination!
Freezer-Friendly Pancakes
These pancakes are great for a make-ahead breakfast option. The baked and cooled pancakes can be stored in the freezer for a quick and easy breakfast!
I like to store them in a gallon-size freezer ziploc bag between sheets of wax paper or saran wrap.
They can be defrosted in the fridge overnight OR a 20-30 seconds in the microwave right before you want to eat one (or three) does the trick!
One Year Ago: Chicken and Black Bean Chili {Pressure Cooker}
Two Years Ago: Beef and Sweet Potato Stew with Corn and Green Chiles {Slow Cooker}
Three Years Ago: Cinnamon and Sugar Dusted Coconut Vanilla Breakfast Muffins
Fluffy Sour Cream Pancakes
Ingredients
- 3 cups (426 g) all-purpose flour (see note for whole wheat flour)
- 2 tablespoons (27 g) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups (340 g) sour cream
- 1 ½ cups milk
- 3 large eggs (150 g out of shell)
- 6 tablespoons (85 g) butter, melted (see note)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, milk, eggs and butter.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix with a spoon or spatula until just combined. The batter will be lumpy and it's ok if there are even a few streaks of flour here and there. Don't overmix! The key to light and fluffy pancakes is mixing just until combined.
- Let the batter rest while prepping the griddle.
- Heat a nonstick griddle to medium for 1-2 minutes until a drop of water sizzles (about 300 degrees F on my griddle, but every griddle will be a bit different).
- Pour batter into rounds on the preheated griddle (I use my #20 cookie scoop to portion out the batter which holds about 3-4 tablespoons).
- Cook until small bubbles appear on the surface and the edges are set, 1-3 minutes, depending on the heat of the griddle.
- Flip the pancakes and cook for another minute or so until golden and cooked through. Repeat with remaining batter.
- Serve immediately or keep warm in a 175 degree F oven for 15-20 minutes.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
Recipe originally published on February 2017; updated August 2022 and March 2023 with process photos, notes, etc.
184 Comments on “Perfect Fluffy Sour Cream Pancakes”
I had a lot of 4 Oz containers of strawberry banana yogurt in my fridge that I used in place of the sour cream, taking these pancakes to a whole new level of delicious!! ❤️❤️
Purrfect!
Made this morning with bacon gravy for hubby, he loved it! Did not have sausage.
Loved the taste and fluffiness!
I tried these because I had extra sour cream and didn’t want to buy buttermilk to make my usual pancake recipe. Well these are definitely going into the rotation! I used a bit less milk to keep the batter nice and thick as I prefer a thicker pancake and added vanilla extract. Next time, I’ll use a bit more salt just based on my personal preference. I found these thick, cakey, and fluffy without being too light nor overly heavy. Thanks for a great recipe!
Buttermilk is something I do not have on hand, so I made this recipe. Very fluffy. Kinda blah on taste. Maybe the quality of my sour cream made them bland.
Love this recipe! Would this work to mix ahead of time and take camping? I’m guessing I’d have to add a bit more milk as it will thicken?
Yes, it should work great!
I have made many different pancake recipes over the years and these are by far my favorite! So fluffy and delicious!
Wonderful! Best Pancake I’ve had in years!!!!
So do we even need the egg at all?
Yes, the eggs are important for this pancake batter to work out.
So do we even need the egg at all?
Forgot to give you stars in my last post! Simply the best!
Absolutely love these! My kids ask for them all the time! I just recently tried scooping them into muffin cups and baking at 350 for 15 min for “muffin pancakes” (and so mom doesn’t have to stand over the griddle and make pancakes forever ) and it’s life changing! I may have dropped a few chocolate chips and/or sprinkles on the top of each muffin pancake just for fun and voila! Your recipes are the best mels kitchen cafe!!
What a fantastic idea to bake these as muffins!
These are the best pancakes ever! I”ve been making them for years and then I saw you give a shout out to them on Instagram and realized I had never actually left a review. I think I’ve been making the at least weekly for three years. They are exactly as described – fluffy and so yummy!
The wet ingredient proportion is not enough compared to the dry. It could be better. Im a little disappointed since I’ve grown up all my life with sour cream pancakes. I really hope others had a better experience than I did.
I had some sour cream to use up so I tried this recipe. Very good pancakes. I added blueberries and raspberries and used a berry compote topping.
I subbed Oikos nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt for the sour cream and they turned out fabulous. Light and fluffy and delicious. Thanks, Mel!
These are amazing!! Thank you, Mel!!
I consider myself a pancake expert. I’m known for my pancakes. I thought I had found the holy grail of pancakes UNTIL I TRIED THIS RECIPE. Best pancakes I have ever had. Enough said!
Tried them tonight! Very very good! The kids loved them and they weren’t as hard to make as I thought either. (Bisquick girl here.)
These are incredibly good.
Great flavor and very light!
But it makes a huge amount of batter! We are only two.
Do you have measurements for a smaller batch? Or… Can you freeze pancake batter?
Hi Deborah, here is a small batch:
1 cup (142 g) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons butter
Would any changes be necessary if I’m at 5300 ft in elevation?
I’m not entirely sure since I don’t live at high altitude but you might try decreasing the baking powder and soda slightly.
I made this today and i must say, i am in love. Not only was the recipe easy to follow, the taste was FANTASTIC!!
I am 71 years. These were the best pancakes I’ve ever made and tasted!
Felt like switching up my usual weekend pancake recipe, these babies were a hit. Didn’t change or add a thing. Now just to see how they reheat- don’t judge us for having leftovers, they’re deliciously filling!!
Forgot the star rating 😉
These are the absolute best pancakes I have ever had. Seriously, they are amazing. I was never a big fan of pancakes until I made these one night. I’ve made it several times now, sometimes with sour cream and sometimes with buttermilk, and I prefer the version made with buttermilk. I’ve also used up to 2 cups of wheat flour, with good results. Thank you for the best pancakes ever!
Absolutely delicious!!
I also used to slice bananas on top of the pancakes! Lately I have just lightly mashed a couple of over ripe bananas with a fork and tossed them in the batter. My son will sneak chocolate chips into them every time. I always tell him he’s adding too many , . , but then I want the pancakes with the most chips! LOL
Absolutely delicious pancakes. Thank you.
Best homemade pancakes I have ever made no question. Totally different level. My husband can’t have sour cream so anytime he’s gone on the weekends for breakfast I’m making these.
These really are the perfect pancakes — perfectly light, spongy, fluffy and almost creamy. We all loved them and kept getting comments about the perfect texture and flavor! Thank you — highly recommend them!!
I love these pancakes, they are quick and so very delicious 🙂
I have celiac disease so I used Bob’s red mill gluten-free 1 to 1 flour (blue bag). I used vegetable oil instead of butter. These were the softest, fluffiest, best pancakes I have ever had in my entire life! Thank you so much!
I’m not usually a pancake fan, but we’ve made these multiple times now, and they are now going into permanent rotation… I’m a fan! So fluffy and not too “cakey!” Tried the banana and chocolate chip combo tonight and oh my! Will be replicating that in the future! Also, I wanted to let you know Mel how much I love reading through your commentary before making each of your recipes. I use your food blog more than any other food blog, and reading your posts is part of the experience for me… lots of love for you and this recipe! ❤️
Great recipe!!! I served them with warmed strawberry syrup ❤️
I made these this morning and they were so easy, quick, and tasty. We tried the chocolate chip banana variation on some of them and they were a hit. The cookie scoop idea was brilliant for getting them all the same size! I only had a #40 scoop, so I used two scoops, but now a #20 is on my wishlist. As always, thanks for a great recipe. Life is Good 🙂
Seriuosly, the best fluffy pancakes Ive ever had! I added a bit more sugar though but that of course depends on the sweetness level that you want. But really, so happy with this recipe. I even tried the recipe as waffles and they turned out great! My little boys love them ❤ Thank you, Mel ❤
Can I store the mixed pancake mix in the fridge? We can’t really finish 2dozen in one sitting.
Yes, it should be fine for a day or so.
I just made them into waffles and it is sooooo good. Reallt soft and fluffy Always love your recipes ❤ Thank you!
Made these today and they were amazing! Best tasting pancakes ever! I did have to add a bit more milk to the batter, but I think that might be the Texas climate? Most pancake recipes I have tried need more liquid.
Look, i know you need certain word content so your recipe will pop up, but for the love of GOD can you please include a “jump to recipe” button so we dont have to wade through that endless, endless blathering about the most trite, boring bullshit the world has ever had to suffer through, just for a god damn pancake recipe? It felt sadistic. “Haha yes, you may have my pancake recipe, but first you must read about about my pathetically boring life, and loser kids. Bwahaha!” God, if you’d have posted your grandfather’s stamp collection, and all it was was reissues of the standard american flag stamp, it would be more interesting. Please just include a button so we can jump to the recipe.
Hey Maggie, I removed your 1-star review because it didn’t appear you had actually MADE the recipe (which is the reason the star reviews exist). Also, to let you know, I do have a jump to recipe button right underneath the recipe title up there, so you should be able to avoid the endless, endless blathering much easier next time. I’m honestly not sure if you were trying to be overly clever and snarkily funny in your comment, but to me, it just came across as rude and unhappy. I am sincerely sorry for whatever may be going on in your life that would cause you to write a comment like this. I hope things look up for you soon. (Also, if you do happen to come back, there’s no reason to create secondary profiles with different names to leave additional 1-star negative reviews – I can tell the IP addresses are the same and end up deleting the duplicate negativity).
I love your recipes and your adorable stories about you and your family.
After using this recipe, I solemnly promised my family I will never use another one. This coming from a guy who took pride in my sourdough pancakes.
I made my own sour cream using fresh cream and homemade kefir. Epic sour cream pancakes! Thanks, Mel. Best wishes from your admirer in Tucson.
Those pancakes DO sound epic, James! Wow! Homemade sour cream. Love that!
Wow. What a rude comment. Many of Mel’s followers, including me, enjoy her commentary. And you display your ignorance and lack of intelligence by the fact that you missed the “jump to recipe” link at the top of the post. Mel – I love you, I love your recipes, I love everything you say.
These are perfection! Not keto-friendly for my diet, but my five littles LOVED them with chocolate chips. Thanks for putting this out there!
These sound amazing and I’d love to try them, but I’d be cooking for just one. Any idea roughly how many this recipe makes? I’d like to cut it down, but not sure if a third of the recipe will still be far too many.
It makes about 1 1/2 to 2 dozen 3 or 4 inch pancakes.
I had great results using this recipe even though I made a few edits. Firstly, I accidentally used twice as much egg. I omitted the baking powder because I didn’t have any and found that the listed baking soda amount was completely sufficient to produce the desired fluffiness of the final pancake. Finally, I substituted plain yogurt for the milk. The pancakes were very tasty and filling.
So, you really didn’t make her recipe. Interesting.
I made these and they are delicious, really wonderful texture. I let them cool, layered them on parchment paper, put them in a 2.5 gallon bag and put them in the freezer. To eat, I heat them in my toaster oven (425 3 min one side, about 4 min on the other). I love to cook and freeze and these work beautifully. Thanks for the great recipe!
I want to make homemade meals for my family the week of Thanksgiving I came across your instagram page (thanks Jen Garner) and saw these and decided to give them a try. Holy Moly, they are delish. Easy to make and very full of flavor. The recipe makes a LOT, more than my family can eat, so I am hoping they are still good as a leftover warmed up tomorrow. 🙂 Thanks, I plan to bake/cook my way through the site this week. Ill keep you updated!!! Hi from Florida
Hey Mandy! So glad you found your way here! And super happy you loved these pancakes. I hope you enjoy any other recipes you try!
I’m a breakfast anytime kind of person(breakfast, lunch, or dinner). I knew sour cream pancakes were a thing and I use some recipe before but couldn’t find it. I saw this recipe and I tried it. I don’t have to ever look further again for another recipe. This was perfect. I doubled the recipe. I thought I had enough sour cream but was just a little short. I had some buttermilk also I needed to use up and that fell just short of the recipe too. I just finished it up with 1% milk we had on hand to make the measurements equal. That was the only things I did different. They were absolutely the best. So glad I found this recipe. I’ve made pancakes for over 20 years for my family and have had some good pancake recipes but now I have one that is better than all of them.
These pancakes are so very good – I added in choc chips to some & blk berries to others, & none seemed to even need butter or syrup. What a treat! I loved these.
These were delicious! I’m babysitting right now and the boys loved these! I had to third it, and it worked beautifully!
Hi, Mel!!
