edna mae’s sour cream pancakes
making every pioneer recipe: part 19 in the morning. these pancakes were so good i wasn’t able to take a picture of them! (so i used the one in the cookbook. these pancakes are not overly sweet which is how my husband likes them. this recipe made roughly 8 pancakes. so double this if you’re making it for a crowd
ingredients:
1 cup sour cream
7 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Butter
Maple or pancake syrup
instructions:
1. Place an iron skillet or griddle over medium-low heat. You want it to get nice and hot.
2. Place the sour cream in a medium bowl. It’s the top-secret ingredient. Actually, it’s not top secret at all. But I like hyperbole. Dump in the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
3. Stir together very, very gently. I stop short of the mixture being totally combined. You want the pancakes to have some interesting texture.
4. Whisk the eggs in a separate bowl.
5. Add the vanilla and stir to combine.
6. Pour the egg mixture into the sour cream/flour mixture.
7. Stir together gently. Don’t worry about the mixture being totally combined; a little white and yellow swirling is fine!
8. Melt about a tablespoon of butter in the skillet.
Pour the batter into the skillet ¼ cup at a time.
9. Cook for 1 to 1½ minutes, then flip the pancakes over. Cook for another 45 seconds and remove to a plate. Repeat with the remaining batter.
10. Stack the pancakes as high on a plate as your appetite dictates. See how high you can go—take it on as a personal challenge!
11. Top with plenty of butter and maple syrup and eat to your heart’s desire.
Making pancakes with sour cream offers a wonderfully tender texture and a subtle tang that elevates traditional pancake recipes. I recently tried Edna Mae’s Sour Cream Pancakes using the recipe shared here, and it quickly became a breakfast favorite in my household. One tip I found helpful was not to overmix the batter—keeping some texture with gentle swirls of flour and eggs results in fluffier pancakes rather than dense ones. Using an iron skillet or griddle heated to medium-low ensures even cooking and prevents burning. Another trick I learned is to melt butter on the cooking surface before pouring the batter; this adds flavor and helps achieve a golden-brown crust. The recipe’s modest sugar content keeps the pancakes from being too sweet, which is perfect for those who prefer a less sugary breakfast. Adding vanilla extract gave it a subtle aromatic depth that made the pancakes more inviting. You can easily scale this recipe by doubling or tripling quantities when cooking for guests. Serving these pancakes with real maple syrup is ideal, but fresh fruit or a dollop of whipped cream also pairs wonderfully. I enjoyed stacking mine as high as possible, turning it into a fun challenge to see how many pancakes my stack could hold before toppling. If you want to diversify your pancakes further, consider adding a sprinkle of cinnamon or a handful of fresh blueberries to the batter before cooking. This recipe’s flexibility and delicious results make it a superb addition to any weekend breakfast lineup. Give it a try—you might find, like me, that Edna Mae’s sour cream pancakes become your go-to comfort food for mornings.