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An easy from-scratch recipe for the fluffiest and softest Sour Cream Pancakes ever. If you’re looking for a classic diner pancake recipe, this is it!
If you are looking for light, fluffy, filling, soft on the inside but crispy on the outside, next-level pancakes, these sour cream pancakes are it! These are the diner pancakes of our dreams.
If you love homemade toppings for your pancakes, check out our Blackberry Syrup, Strawberry Syrup, Peach Syrup, Sugared Strawberries, or Peach Compote.
Ingredients and Variation
See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for a full list of ingredients and measurements, but I wanted to highlight a few here because they’re both delicious and important!
- Sour Cream – this is our secret ingredient. Get excited. I used full-fat but low-fat or “light” will work as well. You can also sub in Greek yogurt or dairy-free sour cream.
- Milk – I use whole milk but 2% or buttermilk, or your favorite dairy-free milk will also work. Lactose-free milk works beautifully in this recipe.
- Baking powder – we’re using 2 heaping tablespoons of the stuff, and I highly recommend using an aluminum-free brand. If it’s not marked aluminum-free, often you get an odd aftertaste when using more than 1 tablespoon in a recipe.
- Butter – either conventional or plant-based works great here.
- Eggs – Do your best to make sure they’re at room temperature before adding to the batter.
Tips for Making Awesome Pancakes
- When you combine the dry and wet ingredients, don’t overmix. A few lumps are fine. Overmixing will result in sad flat pancakes.
- Allow the melted butter to cool for a bit before mixing up this pancake batter. When hot butter mixes with cold milk and egg, you can get a curdled texture that often leads to overmixing.
- Beat the eggs separately before adding them to the mixture. This also prevents overmixing the batter.
- Allow the batter to fully rest for 5-10 minutes while the pan or griddle preheats.
- I love using this cookie scoop to make all the pancakes the same size.
- Make one small test pancake on the preheated pan/griddle. Everyone knows that the first pancake is the “weird” pancake that will tell you that the pan is either too hot or too cold. One small test pancake allows you to get the temp just right without wasting the batter.
More Delicious Pancake Recipes
- Apple Pie Pancakes
- Oat Milk Pancakes
- Fluffy Whole Wheat Pancakes
- Gluten-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes
- Spelt Flour Pancakes
- Cinnamon Pancakes
- (technically not pancakes but still amazing) Strawberry Waffles
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- Adding chocolate chips to the pancake batter on the griddle before flipping them is a favorite of my kiddos.
- We also love to fold frozen blueberries or frozen raspberries into the batter. Toss berries in a separate bowl with 1/2 tsp of flour before adding them to the pancake batter. This prevents them from sinking to the bottom of the mixing bowl.
- Freeze leftover pancakes on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment or waxed paper. Freeze for 2 hours and then transfer to freeze storage (reusable if possible).
- Frozen pancakes are good for up to 6 months. Reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds.
- These pancakes are fluffy! If you prefer thinner pancakes, increase the milk by 1/4 cup.
- Adding a dash of cinnamon takes these pancakes to the next level.
More Delicious Breakfast Recipes
Sour Cream Pancakes
An easy from-scratch recipe for the fluffiest and softest sour cream pancakes ever. If you're looking for a classic diner pancake recipe, this is it!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter {melted and slightly cooled}{dairy-free butter works}
- 2.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp aluminum-free baking powder
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 2 eggs {beaten} {room temperature if possible}
- 1/2 cup sour cream {full-fat, reduced-fat, or fat-free}
- 1 3/4 cup whole milk {2%, buttermilk, or oatmilk works as well}
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Melt butter and set it aside for a few minutes to cool.1/4 cup butter
- Add dry ingredients to a medium mixing bowl and whisk briefly to combine.2.5 cups all-purpose flour, 2 tbsp aluminum-free baking powder, 1 tsp sea salt, 3 tbsp sugar
- Add milk, beaten eggs, melted butter, vanilla, and sour cream. Whisk briefly to combine without overmixing – some lumps are ok!1/4 cup butter, 2 eggs {beaten}, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 3/4 cup whole milk, 1 tsp vanilla
- Set batter aside while you preheat your skillet or griddle over medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes.
- Grease/butter the skillet or griddle and test one small pancake to determine if the heating temperature works for you.
- Work in batches adding ~1/4 cup of batter to the skillet or griddle. Cook until small bubbles form on top of the pancakes and the edges look golden brown.
- Flip and cook until the other side is also golden brown.
Notes
- These pancakes are fluffy! If you like thinner pancakes, increase the milk by 1/4 cup.
- When you combine the dry and wet ingredients, don’t overmix. A few lumps are fine. Overmixing will result in flat pancakes.
- Beat the eggs separately before adding them to the mixture. This prevents overmixing the batter.
- Allow the batter to fully rest for 5-10 minutes while the pan or griddle preheats.
Nutrition
Serving: 2pancakesCalories: 233kcalCarbohydrates: 30gProtein: 6gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 57mgSodium: 492mgPotassium: 142mgFiber: 1gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 330IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 254mgIron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tried this recipe?Mention @sustainablecooks or tag #sustainablecooks!
Our household loves these pancakes. But we were all wanting waffles. So we made this up exactly to recipe and they waffle up so well. Crisp outside, tender inside, perfect mouth feel for a waffle.
Absolutely delicious as pancakes or waffles.
Oh, Laurel, I have never thought about making these into waffles! But now I really want to.
Thanks for taking the time to leave a review!
Woke up with a pancake craving and whipped up a batch of these. Goes together super easy and quick, makes a fluffy, yet perfectly dense pancake. My mom declared them her second favorite pancake (second only to my husbands much more labor intensive sourdough pancakes). Added some cinnamon roll filling for extra goodness. These will be a regular recipe in our kitchen.
Awww, so happy to hear that and please tell your mom I am honored!
Ooh. These look so good. And a tip for any fellow migraine sufferers who can’t tolerate cultured dairy (sour cream, yogurt) because of the tyramine level, blended cottage cheese (I use Daisy, without added cultures) is a good substitute.
This is my third time making these (3 Saturdays in a row 😊) and they are foolproof, fluffy, and delicious! Everyone in my family is raving about them. So very happy to have found this recipe, thank you!