I’ve been going through all your pancake recipes, making them one by one in search of that classic homemade pancake taste. No complaints from my husband these past couple of weeks being the pancake tester! I’ve made almost all of them and today after I made this one, I search no further!!! This is THE ONE!!! Oh sooooo good!!!! It just brings me back to those weekend brunches when I was little! Don’t get me wrong, I loooved your other pancake recipes, too, but this one is exactly what I was looking for!! My husband says these pancakes are the best he’s ever had; the taste is on point and oh so fluffy! He was complimenting after every bite! As always, thanks so much for sharing your recipes!!! You NEVER disappoint!!! You’re awesome!
Hi Dalia!
I add a tablespoon or two of Horlicks malt for that old time flavor. Most mixes and diners and restaurants back in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s had malted barley in them that gave them to hat fantastic flavor. I get Horlicks from the English Tea Store.
I have Mede these pancakes twice.. both times, absolutely delicious. My husband says they are the best he has ever eaten.
I just tried out this recipe and it was delicious!! Definitely the best pancakes I’ve had in a while, so thank you! Just wondering, how many calories are there per serving for this recipe?
I know you have said that you don’t like pancakes. My heart breaks a little, but I still love you. 😉 That being said, luckily, you shared these with us. I grew up eating homemade pancakes and have a hard time eating pancakes in restaurants (or yikes, out of a box) because most recipes because, well, they’re awful. I do love your oatmeal mix pancakes (they’re so nutty and delicious) but these have to rank up there with my favorite, fluffy, pancakes. They might even *yikes* be better than my mom’s (but don’t tell her!) Because of the melted butter inside of them there is no need to put butter on top because the little spots of butter inside are so perfectly delectable. Yum. Wow. I might have the leftovers for lunch. They don’t even really need syrup but they’re delicious with just a little bit! Thank you, thank you, thank you. The kids inhaled them, they were filling, and so moist and fluffy!
P.S. I had a few “taller” pancakes like someone said (I’m still trying to learn how to use my electric stove/griddle with temps and times) to “fix” that I just pushed the batter down a little as I put them on if they were too tall, and that worked and they cooked better.
I made these pancakes for my family for breakfast. They all loved it! One problem though, the pancakes were very tall. I did all the steps. I don’t know what happened. But, they were very good.
Tall meaning very fat…
I added about a 1/4 cup more of milk and a tsp of vanilla. This will be my go to pancake recipe!
Have you ever made these into waffles??
I haven’t – sorry!
I didn’t read the instructions to not mix much so my pancakes were not so fluffy. But they tasted great and rose quite high. I didn’t use butter, so I imagine there would have been better flavor but I was happy with this batch I made for my son the next morning since I tend to sleep in.
These are delicious! I made them with 2/3 home ground whole wheat that I ground pretty fine and the rest all purpose flour and they were still SO fluffy. I also did the buttermilk substitution. Worked great! So yummy and easy!
My family absolutely loves these pancakes! I wanted to share a gluten-free hack- I just tried subbing 2 cups of “Grandpa’s Kitchen” Gluten Free Baking Flour blend for the 3 cups of all purpose flour the recipe calls for, and they turned out just as fantastic as the original!
Thank you! We made these yesterday subbing cup4cup 1:1 gluten free flour for the flour and they turned out really well too!
First pancake recipe that we all liked!! This recipe is perfect for whole wheat!! I used 100% fresh ground Kamut. I love Kamut for making my own pasta – but haven’t used it for anything else. Fresh ground Kamut tastes like white flour. With the sour cream, this was AMAZING!! This is our new pancake recipe!!!
Thank you for this recipe 🙂 it worked really well. I made 1/3 of the recipe because there are only 2 of us at home and no freezer space I used 3.5oz of AP flour and 1.5oz of spelt flour. Added a tablespoon more of milk cos batter looked slightly dry due to the spelt flour. Delicious! Thank you once again!
Absolutely great! They were nice and fluffy and with very little syrup I had no need to make a cake later. The texture was good and the low 300 temperature did the trick giving it perfect consistency. This is my go to recipe for pancakes, I am sure my family will enjoy them too!!
I made these twice and my husband made them once. Mine turned out fluffy once. His were not. Not sure what happened. We’re both avid cooks. I did have my eggs as room temp though when the pancakes turned out fluffy.
Flavor suggestion: add vanilla, and increase the sugar to 4-8T (1/4-1/2c). I think pancakes should taste a little sweet even without any syrup or toppings. So I always increase the sugar content a little. As written, they were unappealing in the flavor department to me. But pretty fluffy.
