The Best Pancake Recipe – This tasty pancake recipe is easy and has a secret ingredient that gives them the perfect fluffy pancake consistency.
My whole family loves this pancake recipe. This has become my go-to when we want pancakes for breakfast on the weekends.
What’s the secret ingredient that makes these pancakes the best? Sour cream. It may sound strange but it really works!
These sour cream pancakes have a butter crisp outside and the inside is so soft it’s almost creamy. To balance the flavor of the sour cream, I added more sugar. So these are actually sweeter pancakes than most. So good!
The pancake batter is made in one bowl, making this pancake recipe easy!
How to make pancakes:
- In a large bowl, add milk and sour cream.
- Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
- Whisk together.
- Add flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Stir until just combined (this batter will be VERY lumpy).
- Melt butter in a skillet over medium-low heat.
- Pour pancake batter into the skillet (about ¼ cup for each pancake).
- Cook 3-4 minutes (bubbles will form on the top of the pancakes).
- Flip and cook 1-2 minutes.
Top with maple syrup, fresh fruit, fruit syrup, nuts, chocolate chips, etc.
Looking for more great breakfast recipes? Try these:
- Sausage Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole from Amanda’s Easy Recipes
- My Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal Muffins
- My Tropical Banana Bread
- Monkey Bread Recipe from The Self Proclaimed Foodie
- Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Bake by Alexandra’s Kitchen
Watch the step by step video for The Best Pancake Recipe below:
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The Best Pancake Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Butter for greasing the pan -about 3 tablespoons
- Maple syrup for serving
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the milk, sour cream, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk until combined. It’s ok to have small lumps of sour cream.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir just until no large clumps of dry flour remain, trying not to over mix. The batter should be very lumpy.
- Melt about ½ tablespoon of butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium-low heat until lightly bubbling and light brown.
- Ladle the batter into the skillet making 3-4 pancakes (about ¼ cup of batter each). Cook 3-4 minutes, until bubbles form on top of each pancake and the bottoms are golden brown.
- Flip the pancakes. Cook 1-2 minutes, until the bottoms are golden brown.
- Carefully wipe out any excess browned butter with paper towels. Repeat with the remaining butter and pancake batter.
- Serve warm with maple syrup.
I just made these pancakes and all I can say is OMG! I have made different kinds of pancakes BUT these are the most delicious ones I have ever eaten. I believe the sour cream is the key to their flavor. I am so glad I spotted this recipe and decided to try it. I will be making them from now on. Thank you for posting this recipe on Pinterest.
Absolutely wonderful.the only thing I did different was add powdered buttermilk instead of milk and it was absolutely perfect. Thank you.
Perfect! Not to Cakey and not to Flat.. Just right
These are really good. Nice and fluffy, not too sweet, a little tang from the sour cream. Add blueberries or strawberries or chocolate chips or cream cheese frosting or walnuts or whatever. Versatile and easy and delicious!
We absolutely love this recipe and have been making it for the last couple years I believe! Hands down the best and easiest. I do have a question though…How far in advance can this be made for prep to expedite breakfast for dinner?? Thank you for this recipe!!
Delicious and so simple!!
One of my top pancake recipes! Comes together quickly and so good.
My grandkids loved them! Perfect for a Saturday morning❣️
Delicious!!!
Your right, the best pancakes I have made to date which I make often. Especially today being Shrove Tuesday and half I made this recipe.
I added fresh blueberries which added to the excellent flavour of the pancakes
My granddaughter & I tried numerous pancake recipes & this is definitely our favorite. She requests it quite often while spending time with us. I was out of sour cream so I substituted it with yogurt & they were just as good. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe.
Perfection
Only pancakes I make!! They are truly the best. Do you think I can use buttermilk I have in the fridge instead of milk this time?
When they say this recipe is foolproof they are not kidding! The man I am seeing got called into work on a Saturday leaving his kids home alone. I made due with what was in the house which meant instead of milk I used half and half and light coconut milk and instead of sour cream I used no fat Greek yogurt. Voted by all 3 kids to be the best pancakes they have ever had!
