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.
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.
Recipe inspired by Kefir Pancakes – Hubert Cormier, nutritionist.
https://www.liberte.ca/en/kefir-pancakes
Included with each pancake recipe.
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.
You can freeze and reheat extra pancakes. Store in a freezer bag then reheat at 350°F/180°C for a few minutes.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I was recently advised to reduce my carb and sugar intake. I have been exploring pancakes so I decided to take my Oat Gluten-Free Lemon Milk Waffles and convert it to pancakes. The bonus was that the oat waffles have no sugar. Pancakes require a thinner batter with less fat/sugar and more milk. My starting point to convert a waffle recipe to pancakes is: