Posts in Category: Batter
Yogurt Waffles
I love making soda breads with yogurt. It is acidic so you can add baking soda as well as baking powder as a leavening agent. One day I went to the grocery store to buy a bottle of Kéfir. On accident I bought drinkable yogurt. What an interesting opportunity for waffles. This morning I made waffles with 2 pots of raspberry yogurt with the balance in orange juice. YUM
The trick in using yogurt is factoring in how stiff the yogurt is and how much sugar it has. Plain Greek yogurt has no added sugar but it is stiff. I thin it with some milk and add the usual amount of sugar. If using Drinkable Yogurt, drop sugar as the drink is sweetened and no need to thin.
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- Batter puffs up nicely
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- You can see it when you pour it
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- Yummy waffles
- 1 cup (125 g) All-Purpose Flour
- 1 TBSP (15 g) Granulated Sugar (omit for sweetened yogurt)
- 1 tsp (5 g) Baking Powder
- ½ tsp (4 g) Baking Soda
- ¼ tsp (2 g) Sea Salt
- 1¼ cup (300 g) yogurt
- 1 (50 g) Egg
- 3 TBSP (45 g) Unsalted Butter, melted OR Sunflower Oil
- ½ tsp (3 g) Vanilla extract (optional)
- For waffle maker surface Non-stick Spray or vegetable oil
- 2 cups (250 g) All-Purpose Flour
- 2 TBSP (25 g) Granulated Sugar (omit for sweetened yogurt)
- 2 tsp (10 g) Baking Powder
- 1 tsp (7 g) Baking Soda
- ½ tsp (3 g) Sea Salt
- 2½ cups (600 g) Yogurt
- 2 (100 g) Eggs
- 6 TBSP (85 g) Unsalted Butter, melted OR Sunflower Oil
- 1 tsp (5 g) Vanilla extract (optional)
- For waffle maker surface Non-stick Spray or vegetable oil
- Heat waffle iron
- In a large bowl whisk together dry ingredients
- In a medium sized bowl combine all wet ingredients and whisk.
- Thin yogurt with milk if stiff like Greek Yogurt (1 cup yogurt to ¼ cup milk)
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Using a separate bowl for wet mixture then adding to the dry mixture results in less clumps - Add wet ingredients to dry and whisk. Do NOT whisk again later. You will flatten the batter.
- Use non-stick spray or brush some oil on waffle iron plates
- For an 8” round iron, pour 1 cup of batter in centre. The amount depends on your waffle maker size. The instructions will usually say how much to use.
- Bake for about 5 min. Time and temp effect how a waffle bakes. Higher temp uses lower time. The shorter the time the bigger the difference between crust and inside softness. Do not open early to check as this will tear the waffle. If waffle too dark, lower temperature setting. Auto waffle makers will beep when waffle is done.
- Remove the waffle by gently loosening the edges with a heat-proof plastic spatula, wooden spatula or non-stick coated tongs.
- Serve immediately or place in a 200F (90C) oven to keep them warm.
Drinkable yogurt is thin but has added sugar so I omit the sugar in the recipe.
Kéfir Frozen Waffles
When my wife and I get up in the morning, we love a quick breakfast. Toasted bagels are a favourite. On weekends, I sometimes make waffles or pancakes. I saw a frozen waffle ad and thought that would be so convenient, but I am a waffle snob. Why not make and freeze my own waffles.
Kéfir (pronounced kə-FEER) is a fermented milk drink similar to a thin yogurt that is made from kéfir grains and milk. Kéfir is found in grocery stores near the yogurt. Kéfir adds an interesting flavour to the pancakes. My wife even likes them without syrup, just some butter. Kéfir does make a thicker batter, so you adjust with milk. I find adding 25% milk results in the batter stiffness I like. How much milk you use depends on how thick you like your waffles. Kéfir comes in a one litre bottle, so a quad recipe would use it all. I could then freeze them for a quick toasting later.
