Hamdi Saidani Pioneer Woman sour cream pancakes are light, tangy pancakes made with a full cup of sour cream and just 7 tablespoons of flour. This Drummond family recipe from Ladd’s grandmother Edna Mae comes together in about 20 minutes.
This recipe comes from Ree Drummond’s first cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl, and is published on thepioneerwoman.com. It belongs to Ladd’s grandmother Edna Mae, and Ree calls it one of the most popular recipes in the book.
The batter must stay lumpy because overmixing the small amount of flour turns the pancakes dense and chewy instead of light. Ree says not to worry about the mixture being totally combined. A few streaks of white and yellow swirling through the bowl is exactly what you want.
Pioneer Woman Sour Cream Pancakes
Description
A Drummond family recipe passed down from Ladd’s grandmother that swaps heavy flour batter for a sour cream base with barely any flour at all. The result is a tender, golden stack that stays soft in the middle and never leaves you feeling stuffed.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Whisk the eggs. Crack 2 eggs into a small bowl, add vanilla extract, and whisk until fully combined. Set aside.
- Mix the dry ingredients. Stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a separate small bowl until evenly distributed.
- Combine sour cream and dry mix. Place the sour cream in a medium bowl and add the dry ingredients. Stir very gently until just barely combined, leaving some lumps and uneven texture.
- Add the egg mixture. Pour the whisked eggs into the sour cream mixture and fold in with a few gentle strokes. Stop while streaks of white and yellow are still visible in the batter.
- Heat the griddle. Set a cast iron skillet or griddle over medium-low heat and let it get fully hot before adding any butter.
- Melt the butter. Add about 1 tablespoon of butter to the hot griddle and let it sizzle across the surface.
- Cook the pancakes. Drop batter onto the griddle using a 1/4 cup measure. Cook until bubbles form on the surface and the edges start to brown, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.
- Flip and finish. Turn the pancakes and cook the second side until deep golden brown, about 1 to 2 minutes more. They will be softer than regular pancakes, and that is normal.
- Serve. Stack the pancakes and top with softened butter and warm maple syrup.
FAQs
Why does this recipe use only 7 tablespoons of flour?
The low flour is what makes these pancakes light instead of heavy. Sour cream provides the structure that flour normally handles, holding the batter together while keeping the texture tender and almost crepe-like.
Ree says people ask about the flour amount more than anything else in this recipe. It looks wrong, but 7 tablespoons is correct. Adding more flour pushes the pancakes toward a thick, doughy texture and kills the delicate quality that makes them different from a standard stack.
Why does this recipe call for baking soda instead of baking powder?
Baking soda needs an acid to activate, and the full cup of sour cream provides exactly that. The reaction between the two creates the lift that puffs the pancakes up on the griddle without any help from extra flour.
Baking powder would work on its own since it contains built-in acid, but the flavor would change. Baking soda paired with sour cream produces a subtle tang that balances the sweetness from the sugar and syrup. That tangy quality is the signature of this recipe.
Why are these pancakes softer than regular pancakes?
The high ratio of sour cream to flour means there is not enough gluten to create the firm, springy texture of a traditional pancake. Ree warns that they will be “a little on the soft side,” and that is the goal, not a problem.
As long as both sides are deep golden brown, the pancakes are cooked through even if they feel tender on the griddle. They firm up slightly on the plate, and the softness is what makes them feel light rather than heavy.
Can you adjust the sugar amount in this recipe?
Edna Mae’s original version uses 1 tablespoon of sugar, but Ree says she sometimes bumps it to 2 or 3 tablespoons for a sweeter pancake. The printable recipe on her site lists 2 tablespoons as the default.
If you want all the sweetness to come from the syrup on top, stick with 1 tablespoon. If you like a pancake that tastes sweet on its own before any toppings, go with 2 or 3. The batter is small enough that each extra tablespoon makes a noticeable difference.
Why mix the sour cream with the dry ingredients before adding the eggs?
Adding the dry ingredients to the sour cream first lets the baking soda start reacting with the acid before the eggs go in. This gives the leavening a head start so the batter is already slightly aerated when you fold in the egg mixture.
If you dump everything in at once, you have to stir longer to distribute the dry ingredients, which means more mixing and tougher pancakes. The two-stage approach keeps handling to a minimum so the batter stays loose and full of air.
