There are classic buttermilk pancakes, blueberry pancakes, and even funfetti pancakes, but have you ever had lemon pancakes?
Don’t snooze on this unique pancake flavor, these lemon pancakes are seriously to-die-for. Made with the perfect amount of lemon and served with warm, homemade buttermilk syrup, we’d be willing to place a bet that these will be your new favorite pancakes.
This recipe is inspired by Lazy Day Cafe a small, family-owned establishment in Salt Lake City that serves delicious comfort food. They’re open for breakfast and brunch, and their signature must-order menu item is undeniably the dreamy lemon pancakes served with buttermilk syrup. They’re fluffy and buttery, and some of the best pancakes you will have in your entire life.
This lemon pancake recipe is our homemade take on the Lazy Day favorite, and it’s the perfect way to enhance classic buttermilk pancakes. The pancakes are easy to make and call for pantry staples plus some fresh lemons. Don’t sleep on the from-scratch buttermilk syrup– it comes together in less than 5 minutes and is the perfect accompaniment to your lemon pancakes (skip the store-bought pancake syrup). Make sure and enjoy both your pancakes and homemade syrup hot!
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How To Make Lemon Pancakes
1- Make the batter. In a large bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients, including the butter, eggs, buttermilk, sour cream, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Add the dry ingredients including the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt all at once, and mix together just until incorporated– don’t overmix!
2– Cook the pancakes. On a buttered griddle or nonstick pan (heated to 350°F or medium-high heat), pour the batter in 1/3 cup quantities, flipping the pancakes once the bottom surface is golden brown and a few holes have formed on the top. You’ll know the pancakes are done once they’re golden brown on both the top and bottom after flipping.
3- Make the homemade buttermilk syrup. Heat the butter, sugar, and buttermilk over medium-high heat, until the mixture comes to a gentle boil, whisking regularly. After the mixture has cooked at a gentle boil for 1 minute, remove from heat and whisk in the baking soda and vanilla. Serve with hot pancakes and devour immediately.
Lemon Pancakes & Buttermilk Syrup
Ingredients
Pancakes
- 2 ½ cups buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 4 Tablespoons melted butter, plus more for cooking
- ⅓ cup sour cream or greek yogurt
- 2 large lemons, zest and juice
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Buttermilk Syrup
- 1/2 cup butter (one stick)
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Pancakes
- Preheat griddle to 350°F, or a nonstick pan to medium-high heat. Whisk together the butter, eggs, buttermilk, sour cream, lemon juice, and zest in a large bowl. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt all at once, and mix together until just incorporated- do not overmix.
- Butter the griddle/pan once hot. Drop batter onto the griddle/pan in ⅓ cup quantities, using the back of the measuring cup to slightly spread out the thick batter, until the pancake batter is about 6 inches in diameter. Cook until some holes have formed on top of the uncooked side and the bottom is golden brown. Flip the pancakes and cook until golden brown on both the top and bottom.
Buttermilk Syrup
- In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the butter, sugar, and buttermilk over medium-high heat, whisking as the mixture comes to a soft boil. Cook for one minute, still whisking regularly, and remove from heat. Whisk in vanilla and baking soda. Serve with hot pancakes.
Did you make this recipe?
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CONNI
This recipe was almost a complete failure for me. As a retired pastry chef I like to try others’ recipes. I questioned the ratio of 2 1/2 c. of buttermilk to 2 cups of flour with the rest of the liquid ingredients. Batter was, as predicted, too thin; more like crepe batter without the extra eggs and butter. First batch on cast iron flat pan fell apart–impossible to flip and burnt in spots. I added flour and was able to rescue some batter using a non-stick pan but they were still pretty gluey in the middle. Flavor was great, but you might want to check your ratios. Also, way more than 4 servings unless you are feeding 4 lumberjacks! I am going to try to recover the rest of the batter by adjusting to make crepes.
Brooke Eliason
Hi conni- so sorry to hear that the pancakes didn’t turn out well for you. We have tested them several times (at several different altitudes) with success every time. The batter should not be crepe like- just like any other buttermilk pancake and of course not too thick. I recommend scooping and leveling your flour and double checking your quantities (although as a retired pastry chef I’m sure you already do that). I made this for my family of four on a Sunday (two adults, two children, no lumberjacks) and it was the perfect quantity. Have a great day.
Danielle
These are the absolute best, melt in your mouth, lemony goodness pancakes you’ll ever indulge in. This is a restaurant level breakfast that is on repeat in our home. I follow the recipe exactly and they turn out perfect every time!
Brooke Eliason
Thank you Danielle! So glad that you enjoyed them. 🙂
Camille
These were amazing. Pretty easy to make but taste so extravagant! I doubled the recipe and served them at our family Christmas breakfast for 9 hungry adults. Everyone asked for the recipe and that they become our new breakfast tradition. Yum
Jan
The lemon pancakes and buttermilk syrup are the absolute best! Everyone in my family loved them and said “this needs to be on the Christmas breakfast menu”. Thanks for the recipe!
Brooke Eliason
Thank you so much Jan!
Diane
THE best pancakes I’ve ever had! Turned out perfectly and the syrup just takes them to a whole new level. 10/10!!
Brooke Eliason
Thanks a million Diane!
Jen
We loved these! Not your typical pancake consistency, but we loved them! So good!
Brooke Eliason
Thanks jen!
Jan Stanger
These are amazing! My family loved these. The syrup adds the perfect touch. It is sad that the comments are lead by a somewhat negative one because this recipe deserves 5 stars +.
Brooke Eliason
Thanks Jan- I appreciate it a ton! So glad you liked them.
Beth
The flavor combination of lemon, sour cream, and buttermilk syrup is excellent! Thank you.
My batter was very thin and improved when I added more flour.
My lemons were very large (5 oz), which could have contributed to this.
Brooke Eliason
Thanks so much Beth! So glad that you liked it. I definitely think lemon size can contribute to the final product, also the butterfat content of your buttermilk can change things too. I typically use a high fat bulgarian buttermilk or something really high quality that isn’t low in fat.
Debra
OMG!! I ate at Lazy Day Cafe yesterday after hearing lots of hype about the lemon pancakes. The ones at Lazy Day were tasty albeit cold and no detection of lemon. I came home and thanks to google found your recipe. I just made them and they are SOO SOO good!! These are nothing like the restaurant’s version that I experienced and 100% better!!
Brooke Eliason
So glad to hear that you liked the recipe- thanks Debra!
Robyn
These are so, so good… especially for all of the lemon lovers out there. Easy to make and easy ingredients to have on hand. I halved the recipe and still had a bunch.
Brooke Eliason
Thank you Robyn! <3