BABA’S FLUFFY OLADI PANCAKES
Natasha Kravchuk’s mom (or Baba, as her kids call her) makes these Ukrainian pancakes every Sunday, and every Sunday they are gobbled up. Like American pancakes, they’re light and fluffy. But the yeasted batter gives them even more flavor, and they puff up like doughnuts when they hit the hot oil in the pan. Kravchuk also loves that the batter is make-ahead friendly and tastes even better as it sits and ferments in the fridge, which gives what she calls “Baba’s Fluffy Oladi Pancakes” a subtle sourdough-like flavor.
Makes: 6 to 8 servings
1 cup water, warmed to 115 degrees 1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg, room temperature 2 tablespoons extra-light olive oil or vegetable oil, plus more for the pan 2 tablespoons sugar
1½ teaspoons instant yeast 1¼ teaspoons fine sea salt
2¾ cups all-purpose flour
For serving:
Honey or jam of your choice
Sour cream
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the water, buttermilk, egg, oil, sugar, yeast and salt. Add the flour, 1 cup at a time, whisking to incorporate each addition before adding more. Continue whisking until the batter is smooth with a thin, cake-batter consistency.
2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the batter rise at room temperature for 1½ to 2 hours, or in a warm place (about 100 degrees) for 1 hour. The mixture should become bubbly and almost double in size.
3. In a large nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium heat, add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Working in batches, add heaping tablespoons of the batter to the hot skillet, spacing them just far enough apart that they aren’t touching and can still be flipped easily. Cook the pancakes for about 1½ minutes per side until golden brown, adding more oil as needed after flipping. Feel free to reduce the heat if you find they’re browning too quickly. Continue with the remaining batter, keeping the skillet well-oiled between batches to ensure crisp, tasty and beautifully golden edges on the pancakes.
4. Transfer the pancakes to a platter and serve warm with honey, raspberry sauce and sour cream.
Note: This recipe yields a big batch, but you could halve the ingredients for a smaller number of servings. These also reheat very well, so you could make the entire batch and reheat them in the toaster.