Could you substitute the sour cream with Greek yogurt? I just rarely have sour cream on hand and sub Greek yogurt as toppings when I need to. Not sure if it would change the batter too much.
I haven’t tried that but usually greek yogurt makes a great sub for sour cream.
I don’t ever write reviews, but I just had to on this one. I made these on a whim after googling “sour cream pancakes” because I had a huge tub of sour cream to use.
I made them for 6 adults (two of which claimed they don’t like pancakes). I added some fresh blueberries to the batter. And oh my, every single person said they were the best pancakes they had ever had, and the two who don’t like pancakes had seconds.
I even forgot to add butter to the batter, but i did put butter on the griddle as I made them so they cooked in it.
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!
Made these for dinner tonight with 50% white whole wheat flour. Still fluffy and super yummy! Perfect for using up some sour cream that was on its way out!
OH MY GOD. What have you done. Now I have to make this pancake at least once a week. This is it. This is THE pancake recipe. Thank you so much for sharing this – you are amazing!!!
I’ve made these twice. They are a lovely texture and fluffy, but for some reason they have an eggy taste to me. It’s subtle and no one else in my family seems to notice, but I’m not a fan of that background taste.
This is definitely my new favorite pancake recipe. I’m going to have to start stocking sour cream in my fridge from now on. I have had strange results with supposedly great pancake recipes, but this one cannot be improved upon in my opinion! Today I had to sub 1/2 c Greek yogurt because I only had 1 c of sour cream and it worked like a charm.
Glad you are loving this one, Megan!
I made these yesterday and they were amazing! I’ve tried other sour cream pancake recipes, and I’m definitely going to stick with this one! We have a mini-farm with 12 chickens and a 30ft garden. Maybe it was the farm fresh eggs that made it taste so good, but nothing beats this one. This is definitely a keeper! Thank you so much for sharing your recipes!
Thanks, Maram!
I, like you, don’t love love pancakes, but I’ve been trying new recipes to see if my opinion changes (your overnight buttermilk pancakes are pretty great). I made these this weekend and subbed Greek yogurt for sour cream because that’s what I had on hand. I liked them and the huz declared them to be his favorite pancakes. I think the pancake search is over! 🙂
If I don’t want to make the whole batch can I keep the batter in the fridge?
I think so – I haven’t tried that, though. You could cut the recipe in half OR make the full batch and freeze the cooked pancakes to reheat later.
Made these as a waffle batter with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, it was out of this world!!!!
Another winner Mel!
Mel, Mel, Mel. Every time you post a pancake recipe, I think, “This is it! I’ve found the One. I’ll never find a better one!” And these are no exception. I used a can of coconut milk and milk, and subbed full-fat plain yogurt for the sour cream. I added the sliced bananas and chocolate chips like you suggested and a little sprinkle of unsweetened coconut flakes. A-MAZE-ing. Did not need syrup (but used it anyway #habit)!
I made these for my family for “breakfast for dinner” last night and they were a hit. We had the left-overs for breakfast this morning and they were just as yummy! Thanks for another great recipe!
Love breakfast for dinner!!
Wow, this recipe was so easy & the pancakes were awesome, light & fluffy. Delicious! Never making boxed mix again.
Made these tonight. I used half low fat sour cream and half regular. 1% milk. I doubled the recipe and used 2 cups whole wheat flour and 1 cup wheat germ and 3 cups regular all purpose flour. They turned out great. Thick, great flavour.
Hello, planning to make these for shrove Tuesday or it may actually happen Wednesday for us, is it ok to use low fat sour cream?. Not No fat just low fat. Plse let me know if possible thanks!,
Yes, I think low fat will work ok.
Holy guacamole. These pancakes are magical. I was out of sour cream, but the troops were starved and I had a hankering for “breakfast for dinner,” so I subbed in plain Greek yogurt with great results. I loved that I didn’t have to use one iota of butter/oil to cook them (maybe it has to do with the 6 T in the recipe…). They tasted amaaaaazing—sweet and rich, yet light and fluffy—and smelled heavenly! I think I’ll sneak in a teaspoon or two of vanilla next time—although it’s pretty impossible to improve upon perfection. Thanks for another delicious recipe, Mel! These Sour Cream Pancakes are going in the regular rotation for sure!