I’ve been trying out various pancake recipes every time I get a request for them from my boys. This one was the winner by a unanimous vote. I think the sour cream adds so much to the flavor, and the texture is perfect. Light but fluffy, and full of flavor. This is going to be my go-to pancake batter.
Thank you for sharing it!
My husband absolutely loves the pancakes and I love i love it 👍👍👍
Absolutely the best pancakes ever. My husband LOVES them.
I had a bunch of leftover Mexican crema so I gave this recipe a go and it really is the best pancake recipe! The fluffiest I’ve ever made!
This will be my new go-to pancake recipe!
Excellent! Very moist – kids loved it!
Just made these. Wow! Definitely fluffy and such a good mix of ingredients. Thanks for adding that you put more sugar due to the sour cream. It made a difference.
Truly is the Best Pancake Recipe ever! Mixed the whole batter, turned around, and found the 2 eggs on the counter. Ugh. Mixed them in and let the batter rest a few minutes before baking and they were still delicious! Enjoyed by all. Thank you for a delicious foolproof recipe.
Thank you so much for this recipe! It took me back to my childhood when my father would make us blueberry fritters. They were a thin crêpe like pancake with blueberries, we would eat them for dinner. These are a little thicker in consistency, but the taste is phenomenal. I highly recommend this recipe! I might try thinning the batter out to re-create my dad‘s recipe. Again thank you
I fill a small bowl with fresh organic blueberries and pour 1/2 cup of maple syrup over them and microwave for 30 seconds.
Wonderful! My family agreed they were the best batch yet! I intended to try the recipe as written but as I got going realized I didn’t have enough sour cream. I substituted 1 cup of light vanilla greek yogurt (I had made a double batch) and it worked perfectly! I can’t comment on what the sour cream would have done differently but they were so good!! Thanks!
Had no milk so used 1 cup of sour cream with 1/2 cup water and the results were fluffy and fantastic.
Delicious! Made exactly as written.
Mmm…so good.
Made this today for breakfast for dinner. This recipe lives up to its name! Smiles and full bellies all around the table. Thanks for sharing.
I didn’t have regular milk so I used the chocolate almond milk and LET ME TELL YOU! Absolutely delicious! 10 out of 10 would recommend!
Crazy good and I’m a skeptic! Lol!
(One tip- cook at a lower temp than other pancake recipes.)
My family loves this recipe! We’ve been using it for quite awhile now & will continue to use it! My husband & I were just talking about how difficult it would be to go back to a store bought pancake mix. Thanks for sharing!
We love adding pecans or walnuts to ours and love them also a little bit of cinnamon.
Amazing! Added a dash of cinnamon and legit best pancake recipe I’ve tried!
Making these for dinner as I type this. I’m actually eating them as I am cooking….. 5/5 for sure. I’ve been having poor luck with all recipes or whatever popped up first on my Google search for pancakes. Some batter I used was so thick and fluffy but dry… but this recipe is banging. Loved the texture.
Absolutely delicious, made them for my great grandchildren and they literally disappeared. Then made them again with buttermilk and they were just as good, yummy!
I added a few Tablespoons of oil which kept the pancakes super moist and tender but with a perfect texture. They were delicious and next time I wil sauté apple slices with cinnamon and add a few of them to each pancake. Thanks fir the ingenuity use of the sour cream. I will also turn this into a GF recipe fir my shag family. Win win!
I tried this recipe tonight and really enjoyed it. Like some the mix was too thin so I added more flour. Everything about the pancake was perfect. The next batch I make will be using buttermilk hope they come out the same as with the regular milk. It’s just that I prefer buttermilk pancakes.
I don’t know that I would use buttermilk as a replacement for the milk, rather I’d use it as a replacement for the sour cream. The acid in both act the same in the baking process. If you sub the milk you may end up with too much acid. Since buttermilk is thinner than sour cream I might sub the sour cream + reduce the amount of milk to even out the liquid (1/2c buttermilk and 3/4c milk).
These are amazingly fluffy and will be my go to recipe for our pancakes from now on. I did have fresh blueberries so I added some of them and a tad of lemon zest to ours. They were so, so good! Husbby was super impressed and he knows what good pancakes should be like! He commented these were the best he has had.
