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    Home » Recipes » Breakfast

    The Best Pancake Recipe

    Published: Jan 22, 2020 by Modern Honey · This post may contain affiliate links · 16 Comments

    1166 shares
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    The Best Pancake Recipe. Light and fluffy buttermilk pancakes with a secret ingredient to make it extra tender. This is the only pancake recipe you will ever need! www.modernhoney.com #pancakes #pancake #breakfast #brunch

    The Best Pancake Recipe

    Light and fluffy buttermilk pancakes with a secret ingredient to make it extra tender. This is the only pancake recipe you will ever need!

    We are serious about our homemade pancakes in our home. My husband whips up a batch of buttermilk pancakes almost every single weekend. I am picky about my pancakes and we always have to have buttermilk stocked in our refrigerator at all times. It is definitely a difference maker in pancakes!

    I have been hearing about a light and fluffy pancake recipe with a secret ingredient that makes the texture just melt in your mouth. I had to try it out and after making a few tweaks to the recipe, I am sharing it with you. This is truly the best pancakes recipe!

    The Best Pancake Recipe. Light and fluffy buttermilk pancakes with a secret ingredient to make it extra tender. This is the only pancake recipe you will ever need! www.modernhoney.com #pancakes #pancake #breakfast #brunch

    So what makes a perfect pancake? In my humble opinion, it needs to have a proper balance of dry ingredients to wet ingredients. A dry pancake has too much flour or dry ingredients and not enough buttermilk, eggs, or butter. A tender pancake comes from the buttermilk or drumroll please....SOUR CREAM. Yep there's your secret ingredient. 

    The beauty of sour cream is that it does similar things as buttermilk; however, it is more of a creamy solid than buttermilk. This means you can add both buttermilk AND sour cream without the pancake batter becoming too runny and not holding its shape. This is genius! You end up with the most perfect pancake texture. These are the best sour cream pancakes! 

    The Best Pancake Recipe. Light and fluffy buttermilk pancakes with a secret ingredient to make it extra tender. This is the only pancake recipe you will ever need! www.modernhoney.com #pancakes #pancake #breakfast #brunch

    Another ingredient that is a must when making homemade pancakes is melted butter. You know I am a huge butter fan because it adds so much creamy flavor to any recipe. Also, remember to butter your skillet or griddle to give your pancakes the nice light golden color on the outside. 

    Since we want our buttermilk pancakes to be light and fluffy, whipping the egg whites and folding them into the batter creates loft. Loft is good with pancakes since we don't want them to be completely flat. Taking the time to separate the eggs and whip the egg whites is another difference maker. 

    How to make the Best Pancakes Recipe:

    1.  Start by separating the egg yolks and egg whites. Place the egg whites in a mixing bowl and beat until stiff peaks form. This is important to get that trademark fluffy pancake. Set aside.
    2. In another mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, buttermilk, and sour cream. When I am making homemade pancakes, I reach for full-fat sour cream for extra rich thickness.
    3. Slowly add in melted butter. You don't want to go crazy and dump the entire bowl of melted butter into cold buttermilk as it may curdle. Just slowly drizzle in the melted butter so it warms up slowly but surely. 
    4. Add the dry ingredients -- flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. I like to use two different leavening agents to ensure the pancakes are extra fluffy. 
    5. Carefully fold in the egg whites. Be careful not to over-stir because it may deflate the stiff egg whites. 
    6. Heat up a griddle or skillet over medium heat. You don't want it to be too hot where the outsides of the pancake become too browned before the inside is fully cooked through. Add a pat of butter to the skillet and then scoop about ⅓ cup of pancake batter onto the skillet. You can use ¼ cup, ⅓ cup, or ½ cup measuring cups depending on how large you want your pancakes to be. 
    7. Serve with butter, maple syrup, fresh berries, and whipped cream. 

    The Best Pancake Recipe. Light and fluffy buttermilk pancakes with a secret ingredient to make it extra tender. This is the only pancake recipe you will ever need! www.modernhoney.com #pancakes #pancake #breakfast #brunch

    If you love pancakes, here are some other favorite pancake recipes:
    GOLDIE'S BUTTERMILK PANCAKES
    HEALTHY BANANA OATMEAL PANCAKES
    SWEET CREAM RICOTTA PANCAKES
    COTTAGE CHEESE PANCAKES

    I love to hear from you! If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and give this recipe a rating. Sign up for my newsletter below so you never miss a recipe. Thank you for following along! I truly do have the greatest readers. FOLLOW ME ON:   INSTAGRAM — FACEBOOK— PINTEREST

    The Best Pancake Recipe. Light and fluffy buttermilk pancakes with a secret ingredient to make it extra tender. This is the only pancake recipe you will ever need! www.modernhoney.com #pancakes #pancake #breakfast #brunch

    The Best Pancake Recipe

    Modern Honey - www.modernhoney.com
    The Best Pancake Recipe. Light and fluffy buttermilk pancakes with a secret ingredient to make it extra tender. This is the only pancake recipe you will ever need!
    5 from 11 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Saved!
    Prep Time 10 mins
    Cook Time 10 mins
    Course Breakfast
    Cuisine American
    Servings 12 pancakes

    Ingredients
      

    • 2 large Eggs (separated)
    • 1 ½ cups Buttermilk
    • 1 cup Sour Cream
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
    • 4 Tablespoons Butter (melted)
    • ¼ cup Sugar
    • 2 cups Flour
    • 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
    • ¾ teaspoon Baking Soda
    • 1 teaspoon Salt
    • Butter (for griddle or skillet)

    Instructions
     

    • Heat skillet over medium heat. In a mixing bowl, whip egg WHITES until stiff peaks form.
    • In another mixing bowl, add egg yolks, buttermilk, sour cream, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Slowly drizzle in melted butter and stir.
    • Fold in sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Carefully fold in egg whites and stir just until mixed together.
    • Place a pat of butter onto skillet or griddle. Use a ¼, ⅓, or ½ measuring cup depending on how large you want your pancakes. Cook for approximately 2 minutes per side. Watch for bubbles to form on the top of the pancake and for it to turn a light golden color.
    • Serve warm with extra butter, maple syrup, fresh berries, and homemade whipped cream.