I’ve been making pancakes for most of my life and these were the most delicious pancakes that I’ve ever made! Scrumptious and very simple and we even added 1 cup of wheat flour. Next time, I will definitely need to double the recipe. Merci!
Thanks, Anne!
Best pancakes I’ve ever had! I used 1/2 wheat flour & 1/2 white & my kids didn’t even notice. They loved the pancakes. Thanks Mel!
Excellent, made these for our grandchildren this morning, big success!
These are DELICIOUS! I was out of milk so I was looking for a pancake recipe I could make without it. I subbed water for the milk (followed the recipe otherwise) and they turned out beautifully. And they’re very filling! I doubled the recipe for my family of 8, and there will be lots of leftovers. Thank you!
My husband has been telling me how much he hates pancakes for the entire 6 years we have been married. I made these pancakes for dinner tonight and he couldn’t stop talking about how deliciously fluffy they were! #score Thanks, Mel, for another great recipe!
My 20 year old son made this recipe yesterday morning for us, mostly for his dad who was home from work after a wound to his foot had him to the ER the night before. My son has Asperger’s and is taking learning to cook and bake with extreme earnestness and diligence and love. Since my husband couldn’t drive, (I am disabled and can’t drive anymore either) and I had used up most of the AP flour the night before, we only had self rising flour, so my son was thought he would try that and not use any other leaving agents, of course. These were such beautiful, excellent pancakes, better than the recipe we have used for buttermilk pancakes for decades now, so fluffy and light, and yet filling enough for my two men. I can’t wait to make a strawberry or blueberry syrup for them. And I especially can’t wait until my daughter is home to visit us from teaching in South Korea, we will make these for her. Just lovely, thank you.
Glad these were a hit, Jennifer! Tell your son “way to go!” from me (and I hope your husband’s foot heals quickly).
My family loved this, now we make them for guests:) worked well with half whole wheat flour.
You know this recipe must be amazing when my 12-year-old son can be bribed to do the dishes with the promise that I will make them in the morning. 🙂
Thanks for sharing this recipe. We all love them. We freeze them separated on parchment paper for about 30 minutes, then pack them into freezer bags. They reheat in the microwave beautifully well. But honestly they have only ever lasted in the freezer for a couple of days with my son around. He would eat them for every meal of the day and has even asked for them in place of dessert. 🙂
Love the freezing tip!
We’ve made these probably 5-6 times already and love them! I used all whole wheat flour each time and they taste great.
I’ve made these twice in the past two weeks and everyone liked them very much.
Glad to hear that!
I am excited to try these pancakes (especially with the banana and chocolate chips!), but I was even more excited about the griddle recommendations! My griddle gave out 2 days after this post…so I was glad to have some input from you. I’m excited to try my new BIG griddle! Thanks Mel!
Hope you love the griddle, Aubri!
We made these last week and they were good! My family still voted your zephyr pancakes as the best but we’ll definitely make these again when I don’t have heavy cream available. Thanks, Mel!
I knew these pancakes were getting great reviews, but I had no idea I would love them as much as I did!! Since I had fat free plain yogurt on hand, I subbed it in for the sour cream-still they were unbelievably amazing!!! Adding sliced bananas & choc chips sent this recipe over the top for me, as I didn’t even need to add butter or syrup to mine.
(Fam members did add a little butter & syrup.) Knowing now how incredibly yummy these are, esp w banana & choc chips, I would dash to the kitchen if I were you to make these for whatever your next meal (or snack!) is.
We love Mel’s recipe for “Zephyr Pancakes”, but decided to give this new recipe a try today, and they were amazing! Perfect pancakes. It will be our new favorite pancake recipe! I also appreciated the tip for not over-mixing the batter. I probably did too much of that in the past with other recipes, which could have contributed to some “pancake recipe failures” 🙂
Those look so amazing! ❤️
Hello Mel. Whenever I make pancakes with melted butter (which I love!) when I mix it with the cold dairy it hardens up into lumps. I have thought of melting the butter in the milk so the milk was warm but then I’m worried the eggs will scramble when I add them into the mix. Our house is cold in the mornings and hot pancakes are great … but how does one solve this problem of lumpy butter … or is it not a problem? (p.s. I don’t like oil so don’t want to substitute). Thanks.
Hey Mel, it’s usually not a problem as long as the lumps are small. You can get around this by pouring the butter into the dry ingredients and then adding the other wet ingredients.