I always comment that my wife’s homemake stew and soup is better the next day. The flavours have time to develop. In the case of toasted waffles the outside gets crispy while the inside stays soft and yummy.
Tip: When making a large batch, place a waffle on a rack to cool then place in the freezer. Later collect up the frozen waffles and bag. As they are frozen already they will not stick together.
Update: I show the waffles being heated up in a toaster, BUT! I find toaster ovens and counter top ovens make lousy toast. The problem is the heating element is too far from the bread. With frozen waffles, a toaster crisps up the outside but so quickly that the inside is not hot. A toaster oven does a better job. Set the oven to 350°F/180°C, put the frozen waffles in, then turn the oven on. About 5ish minutes and they are crisp outside while the inside is hot.
I find a Belgian waffle maker is better if your goal is to freeze them. The waffles are studier.
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- Kéfir
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- Regular vs Belgian Waffle Makers
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- 6 cup triple batch
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- In freezer before bagging
- 1 cup (125 g) All-Purpose Flour
- 1 TBSP (15 g) Granulated Sugar
- 1 tsp (5 g) Baking Powder
- ½ tsp (4 g) Baking Soda
- ¼ tsp (2 g) Sea Salt
- 1 cup (240 g) Kéfir
- 0 to ¼ cup (60 g) Milk (optional)
- 1 (50 g) Egg
- 3 TBSP (45 g) Unsalted Butter, melted OR Sunflower Oil
- ½ tsp (3 g) Vanilla extract (optional)
- For waffle maker surface Non-stick Spray or vegetable oil
- 2 cups (250 g) All-Purpose Flour
- 2 TBSP (25 g) Granulated Sugar
- 2 tsp (10 g) Baking Powder
- 1 tsp (7 g) Baking Soda
- ½ tsp (3 g) Sea Salt
- 2 cups (480 g) Kéfir
- 0 to ½ cup (120 g) Milk (optional)
- 2 (100 g) Eggs
- 6 TBSP (85 g) Unsalted Butter, melted OR Sunflower Oil
- 1 tsp (5 g) Vanilla extract (optional)
- For waffle maker surface Non-stick Spray or vegetable oil
- Heat waffle iron
- In a large bowl whisk together dry ingredients
- In a medium sized bowl combine all wet ingredients and whisk. Milk can be added to thin the batter.
Using a separate bowl for wet mixture then adding to the dry mixture results in less clumps - Add wet ingredients to dry and whisk. Do NOT whisk again later. You will flatten the batter.
- Use non-stick spray or brush some oil on waffle iron plates
- For an 8” round iron, pour 1 cup of batter in centre. The amount depends on your waffle maker size. The instructions will usually say how much to use.
- Bake for about 5 min. Time and temp effect how a waffle bakes. Higher temp uses lower time. The shorter the time the bigger the difference between crust and inside softness. Do not open early to check as this will tear the waffle. If waffle too dark, lower temperature setting. Auto waffle makers will beep when waffle is done.
- Remove the waffle by gently loosening the edges with a heat-proof plastic spatula, wooden spatula or non-stick coated tongs.
- Serve immediately or place in a 200F (90C) oven to keep them warm.
- Place them on a rack until cool then place in the freezer.
- Once frozen, arrange then in a freezer bag or plastic container.
- Toast frozen waffle to serve. Place frozen waffles in a 350°F/180°C oven for 5 minutes. If you are going to heat with a toaster, let the waffles thaw first.
Kéfir Pancakes
I bought kéfir (pronounced kə-FEER) so I could try Kéfir Pancakes. Kéfir is a fermented milk drink similar to a thin yogurt that is made from kéfir grains and milk. I have made waffles with yogurt as the dairy, but thought kéfir sounded interesting. Kéfir is found in grocery stores near the yogurt.
Kéfir adds an interesting flavour to the pancakes. My wife even likes them without syrup, just some butter.
