Fluffy Yogurt Pancakes

While pancakes are a special treat at our house, I do make them on a fairly regular basis. I can indulge two things I love at one time, i.e. a dairy food and a comfort food.

Nothing like a hot pancake right off the pan. I serve them with real maple syrup in a little drizzle and sometimes plain they are so yum. I add a bit of sugar to the batter and usually it’s sweet enough as is.

I particularly like to make my pancakes with yogurt since I eat yogurt all the time and it’s conveniently in my fridge, I substitute it for buttermilk since that would be a purchase I’d specifically need to make, out of my normal wheelhouse and most people do not have it to hand. So, if I’m going the dairy route, it’s usually gonna be milk or yogurt. Yogurt adds a piquant acidity to the flavor and it seems fluffier to me than regular milk pancakes. It’s also really easy to prepare and makes the eater feel pampered and special, and isn’t that a nice feeling?

Take your flour, baking soda, sugar and salt and whisk together in a bowl.

After whisking dry ingredients together, add yogurt, milk, egg and oil. Whisk together well till ingredients are incorporated and let sit for a coupla minutes. The flour will absorb the ingredients somewhat and thicken the batter. Whisk again and pour into a measuring cup with a spout.

Now the trick with pancakes is, to heat a pan without any oil (I only use non stick for this or it gets frustrating and messy) and pour the batter on the hot pan. Cook 2-3 minutes and you will see little bubbles on top and flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes till medium brown and cooked through. Do this till you finish up the batter but you may need to thin it a bit with some milk since pancake batter tends to thicken up when it stands. Not much milk, mind you just a tablespoon and whisk till of nice, pourable consistency.

These cook up fluffy and toothsome and it’s a bit difficult to only eat 2 but the nice part is, they keep pretty well in a fridge and YES you can freeze them and zap them in the micro if you wish. To freeze, just separate the pancakes with parchment paper and keep them in a baking tin (disposable is fine) wrapped up until ready to use and they are delicious.

So indulge in a lovely breakfast treat or an excellent breakfast for dinner treat that fulfills your yumminess quotient and that quick comfort food quotient.

Fluffy Yogurt Pancakes

1 cup flour

2-3 tablespoons sugar, depending on the sweetness level you go for

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

3/4 cup plain yogurt whisked together with 1/4 cup milk to resemble consistency of buttermilk

2 eggs

2 tablespoons oil (preferably not olive since it’ll overwhelm the flavor)

1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

Directions:

Stir together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Stir into the dry ingredients the yogurt and milk mixture, eggs, oil and vanilla, if using. Mix till fully incorporated. Pour into measuring cup with a spout. Let sit for at least 3-5 minutes. The flour will absorb some of the liquid ingredients and thicken up a bit.

Take a non stick frying pan and DO NOT oil it or your pancake’s texture will come out crispy and not pancakey. Heat and carefully pour batter into pan in medium circles (should hiss when it hits the pan) and cook 2-3 minutes till you see small bubbles and flip and cook other side an additional 2-3 minutes till cooked through and medium brown. Don’t overcook or they scorch and get a bitter flavor.

Pile on a plate and keep going until you use up all your batter. If your batter stands a while, you made need to thin it out with a bit of milk, about a tablespoon should usually do it. Depending on the size of your pancakes, you can get from 8 biggish ones to 14 small ones (or more if smaller) – if you make them really small, they will need less time to cook so keep an eye on them. Eat hot with a drizzle of real maple syrup or fabulous jam or plain (DH sometimes uses them like bread and puts cheese on it).

These freeze nicely. Let them cool and put in a baking tin with parchment paper between the pancakes. Either let defrost on their own or zap in microwave. Fluffy and yummy and a quick pampering treat. Good for breakfast and breakfast for dinner!