    Notes

    *adapted from Serious Eats. Changed sugar amount, added vanilla extract, increased baking soda amount. 
    Keyword best pancake recipe
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Carrie Siebert

      January 07, 2023 at 10:54 am

      Fantastic pancakes! Light, fluffy and taste great!

      Reply
    2. Angie T

      October 29, 2022 at 10:25 am

      5 stars
      I made it this morning for breakfast and it is the best pancake I ever had. It is soft, fluffy and taste so good!!! It melts in your mouth! Thank you so much for this recipe.

      Reply
    3. Ann

      March 16, 2022 at 2:23 pm

      5 stars
      YUM!! I make these for breakfast on Sunday's with buttermilk syrup and they never dissapoint 🙂

      Reply
    4. Mark M

      May 23, 2021 at 8:08 am

      5 stars
      I have been making this recipe for some time now and they are fantastically received by my family. Our all time favorite. We have some friends that need gluten free and I recently tried replacing the flour with gluten free all purpose flour with notvgreat results. Do you have any advice to get better results gluten free?

      Reply
    5. Crabby

      March 29, 2021 at 5:23 pm

      5 stars
      Delicious!,, I try new pancake recipes all the time, and these are the best! Love the taste and texture. Thank you!,

      Reply
    6. Judy Ellis

      October 10, 2020 at 2:24 pm

      5 stars
      I never leave a comment on recipes but these pancakes are great! I made these today and my entire family couldn't stop eating them and raving about them. I will be making these on a regular rotation. Thank you for all your great recipes.

      Reply
    7. Joanne Vasquez

      October 08, 2020 at 8:58 pm

      Can you use wheat flour will it still be fluffy

      Reply
    8. Donna A Pollock

      October 05, 2020 at 11:55 am

      5 stars
      What delicious pancakes these are. I have never used sour cream in mine before, but they are so good. We love pancakes at our house as well. I will be using this recipe from now on. Thank you so much for sharing.
      We also love your chocolate cake recipe. OMG it makes the very best cake ever.

      Reply
    9. Kate Parker

      April 20, 2020 at 9:08 am

      5 stars
      Amazing! We are a pancake family and these were definitely the best we’ve ever had! I didn’t have buttermilk on hand so I did the vinegar/milk mix and they turned out amazing. Also added some fresh blueberries on a couple and they were unbelievable. Couldn’t recommend highly enough!

      Reply
    10. Kevin Courtright

      March 08, 2020 at 12:23 pm

      5 stars
      These are really good! I followed the recipe as-is, and am very pleased. I found MED heat on my stove was a bit much, so I went with MED-LOW and had great results.

      Reply
    11. Nicole

      February 29, 2020 at 11:19 am

      I noticed this recipe as I was following your French bread recipe. I tried it this morning for my kids. My daughter who doesn’t really like pancakes tried them and loved them. She said they were way better than a restaurant. I did tweak a little for what I had on hand—vinegar added to milk to sub for buttermilk and vanilla yogurt for sour cream. I left out the vanilla, and only used 2 TB of butter. Good recipe! Thank you.

      Reply
    12. Elizabeth

      February 08, 2020 at 4:55 pm

      5 stars
      Meant to rate as 5 stars

      Reply
    13. Elizabeth

      February 08, 2020 at 4:51 pm

      Made these tonight. Best homemade pancakes! The texture and height were perfect. Would never make any other pancake recipe again!

      Reply
    14. Christy Kidd

      January 24, 2020 at 10:40 am

      5 stars
      I NEVER leave comments on recipes, but I just could not pass this one up! This pancake recipe is complete perfection! I am IN LOVE with it! My 1 year old son is also a huge fan! I am currently on WW, so I leave out the maple syrup which makes these bad boys ZERO points. I just had to say thank you for creating this masterpiece and I look forward to trying more of your recipes! This morning I added blueberries to the batter and it was absolutely fabulous!

      Reply
    15. AshleighS

      January 22, 2020 at 11:35 pm

      I’ve gotta try these! My favorite ones actually have ricotta cheese in them, so I imagine the sour cream will do something pretty similar to the ricotta cheese. ????????????????????

      Reply
    16. Heather

      January 22, 2020 at 8:41 pm

      Ah ha, sour cream! My favorite waffle recipe has sour cream but I never made to connection to pancakes. Thanks!

      Reply

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    Melissa Stadler Modern Honey

    Hi, I'm Melissa Stadler! I am an Award-Winning Recipe Creator. Cover of Food Network Magazine. Two-Time Pillsbury Bake-Off Finalist. I am passionate about sharing the best recipes so you have success in the kitchen!

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