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This recipe turns sour cream into the secret ingredient for pancakes that cook up moist, fluffy, and taste like a trip to grandma’s house.
Why Make Pancakes With Sour Cream
If you love the classic taste of fluffy buttermilk pancakes and the moist texture of Greek yogurt pancakes, sour cream gives you the best of both. It adds richness and moisture while keeping the batter light. It’s also one of those ingredients that’s often on hand, already in the fridge, making this recipe practical and reliable.
Ingredients
These use all-purpose flour as the base, sugar to sweeten the batter and balance out the sour cream (you can cut it in half, but not omit it), both baking powder and baking soda for a fluffy texture, and a pinch of salt. Milk, eggs, unsalted butter, and vanilla extract make up the rest of the ingredients.
How to Make Sour Cream Pancakes
The recipe card has all the details, but the two key things to getting these pancakes just right are using the two-bowl method and letting the batter rest. You’ll mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet in another, then combine just until smooth. Let the batter sit for 5 minutes to help it hydrate, then cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes per side.
Variations & Add-Ins
- Fruit: up to 1 cup, diced small, like strawberries or whole blueberries, gently folded into the batter with a spatula right before cooking. My favorite: adding raspberries and turning these into raspberry pancakes.
- Chocolate chips: about ½ cup to the batter, folded gently.
- Banana: ½ cup mashed, mixed with the wet ingredients.
Classic Sour Cream Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch salt, omit if butter is salted
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup sour cream, any flavor
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
Make the pancake batter
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt (omit if the butter is salted).
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs. Then, add the milk, sour cream, melted butter, and vanilla. Mix until the mixture is smooth. Then, add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix the batter until no visible flour remains. Let the batter sit for 5 minutes.
Cook the pancakes
- Heat a large nonstick pan or griddle over medium heat, and once hot, grease it. Immediately, pour ¼ cup of batter per pancake, using the back of the scoop if necessary, to gently spread it on the pan. Cook the pancakes for about 2 minutes, until the edges look defined and bubbles form. Flip the pancakes over and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes on the other side.
- Keep the pancakes warm, covered on a plate or in the oven on a sheet pan at 200F while you cook the rest of the pancake batter. Tip: Flip only once and don't press them down with a spatula; you'll get dense pancakes. If your pancakes brown too quickly, rinse the pan under cold water between batches.
Serve & Store
- Serve them warm, topped with butter, maple syrup, or your favorite pancake toppings. Refrigerate leftovers for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Warm them up in the microwave or toaster.
Notes
- Full-fat or non-fat Greek yogurt works for this recipe, plain or flavored.
- Use the right baking powder: Since pancake batter naturally has a mild, neutral flavor, it’s important to use aluminum-free baking powder. The metallic flavor will ruin the taste, especially in fluffy pancake recipes that call for 2 or more teaspoons. Trust me on this one.
Sarah says
I was surprised how good these sour cream pancakes were! I’ll be making them again.
Colleen says
These pancakes had the perfect fluffy texture and the sour cream made them delicious. Very similar to what I remember from my aunt!
Lisa says
First time making these sour cream pancakes and they turned out great!
Laura Fuentes says
Thank you for sharing how much you enjoyed these, Lisa!