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- Kéfir
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- Foamy kéfir batter
Milk is added to thin the kéfir. How much milk you use depends on how thick you like your pancakes. 1/4 cup milk on the 2-cup batter recipe will result in a thick pancake. I prefer mine fairly thin, so I use 1/2 cup milk. If you use 1/4 cup milk, spread the batter on the griddle with the bottom of the ladle. Note, this recipe does not use any baking powder. Kéfir is acidic, so only baking soda is added. Whisk the wet and dry ingredients together for a short period, as the baking soda/acid bubbling comes quickly. A long mix drives the bubbles out. You can add some baking power to help with the rise if you mix too much.
- 1 cup (125 g) Flour
- ¾ tsp (6 g) Baking Soda
- ½ tsp (3 g) Baking Powder (optional)
- ¼ tsp (2 g) Sea Salt
- 1 cup (240 g) Kéfir plain
- ¼ - ½ cup (60-120 g) Milk
- 1 (50 g) Eggs
- 1½ TBSP (25 g) Unsalted Butter, melted OR Sunflower Oil
- ½ tsp (3 g) Vanilla extract
- For griddle surface Non-stick Spray or vegetable oil
- 2 cups (250 g) Flour
- 1½ tsp (11 g) Baking Soda
- 1 tsp (5 g) Baking Powder (optional)
- ½ tsp (3 g) Sea Salt
- 2 cups (480 g) Kéfir plain
- ½ - 1 cup (120-240 g) Milk
- 2 (100 g) Eggs
- 3 TBSP (45 g) Unsalted Butter, melted OR Sunflower Oil
- 1 tsp (5 g) Vanilla extract
- For griddle surface Non-stick Spray or vegetable oil
- Turn on griddle. Heat until drop of water sizzles
- Griddle - 350°F/180°C/Gas 4 - Moderate to 375°F/190°C/Gas 5 - Moderately hot
- In a large bowl, whisk dry ingredients
- In a medium bowl, whisk kéfir, eggs, milk, butter (oil) and vanilla extract
- Add ALL of the wet mixture to dry and whisk, but not too long.
- Apply non-stick spray or oil to the griddle.
- Pour ¼ cup batter to make 1 pancake. If the batter is thick, spread out with bottom of ladle.
- Bake on side until many bubbles appear on surface and the edges are set, about 2-3 minutes
- Holes will appear, pop and not fill in.
- Flip over and bake until bottom golden brown, about 2 minutes
- Remove and serve
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- Bake until bubbles appear. About 2-3 min.
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- Yummy with butter and syrup
Recipe inspired by Kefir Pancakes – Hubert Cormier, nutritionist.
https://www.liberte.ca/en/kefir-pancakes
Details: How to make Pancakes
Included with each pancake recipe.
Equipment
- Two bowls. A smaller one for the wet ingredients and a larger bowl for the dry ingredients / final mix
- Whisk – In a pinch you can use a large fork
- Scale
- Measuring spoons
- Measuring cup or ladle to pour mixture onto griddle
- Griddle – I use a low cost electric griddle
- Spatula – I use a Winco NC-RS Nylon Fish Spatula
A common question in North America is why use a scale. When I went to baking school, the first thing we were told is to do measuring with a scale. Especially for flour. Flour packs and a cup of flour can weigh anywhere from 100 grams to 140 grams. I use 125 grams as a cup so regardless of whether you flour is packed or just sifted, 125 grams is a cup. For small measurements I do use measuring spoons.
Why grams and not ounces? Commercial baking is done in grams and my training is commercial.
Directions
- Turn on griddle. Heat until drop of water sizzles. 350°F/180°C/Gas 4 – Moderate to 375°F/190°C/Gas 5 – Moderately hot. Let griddle warm up for 10 minutes for heat to distribute evenly.
- In a large bowl whisk dry ingredients.
- In a medium bowl, break egg(s). If you get any shell in it is easy to remove. Whisk to break up the yoke. I sometimes use a large fork.
- Add other wet ingredients and whisk.