My son and I both agreed that these are the best pancakes I’ve ever made. Truly “the Best Pancake Recipe”! I used full fat yogurt instead of sour cream because it’s what I had and added a bit of baking soda because I’m used to that with soured milk. Also subbed in 1/3rd cup whole wheat / spelt flour mix just to up the nutrients. Wouldn’t have known there was any whole grain flour – they were so incredibly light and fluffy. Good directions on the number of minutes before flipping etc, for those of us who aren’t super experienced pancake makers.
Thanks!!
Their so fluffy and tasty I honestly didn’t think were going to come out good even though I forgot to add the sugar.🤭🤭🤭
Wonderful and easy.
My family loves these pancakes. I make them st least once a month
My grandsons say that this is the most delicious pancake recipe ever!!
I wish I would have taken a picture, these were perfect. I have never made them from scratch before and what a hit, no more box mixes for us. All on hand ingredients, easy to make and delicious and fluffy. My husband made multiple comments on how good they were.. I was pretty proud of myself. Home Run! Thank you!!!
Delicious! Thank-you!
Can this recipe be used to make waffles?
Great recipe. Tried them for the first time this morning. My grandson loved them as did the rest of us. Thanks for a great recipe. My new favorite go to!
This is the second time I made these pancakes and they are great. I did a half batch and they turned out just the same and was easy to divide which was awesome. I like how you just put together easy ingredients. No buttermilk needed!
Yeah, the best I ever had. Light, and go down easy. They’re so good you really don’t need toppings. Great job on finding this recipe.
I love this recipe my pancakes came out perfect.
Thank you
I don’t know what I did wrong but my batter was runny 😔
I think it’s your measurement.
The milk was 1 cup or 8 ounces.
Flour 1 and a 1/2 cup
I used a 1 cup and a 1/2 cup to make sure to be persiste.
The best pancake I’ve ever made. This is my third making pancake from scratch and this recipe is hands down my favorite. Try it again🥞 and have a great day.
Amazing! I didn’t have sour cream so I used Greek yogurt. I also substituted oat milk for cow milk. Even with both of these adjustments the pancakes were amazing. Thanks for a great recipe!!
Light, fluffy and rich! The family loved them.
Awesome, easy recipe!
The Pancakes were fluffy and delicious!
Adding fresh blueberries made them even better.
Definitely keep this recipe!!
I converted to 1/2 portion for 2 people.
They came out great. I ran out of regular flour but had some oat flour and used a quarter cup of that.
So light and fluffy. The taste is excellent. This has become my family favorite!
My family loves these!
Oh my gosh! My husband and I have been on the search for the best pancake recipe…WOW! We used greek yogurt because we always have that on hand…they were so delicious and fluffy!! Thank you!
Oh my oceans these are the best pancakes I’ve made so far! Fluffy and tasty!!
Fab recipe delicious made it for my husband with maple syrup & tart blackberries. Loved it
This is the best pancake ever!!!
Love this recipe! Delicious! I usually make waffles because The pancake recipes i try, are a disappointment.. too dry, not sweet enough, no flavor, too fluffy or not fluffy enough.. this recipe has flavor, it’s perfectly fluffy. The batter threw me off because all I could smell was the sour cream but once it’s cooked then you won’t notice the sour cream.
I think a 1/2 a tablespoon isn’t enough butter. I used 2 tablespoons and the pancakes got crispy on the outside and cakey on the inside.
Taste great…but no fluffiness😢 They stayed flat as a crèpe😳
Followed measurements to a “T”!
Use lactosefree milk…
??????
I added an additional half cup of flour and that solved it.
You might need new baking powder if you’re not getting any rise. Using something like Lactaid shouldn’t make any difference with pancakes.
Did you check the date on your baking powder? If your baking powder is past the expiration date then you need to get new baking powder.
Sometimes I let the batter sit for about 5 or 10 minutes before cooking. Also don’t over mix it. It’s okay to have a few small lumps.
Hope this helps.
hi Patricia,
Just problem solving for you because they turned out great for me (nothing like crepes which I make regularly)… perhaps your baking powder is old. Also, I added a good 1/4 tsp baking soda because that usually accompanies sours (vinegar, sour cream, etc). Other probs could be overmixing (keep it lumpy and dry flour barely gone) as well as letting batter sit too long before cooking.
This was a success. My husband and I really enjoyed the taste of these pancakes. 🙂
Hi there!
I made these for my first time to make pancakes ever and they were absolutely delicious! Easy straightforward recipe, and the pictures made it helpful for first time pancake-makers like me to make sure we’re on the right track as we went along. I only had light sour cream and, in the spirit of quarantine, just used that and they were still fantastic! Absolutely delicious! I’m adding them to my recipe binder now. Thank you so much for sharing! Always a thrill to find delicious, easy go-to recipes! 🙂
Debbie
I use greek yogurt instead of sour cream! Amazing!
Great idea! Thank you!!
And I sub out 1/2 cup wheat bran fir flour, add a few Tablespoons of vegetable oil, and increase milk little till it’s thin as I like. Out of this world!
Easy and so good!
They were good but way to salty
I followed the the recipe exactly as stated but I thought that they were too eggy for my taste. Like thick crepes. Sorry
These were great pancakes, fluffy and tasty.
This recipe uses baking powder, does it not require baking soda as well? I’m only inquiring because usually the two items are paired together in recipes.
Best Pancakes I have ever made. Super easy and the family just loved them!
Can i put the batter inside the fridge and use it for the next day?
I was sceptical making this recipe, but in fact it’s fantastic. Probably my favourite pancake recipe so far. Not to mention how easy is it to make.
I struggled a little with the fluffiness. The first time I whisked it too much. It had no lumps so it turned into a very tasty crepe. LOL I did it again today and the lumps had flour in them and the pancakes were still crepe-like. Any suggestions?
Help??? Anybody??
I just wanted to say, I found this pancake recipe a couple years ago and I make them almost every Saturday. My kids don’t like any other recipe if I try to mix it up. It’s great! Thank you!
The only change I made was using gluten free flour and they were fantastic.
Delicious! I made with Greek yogurt as I didn’t have sour cream And added a little vanilla bean paste. Think I’ll stick to that from now on. My Grandgirls loved them.
Amazingly delicious! I subbed plain Greek yogurt for sour cream and followed the rest of the recipe. They came out light and fluffy. Will definitely make again. Thanks
I haven’t made pancakes for a while, I decided to try these. These pancakes are delicious, I will look no farther these are the ones I make for now on.
These pancakes were excellent! Even delicious with nothing on them. Thank you so much for this recipe I will be making these again!
omg the softest and fluffiest! will be my go to pancake recipe now, thank you so much!!!
Whenever I see a recipe with five stars and a good amount of reviews I feel like I have to try it. These did not disappoint. Even though it says not to overmix I kinda had to because my son asked me to make rainbow pancakes and I had to get the food coloring mixed in. Regardless they were delish!! I can’t wait to try it again without food coloring 🤣
This was a great recipe. I just wish you could freeze them. They were a hit.
My husband likes sweet so sugar was fine, if you don’t then reduce it. Super fluffy so make sure the batter spreads out when cooking. Followed someone’s recommendation to cook in coconut oil and that was great.
Takes no time to whip up and they are so good. Great fluffy texture. Best pancakes I’ve ever had.
I dropped the sugar to a tsp. And used 1/3 buckwheat flour.
Best pancake recipe! So fluffy! I can eat this plain even with butter and syrup 🙂
These were delicious! My family of 5 loved them
Just tried these pancakes this morning and let me tell you they are the bomb. Best ones I have ever made from scratch. Will be using this recipe from now on.
Finally, THE pancake recipe to keep. It’s even good with gluten free flour, which is saying a lot.
Great taste and texture .
I substituted the dry items with a gluten free items.
Easy to make and fantastic taste & texture!