Don’t do this! I tried pouring the melted butter into the dry ingredients last night, then added the wet. I got HUGE lumps of wet buttery flour all in my batter. After using a whisk and potato masher, I eventually had to use my hands to break up the huge lumps. The pancakes were DELICIOUS, though, so totally worth it. My kids INHALED them! I think next time I’ll go back to my old method of warming the wet ingredients if the butter hardens into lumps, then whisking, then adding to dry.
I realized today as I was making these pancakes I have an almost identical recipe for waffles that I’ve been making for years. The ratios are slightly different and the waffles include whipped egg whites. My family LOVED these pancakes!!! These are my go-to pancake recipe from now on. I’m not sure why I didn’t think on my own to make our “Fluffy Waffle” recipe into a Fluffy Pancake recipe.
Which makes me happy because now I know they’ll make great waffles!
Wow…I do not love pancakes, but I make them all the time because my kids love them. I’ve tried so many recipes and have never found one that I love, but these have changed my mind about pancakes. They are amazing! Thanks for giving me a go-to pancake recipe that I can actually enjoy eating!!
That made my day, Kara! So happy you found the one pancake recipe to stick with!
We made these for a special Valentine’s brinner tonight. So good! Thanks, Mel!
Love brinner!!
Mel, I made these this morning for a special Valentine’s breakfast for my husband. We agreed they’re the best pancakes we’ve ever eaten. I cooked the extras with the addition of some chocolate and peanut butter chips and wrapped them in plastic wrap for my granddaughter. She had them as an after school snack with a big squirt of whipped cream. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
Love this!
How thick is this batter supposed to be? Mine is muffin-batter-super thick. I am a regular cook and have been using Mel recipes since 2010 … but this looks just … off. Measured and mixed exactly as recipe instructed. Giving it a few minutes, hope it … does something … otherwise into the trash. ARGH!!! So frustrating.
Don’t throw it out! Just add a bit more milk/buttermilk/sour cream until it thins out a little. The batter is definitely considered thick, not thin, so it may be fine.
I subbed yogurt for the sour cream and my batter was SUPER thick for the first batch. I thinned it out with milk for the rest but they were all delicious.
I made these last night, and they were delicious. My little kids at all of theirs.Also, thanks for mentioning the cookie scoop. It was super useful.
Glad to hear it, Whitney!
I used greek yogurt in place of the sour cream (it’s what I had on hand!) and they were delicious! Everyone loved them.
Funny, I was going to ask Mel if I could sub greek yogurt for the sour cream. I’m glad to know it works out. Thanks!
I added just a bit extra milk because the batter was super thick but I’m not sure if it was an original measurement error or the yogurt. Super delicious!
Glad to hear that!
Yummy!! We LOVE pancakes in our house!! I usually make a large batch for supper or Saturday breakfast and the kiddos will warm up the leftovers for breakfasts the following week. (and snacks if I’d let them!) We use peanut butter instead of butter and hmmumm is it good. (not to mention healthier but shhhh don’t tell them)
Yum, those do look indulgent! But what a great treat to try–I love sour cream in anything. Hoping you had a wonderful birthday celebration and wishing you a year full of more joy and happiness!
Thank you, Teresa!
These are exactly what I was looking for to make a special little pre Valentine breakfast dinner…since mornings are a little crazy at our house! So light and delicious! Hope you had an awesome birthday! We love you so much…you do make us Rock the kitchen and that keeps our families happy! Thanks a bunch!
Thanks, Jill – and so happy you loved these little pancakes!
If you sub kefir for the sour cream as you mentioned, do you use 1 1/2 cups of kefir, and then an additional 1 1/2 cups of milk? Thank you!
I usually add 3 cups of kefir.
Thank you! I used the kefir and they turned out delicious! They were a little fragile during the “flipping” stage like you said, but no big deal. The banana and chocolate chip addition you suggested was amazing!
That’s awesome!
I have tried many pancake batter recipes and haven’t found “the one” yet. I only have cake flour and bread flour but no ap..can I use cake flour ? I’m sure bread flour would be too dense. As far as griddles I’m fortunate enough to have a boyfriend that works for a big food company and I’ve taken possession of his portable grill he is supposed to use at food shows and demos. They are the best going from making 3 pancakes at a time in a pan to 12 at once on the grill.
