But those are just ordinary pancakes, while today, I'm talking about Russian Yogurt Pancakes. This is a recipe I picked up from another blog: The Girls' Guide to Guns and Butter. I stumbled on that blog while looking for a way to make yogurt in a crock-pot. The link to this recipe was at the bottom of the yogurt-making page, along with other ideas for what to do with all that yogurt you just made. (By the way, her method really does work. I've never had a yogurt fail yet. /knock on wood)
I was a little concerned when I first read the recipe to see the amount of oil consumed in the process. I wondered if the pancakes would be greasy or oily, and I figured the fat would be unhealthy. (Well, unhealthy for living in the desert southwestern United States, where we do not need to consume as many calories to keep our bodies warm as the people in the cold climate of Russia.) While it is true the pancakes ended up having a higher oil content than our usual pancake recipe, they were not any more greasy than, say, a very fresh donut.
I love this recipe not only because it helps to use up any homemade yogurt I might have which is starting to get a little more sour than I want to eat straight out, but also because the fried pancakes produced are delectable, with the crispy outside contrasting delightfully with the soft, spongy interior. I want to gobble them up as soon as they come out of the pan (but can't, because they're too hot).
Ta Da!! The enjoyment of the finished product! Oh, but wait . . . I'm jumping ahead of myself.
First, you'll need yogurt, eggs, sugar, salt, baking soda (yes, you read that right), flour, and vegetable oil for frying. Because the recipe on the Girls' Guide blog makes enough for a small army (as she points out and as I discovered to be true the first time I made it), I usually halve it, which seems to be enough for my family of seven on a regular basis. Here is the recipe cut in half:
2 cups plain yogurt
2 eggs (Small if you have them, but if they are large, it will still work. Alternately, you could use powdered eggs made up to the equivalent of 1.5 eggs.)
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda (not powder)
Flour . . . I find about 2 cups to be close, but eyeball it until it makes a decent batter. You want it to not be too pasty--still liquid-y. (Gotta love my advanced vocabulary, hm?)
Mix all this in a bowl. (You can have your Master Kitchen Helper do this job, if you want.)
Here is the batter all mixed. Interestingly enough, you can see bubbles in the batter. What that means, I do not know . . . maybe my Master Kitchen Helper mixed a bit too vigorously, or maybe something chemical is happening . . . hmmm . . . .
Heat the oil in your skillet until hot. (If I had a cast iron one, I'd use that, but I don't, so I use what I have.) You want it to be hot enough that if you drop the batter in it, it actually starts frying, instead of sitting in the oil, doing nothing, soaking up grease. Normally I just use a tablespoon to drop the batter, but this time, I had a lapse of memory and used a larger spoon, although I did not drop the entire spoonful at a time. (Just a bit larger than my usual tablespoon.)
The pancakes will get some bubbles on the top, but it isn't quite like cooking normal pancakes. You can't wait for them to get all bubbly on the top and dry on the edges, because, well, with the oil, it isn't going to get dry on the edges. You can, however, keep an eye on the bottom of the pancake to see the color change to tasty golden brown. Then flip the pancakes.
A portion of the pancake will still be a bit runny when it is flipped, so do not be discouraged if some of the runny batter spreads out and doesn't end up directly beneath the flipped pancake. (No biggie. Still tastes good. You can see some of mine here have spread out.)
When the second side is nicely golden, remove them from the pan and place them on a paper towel-covered plate. Serve with your favorite topping, such as jams, a touch of syrup or, as my kids like, applesauce. Enjoy!
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