It's a Miracle...Pancake

Mr. C is a delightful man. He's sweet, giving, and my perfect hubby. When it comes to cooking, he is always excited to eat whatever I've decided to make. He's pretty much game for anything (even my current attempt to feed him a 50% vegetarian meal plan). Well, almost anything. He hates pancakes. I mean absolutely despises them. He NEVER eats them. He complains that they are heavy and sit in his stomach for hours.

Imagine his surprise when he woke up one cold morning in January and I announced that we were having pancakes for breakfast. I told him I'd been looking through The Pioneer Woman's cookbook and found an ol' cowboy recipe for sour cream pancakes that I really wanted to try.

I asked him to give me one shot at the recipe. If he didn't like them, I'd never make them ever again. He nervously agreed.

The recipe is super simple and comes together very quickly. The batter is very light and fluffy. It's made with a full cup of sour cream and very little flour. PW says to cook the pancakes on a buttered griddle. I'm always a non-stick spray type of girl, but I decided to throw cholesterol to the wind on this one and butter the griddle right up.

PW also says to cook the pancakes over med-low heat. If you do nothing else according to the recipe, obey this direction. The pancakes cook SUPER fast, only 60-90 seconds per side, at the low heat.

If you attempt to cook them on a higher heat, like I did with my first batch, they will burn. Like I said, if you do nothing else, obey the heat advisory.

Look how fluffy those little beauties are!

I served Mr. C a small stack with some syrup.

He ate one bite...then another...and another. We had a pancake miracle!

He loved them. LOVED, LOVED, LOVED them!

Since Mr. C's brave venture in to pancake land back in January, we've had sour cream pancakes almost every weekend since. He even takes the leftovers to work for breakfast...if there are any left. I also served them to my mom and sis when they were visiting. They both loved them too--and my mom is not a breakfast eater. There is no other way to say it, these pancakes are just plain light, fluffy, and yummy.

I suggest you try them for breakfast as soon as possible.

Edna Mae's Sour Cream Pancakes
1 c sour cream
7 T flour
1 T sugar
1 t baking soda
1/2 salt
2 large eggs
1/2 t vanilla (although I use more)
butter
Place an iron skillet or griddle over medium-low heat. You want to get it nice and hot. Place the sour cream in a medium bowl. Dump in the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Stir together very, very gently. Stop short of totally combining the mixture. Whisk the eggs in a separate bowl. Add the vanilla and stir to combine. Pour the egg mixture into the sour cream/flour mixture. Stir together gently. Don't worry about the mixture being totally combined, a little white and yellow swirl is fine. Melt about a tablespoon of butter in the skillet. Pour the batter into the skillet, 1/4 c. at a time. Cooke for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, then flip. Cook for another 45 seconds and remove to a plate. Makes about 12 4-inch pancakes.

My side note: I have found that 1/4 c. of batter per pancake is WAY too much. Because these pancakes are so light and fluffy, they can be tough to flip. I measure my pancakes using a 2 T. measuring spoon. This makes a perfect size pancake and makes flipping more manageable...although they are still tougher to flip than a regular pancake. I get 12 pancakes exactly using the 2 T. measurement. Also, I always use fat free sour cream and it works great.

To say that we are buying sour cream in massive amounts is an understatement. When it goes on sale for 77 cents for a 16 ounce container, I buy at least 4 or 5. Next time I'm in the dairy aisle, I'll look for you. Once you try this recipe, you'll be there as often as I am!