Awesome griddle! About cake flour, I’m not sure how 100% cake flour would do. This is just a guess, but I’d probably use 2/3 cake flour and 1/3 bread flour to get the right amount of gluten.
My oldest daughter is turning 11 on Friday and asked for pancakes with homemade strawberry raspberry topping for her family party dinner on Saturday! I’m going to make these and add a generous handful of mini chocolate chips to the batter, too!
Can’t wait to try them!
Yum!
I’m making these right now and subbed whole milk plain yogurt for the sour cream. They look amazing!
Hope they turned out well!
OMG Mell, I had no idea it was your. birthdsy last week so Happy Birthday ! I’m
sure I speak for all of your fans that we think you’re the BEST food blogger EVER!’ Not only are you hilarious and thoughtful,
but you are an amazing cook who shares the best no fail recipes. I hope your birthday was as fabulous as you !’ I LOVE your blog and LOVE your recipes !
Thanks, sweet Linda!
Can you sub nonfat plain greek yogurt for the sour cream?
Could certainly try!
I am a sucker for good pancakes. These fluffy little guys look great!
Oh, and I totally laughed out loud while reading about your two boys comments during your eat out birthday dinner. Happy late birthday!
Thanks, Nicole! 🙂
These look delicious!
Do you have a recipe section of all your 30min or less meals? I wanted to share with a friend. I thought I remembered seeing it as a button on the right side once, but maybe my tablet isn’t showing it. I searched the recipe archives but didn’t see one. Thank you!
Here you go Monica: http://www.melskitchencafe.com/30-minute-meals/
I had never heard of sour cream pancakes until we made them for my roommate in college on her birthday because they were her favorite! They’re super yummy! I’m going to try this out this week!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Sounds wonderful, Trying this recipe out today.
Do you think I could make the pancakes and freeze for later?
Also, can I use this recipe for waffles?
Yes, I think these pancakes would freeze very well. I haven’t used the recipe for waffles…but I think I’m going to make heart shaped waffles in the morning with the batter and I’ll report back!
I have a banana sour cream pancake recipe that I love; it’s similar to this but you mash the bananas and stir them into the batter. It is my favorite ever, and it works with whole wheat flour too. It’s amazing what that sour cream does to the pancakes! So good!
Awesome! Going to try to attempt to make these in heart shapes for tomorrow morning! Wish me luck! Having these for breakfast and your double chocolate mousse torte for dessert. It is going to be a great day!
Wish I was at your house! 🙂
Was just thinking of heart shaped pancakes for tomorrow and this post comes up. #mindreader ps happy birthday!!
Haha. Thanks. 🙂
These look so yummy! And your dining out experience sounds way too familiar…we try it every once in awhile with our 5 kids and we always leave thinking, “So was that supposed to be fun?” Also, I’m wondering if I could sub yogurt for the sour cream in the pancakes?
I’ve subbed yogurt for sour cream and the results are much the same.
Glad you get what I’m talking about! As for yogurt, I haven’t tried it, but it probably stands a good chance of working. Like the note I made about sour cream, though, I’d opt for a Greek yogurt that isn’t fat-free, but that’s just me.
I have been using sour cream in a variety of dishes lately, mostly with great success.. I will try this recipe for certain.. I use my CI 2 burner griddle for pancakes and love the way they cook up..
Thank you for another interesting take on a family staple… :o)
The link to the 22″ griddle is pointing to the yummy syrup from Wal-mart. Can you adjust?
Sorry about that; just fixed it.
Does it need to be full fat sour cream or would low fat sour cream work? Thanks!
I’ve made them with both; it’s probably just my imagination, but I think the full fat sour cream makes a yummier pancake (more rich and tender). But I would never go to the store to buy full fat sour cream if I had low fat in my refrigerator, so I’d say use what you have on hand (although I’d caution against using fat free sour cream).
These look great! We did our fancy family Valentine dinner yesterday and I was planning on heart-shaped pancakes for dinner on Tuesday. We will give these a try!
These look amazing! I think I’ll treat my kids (and myself!) to these for a fun Valentine’s breakfast-for-dinner. They love all variations of pancakes.
Made them and my kids loved them! I even managed to make some into heart shapes 🙂 This made a HUGE batch of pancakes!
Long live heart shaped pancakes! They keep well in the fridge to warm up for other mornings. 🙂