I’ve deleted all other recipes—this is my “go to” and they are FABULOUS!!
really amazing texture! I”ve tried several different recipes and I think these are the best. I think it’s the sour cream making it a really nice texture. they aren’t fry and they have a little bit of sweetness but not too much without the syrup. cook them on low bc they can burn easy! I did like a minute or a little over on each side. I also left the batter in the fridge for a little bit and they turned out amazing! totally recommend!
Great recipe
The whole family loved them!
I got yogurt instead of sour cream and it kinda went nice in fact 🙂
Good and fluffy but I stillnprefer my copycat IHOP pancakes.
Absolutely love this recipe! I’m visiting my daughter and didn’t have my go to pancake recipe with me so I looked one up. This is the one I settled on and it’s way better and much easier than the one I’ve been using for years. Thank you for sharing! This is our NEW go to recipe for pancakes from now on. 😍
I have no idea why these pancakes are marked at 5.0 stars.
I wish I could leave a photo of how my pancakes turned out. I followed the recipe exactly and it was only when I took the sour cream out of the mix is when they came out like actual pancakes. Do not recommend.
Best pancake recipe EVER!💜 I added a pinch of cinnamon, and 1 grate of fresh nutmeg. I made plain and blueberry, and WOW! Thank you for a great recipe 🙏🏾🙏🏾
Best pancake ever!!!! I added a little cinnamon and a dash of aromatherapy bitters, it was ABSOLUTELY amazing
I have made the cake by following your recipe. I wish I could send you the picture, it looks amazing. It was delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe 🙂
Can you use buttermilk instead of whole milk?
These were easy and so good!
Seriously easy and best recipe I have found hands down. So delicious!!!!
I just made these and omg they were delicious!!!!!!! So fluffy.
Best pancakes I’ve ever had by far.
Delicious and fluffy. The whole family loved them! I couldn’t make them fast enough for them.
Made these for breakfast and thought they turned out great. Love the addition of sour cream and they came together in a snap.
This recipe was simply the fluffiest pancakes I’ve made.. they’re yummy and easy to make Tanxxx <3
Delicious!!
Thanks for this lovely recipe. It’s our go-to pancake. We’re at 5,300 feet and we make it exactly per recipe. It never disappoints. We’ve also subbed yogurt for sour cream and like them both ways.
Really the best!
I just added extra vanilla because I live for it and used almond milk instead of regular milk, it came out unbelievable!!! I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so many pancakes in one setting 🥞😍🥞😍🥞😍🥞
Seriously SO good! The most fluffy and delicious pancakes I’ve made! I did replace sugar with swerve and used Greek yogurt in replace of sour cream. I’ll be making these again:)
Made these this morning, exactly as the recipe called for. These were outstanding! My 21 year old son, who is a foodie, proclaimed these “very good” and a “definite do-over”. I have a recipe book that I write down the recipes that are a hit with my family. This recipe will be going into that book today. Thank you for this little keeper!
The best pancake I’ve ever had!
Any chance of using non-dairy milk for just the milk portion on this recipe? We usually have cashew milk or other nut milks.
Has anyone tried these using buttermilk instead of regular milk?
I suggest a very low flame, don’t try to rush theough cooking these or they will burn easily.
Make sure your pan has been evenly hot for a few minutes and these come out so good!
This truly was amazing.
A family favorite 💜💜💜
Perfect texture!
Delicious! Thank you for the great recipe! My teenagers loved it for our lazy Saturday morning. So fluffy and reminiscent of Cracker Barrel’s!
Holy cow these ARE the BEST pancakes ever truly. Perfect. Don’t change a thing (ok except I used a 1/2 C scoop)
These were delicious, I added Blueberries. This is a keeper. Thank you
Best pancake mix I’ve tried thank-you Can you tell me if the batter can be made and put in the fridge over night @and it I emit the sour cream and sugar can I use the batter for fritters ? Once again a great recipe
To make them a little healthier, I used Greek Yogurt in place of the sour cream. Delicious! These will be our go-to pancake recipe! So light and fluffy and the yogurt adds a little protein.
I made them this morning and added chopped pecans just before flipping them They were delicious!
These are delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe. Absolutely the best!!
I added a bit more sugar and cocoa to the mix. Tasted similar to fudge when slightly under cooked 🙂 thanks!
