Natasha Kravchuk of ‘Natasha’s Kitchen’ Reveals Her Mom’s Recipe for Fluffy Pancakes

Natasha Kravchuk, the popular food blogger behind ‘Natasha’s Kitchen’, shares her mom’s recipe for fluffy pancakes that are a family favorite. These Ukrainian pancakes have a light and fluffy texture, thanks to the yeasted batter. They are similar to American pancakes but with added flavor and rise. When cooked, they puff up like doughnuts.

One of the great things about these pancakes is that the batter can be made ahead of time and left to ferment in the fridge. This gives the pancakes a subtle sourdough-like flavor, according to Natasha.

Here’s the recipe for “Baba’s Fluffy Oladi Pancakes”:

BABA’S FLUFFY OLADI PANCAKES

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water, warmed to 115°F
• 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

Directions:

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°F) for 1 hour. The mixture should become very 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.

This recipe yields a big batch, but you can halve the ingredients for a smaller number of servings. The pancakes also reheat well, so you can make the entire batch and reheat them in the toaster.

Reprinted with permission from “Natasha’s Kitchen” by Natasha Kravchuk, copyright 2023. Published by Clarkson Potter, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Photograph by Charity Burggraaf.

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