- Add 2/3 of the wet mixture to the dry and whisk. This thicker batter makes it easier to work out the lumps. Then add the remaining liquid and whisk.
FOR RECIPES WITH BAKING SODA ONLY: Add all wet to dry in one step. Do not whisk too long as the bubbles appear immediately and will be driven out. - Apply non-stick spray or oil to the griddle.
- Pour 1/4 cup batter to make 1 pancake. I use a measuring cup with a long spout.
- For thicker batters, such as the Orange Juice Whole Wheat Pancakes, use a small ladle.
- Bake on side until many bubbles appear on surface and the edges are set, about 2-3 minutes. If the bottom is too dark but the top is not set, lower your het temperature.
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- White All Purpose Flour
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- Whole Wheat Flour Bubbles
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- Some batches give you lots of bubbles
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- Orange Juice Whole Wheat
- Holes will appear, pop and not fill in. Whole wheat pancakes will not show bubbles as much. All purpose flour tends to show the bubbles more than whole wheat.
- Flip over and bake until bottom golden brown, about 2 minutes
- Remove and serve with butter and maple syrup or your choice of toppings.
Whisk eggs
Whisk 2/3 of wet into dry. Easier to eliminate lumps.
Pour batter.
Pour with a small ladle
Tips
You can freeze and reheat extra pancakes. Store in a freezer bag then reheat at 350°F/180°C for a few minutes.
Pancake Recipes
Pumpkin Spice Pancakes
One of my favourite things my wife bakes is pumpkin pie. She buys a large can of pumpkin puree and goes to town. She mentioned that a small amount was left over so I thought, what about a pumpkin spice pancake? This is a spin on my Lemon Milk Pancakes adding pumpkin and three spices. I found many of the other recipes too strong. The aroma of pumpkin pie was in the air. The only trick is the pumpkin tends to thicken up the batter. I found if I poured it then spread it out some the resulting pancakes were nicer.
Also the batter is orange so it turns dark quicker. Again, I thought the pancakes were done when it was just them turning dark. Great with butter and some maple syrup. If you have any left over, just place on a rack to cool then bag and freeze.
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- Spread batter out with a ladle to avoid them getting too thick
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- Wait for the bubbles to appear.
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- Flip and Serve
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- They are naturally dark. I like mine with butter and maple syrup
- 1 cup (125 g) All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp (5 g) Granulated Sugar
- 1 tsp (5 g) Baking Powder
- ½ tsp (4 g) Baking Soda
- ¼ tsp (2 g) Sea Salt
- ½ tsp (4 g) Cinnamon
- ¼ tsp (2 g) Ginger
- ⅛ tsp (1 g) Cloves Powdered
- 1 (50 g) Eggs
- 1¼ cup minus 1 TBSP (285 g) Milk
- 1 TBSP (15 g) Lemon Juice
- ¼ cup (50 g) Pureed Pumpkin
- 1½ TBSP (25 g) Unsalted Butter, melted OR Sunflower Oil
- ½ tsp (3 g) Vanilla extract
- For griddle surface - Non-stick spray or vegetable oil
- 2 cups (250 g) All Purpose Flour
- 2 tsp (10 g) Granulated Sugar
- 2 tsp (10 g) Baking Powder
- 1 tsp (7 g) Baking Soda
- ½ tsp (3 g) Sea Salt
- 1 tsp (7 g) Cinnamon
- ½ tsp (3 g) Ginger
- ¼ tsp (1 g) Cloves Powdered
- 2 (100 g) Eggs
- 2½ cups minus 2 TBSP (570 g) Milk
- 2 TBSP (30 g) Lemon Juice
- ½ cup (100 g) Pureed Pumpkin
- 3 TBSP (45 g) Unsalted Butter, melted OR Sunflower Oil
- 1 tsp (5 g) Vanilla extract
- For griddle surface - Non-stick spray or vegetable oil
- Turn on griddle. Heat until drop of water sizzles
- Griddle - 350°F/180°C/Gas 4
- In a large bowl whisk dry ingredients
- In a medium bowl whisk eggs, milk, pureed pumpkin, butter/oil and vanilla extract
- Add ½ of the wet mixture to dry and whisk. This makes it easier to work out the lumps. Then add the remaining wet and whisk.