Love it! New Sunday breakfast 🙂
We make this recipe almost every weekend! The kiddos love it. I can’t get away with a box anymore lol.
Yum
These pancakes are sooooo delicious! Added fresh blueberries and used buttermilk instead of milk. They were amazing!
Best pancakes!
Fluffy and delicious!
My Favorite. I am so glad I found your channel.Thank you.. You are my kitchen Angel
I really like this recipe for pancakes! I tried it for the first time last night. I didn’t have sour cream, so I used chabini greek yogurt. And I really craving some sweet yummy pancakes, so I did about 3/4 the amount of sugar and divided the batter into 3 portions. In each portion one of each: organic wild blueberries, mini chocolate chips, and about 1/4 – 1/3 nutella. They all turned out amazing! I really love this pancake recipe!!! Thanks!!!
This recipe is to die for. My I-only-eat-boxed-pancake 6yr old devours this every time (except when I put bananas!) he is now the pancake ninja! Lol
I rarely make the full batch, as it’s only 2 of us eating it. I half it with no problems and it’s delicious.
I add cinnamon cos anything sweet made with flour tastes better with it! Thank you!!!
Can you make waffles with this recipe?
I just make this pancake and my whole family loved them. Thank you!
Great recipe. Made this morning and they were delicious. -Joe
These pancakes are delicious! I made a couple changes to the recipe. I only used about 2T of sugar and I separated the whites from the eggs, beat them into stiff peaks, and folded them into the batter after I’d mixed up everything else. We added bananas…. yum.
I’ve struggled with pancake recipes all my life. This one was just perfect. Perfect !!! I made a blueberry version of it. They’re fluffy and so delicious. I’m so relieved I can stop looking now.
Phenomenal Pancakes! Hubby said best he’s ever tasted! I substituted whole milk plain Greek yogurt for the sour cream for extra protein 🙂 Delish!!!
Thank you for sharing this recipe ^_^ Looking forward to trying more!
This by far best pancake s ever, I can’t make them fast enough,
I’ve used sour cream or yogurt – whatever I have on hand, for decades. So this is not a new idea. Their addition seems to allow the pancakes to turn an even golden brown and of course adds a subtle flavor variation. Yes, buttermilk will accomplish the same thing, but you need to adjust for liquid differences.
This recipe is my new fav!
Can you use this recipe to make waffles?
These were delicious! I even used egg substitute, Trivia, and light sour cream. This will definitely replace my box mix.
Thank you!
Wow!! So good! My picky kids ate them!!!
This recipe is the best I’ve tried. The pancakes were still fluffy after I added more milk and a bit of rice water. I added about two tablespoons of mexican crema that had thickened like sour cream, 2 tablespoons of melted butter and 1 teaspoon of butter flavoring. The pancakes cooked excellent. This recipe scores high for me in regards to the texture of the pancakes. Thank you!
That’s a lot of sugar, could I reduce it? We use buttermilk in Northern Ireland, could I use it instead of the milk and cream?
Yes indeed you can use buttermilk, but then your making buttermilk pancakes and not these pancakes with sour cream which makes them fluffy much like buttermilk does.
Has anyone tried Greek yogurt substitution for the sour cream? When I bake bread, it’s a one for one substitution. I’m just curious because I sometimes bake on a whim so I may not have all the ingredients.
I have used yogurt when out of sour cream.
Made them tonite for dinner they were delicious. The little one loved making them with me…really good and recipe is easy to follow…we have a new recipe we love for pancakes..thanks for sharing
Can I substitute Stevia for sugar? As a diabetic and cancer watcher, sugar is really bad for me.
These pancakes look so delicious and fluffy, and I really appreciate the step by step photos.
Love the idea of the sour cream, too. I often use Greek yogurt in cooking as I find it has a similar result to sour cream. Got to try these soon!
Either I was really hungry or, these are the best pancakes I’ve ever eaten. Yes, definitely , the best pancakes ever. Thank you.
Everyone needs a go-to pancake recipe! I’ve struggled nailing mine down, and I’m looking forward to next weekend so I can try this one out!
the recipe is awesome, it made my day!