Yogurt Pancakes with Honeyed Apricots – From The 30 Minute Middle Eastern Cookbook

30-Minute Middle Eastern Cookbook Released on Amazon on August 9!

These yogurt pancakes (page 20 of the book) are one of the recipes in my new 30-Minute Middle Eastern Cookbook that I consider Middle Eastern-ish. Yogurt, apricots, and honey are old friends and I love pancakes….so, there you go!

Recently I got a text from a family member on a Sunday morning who was making these pancakes and was surprised by the texture of the batter. That inspired this post to provide some additional information for optimal results.

Yogurt pancake batter.

This recipe makes a very thick batter, almost as thick as drop biscuits.  I like the texture, the pancakes are very toothsome, and I almost need a knife to eat them.  But if you prefer a more traditional American style pancake you can thin the batter with extra water or milk to get the consistency you’d like. I added a little flax meal to this batch, just because;-)

If you proceed with the recipe as written here are my suggestions:

Ideally it’s best to cook pancakes on a griddle rather than a frying pan.  It’s easier to flip them when you’re not navigating the sides of a pan, but if you don’t have a griddle, use the largest frying pan you have.

Keep the heat on medium, that way they won’t burn before cooking all the way through.

I always use a bit of butter or olive oil on the cooking surface.

Yogurt pancakes cooking on the griddle with some butter
A 2 oz. scoop and a spatula.

I scoop batter onto the griddle (or pan) with a 2 oz scoop.

Then…here’s the secret, if you have olive oil spray, lightly spray the tops of the pancakes, and gently use the back of a spatula to press them.  Don’t worry about pressing them too flat, you will press them again once you’ve flipped them.  If you don’t have olive oil spray, you can brush the back of the spatula with olive oil, but it doesn’t work as well.

Once they start getting dry with little bubbles around the edges, flip them and press them again.  Depending on the size, the pancakes will take 3-5 minutes to cook.

If I have extra batter leftover I turn it into waffles since waffles are easy to freeze and reheat in the toaster oven.  Pancakes don’t reheat well.  I didn’t make the Honeyed Apricots since I had some beautiful ripe peaches in the house.  Don’t know where you live, but in my neck of the woods they are delicious this year!

Lastly….don’t wait until Sunday to eat pancakes!