- Apply non-stick spray or oil to the griddle.
- Pour ¼ cup batter to make 1 pancake. Spread out with ladle to avoid it getting too think.
- Bake on side until many bubbles appear on surface and the edges are set, about 2-3 minutes. As the batter is dark, the pancake will look more done then it is.
- Holes will appear, pop and not fill in.
- Flip over and bake until bottom golden brown, about 2 minutes
- Remove and serve
Mini German Pancakes
Watch the batter rise in the oven.
German Pancakes are popovers. They are also known as Dutch Babies, Bismarcks or Dutch puffs. Think of a cross between an omelette and a soufflé. Simple recipe of milk, flour, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and butter. Once removed from the oven, they collapse to form Yorkshire pudding-like sides with an omelette centre.
Serve with a fruit topping, icing sugar or your favourite maple syrup and butter.
2020 Feature recipe of the Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival.
- 2 (100 g) Eggs
- ⅓ cup (80 g) Milk
- ½ tsp (3 g) Vanilla Extract
- 1½ tsp (7 g) Granulated Sugar
- ⅓ cup (45 g) All-Purpose Flour
- 1 TBSP (15 g) Unsalted Butter
- 6-cup muffin pan
- Set oven to 350°F/180°C/Gas 4
- To a bowl, add eggs and whisk to break up the yolks.
- Add milk, vanilla extract and sugar, then whisk.
- Add flour and whisk to remove lumps.
- If NOT using a silicon pan, spray muffin pan with non-stick spray.
- Put ½ tsp butter in each muffin hole.
- Place pan in oven for one minute to let butter melt.
- Remove from oven and spread around the melted butter.
- Pour 3 TBSP batter per muffin hole.
- Bake 25-30 min until the sides rise up and brown.
- Carefully remove from oven and watch the top and sides collapse and pull in from the sides.
Orange Juice Whole Wheat Pancakes
Want your family to eat more whole wheat flour but they don’t like the taste? Try using orange juice instead of milk in your pancakes. The citric acid dulls the fibre taste and makes for an interesting flavour. I like to use orange juice with extra pulp for even more flavour surprises as you eat. As the juice has so much sugar, no need to add more. The sweet juice makes for a dark colour as the sugar caramelizes on the griddle.
This recipe uses the acid in the juice and baking soda to build on the baking powder leaven to make for a high soft pancake.
Batter Up – What is a Batter?
The older I get, the more I realize two things: time is precious, and homemade is superior to store bought. Reconciling the two can be a challenge.
I was thinking about my baking recently and realized my passion has moved from dough to batter. Baking with batter has several attractions for me. First, start-to-eat is often as short as 15 minutes. Second is portion control. As our kids are grown and on their own, all of my batter recipes have a 2-portion version and a 4-portion for families. The third attraction is that it requires only low-cost tools and machines. Basics include bowls, a scale, measuring spoons, whisk, measuring cup, spatulas, waffle maker and a griddle.
Simple Milk Pancakes
My third waffle to pancake recipe is Simple Milk Pancakes based on my Simple Milk Waffles. Like that recipe, this is a foundation recipe to me. It is what I build others from. This is a light fluffy pancake. I prefer the Lemon Milk Pancakes. Mainly I use this as a foundation recipe to build on when I don’t want to add an acid.
In the Oat Gluten-Free Lemon Milk Pancakes recipe, I explain how I convert a waffle to a pancake recipe.
Lemon Milk Pancakes
My second waffle to pancake recipe is Lemon Milk Pancakes based on my Lemon Milk Waffles. Like that recipe, this is a foundation recipe to me. It is what I build others from.
Lemon Milk Pancakes use lemon juice and baking soda to build on the baking powder leaven. I love the hint of lemon the juice adds.